Mitchell H. Shames is partner at Harrison Fiduciary Group. Mitchell has assumed numerous leadership roles in the Boston Jewish Community. He has served on the Executive Committees and the Board of Directors of Combined Jewish Philanthropies and Temple Israel. He is also the past President of the Hillel Council of Greater Boston and currently serves as President of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Outreach Institute, based in New York City. In 1994, Mr. Shames received the Young Leadership Award from Combined Jewish Philanthropies. Mitchell and his wife Jane are members of Temple Israel of Boston where Mitchell also serves as a Trustee. They live in Newton, MA with their two sons, Will and Nate.





Alan B. Kane is a business executive with interdisciplinary experience in pharmaceutical marketing, broadcast regulation and microbiological research. He is the founder and former CEO of Lark Marketing Support Services; a provider of specialized regulatory compliance software systems, marketing and FDA/DEA licensed distribution services for the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to the founding of Lark, he served as Managing Science Editor for the Code Authority of the National Association of Broadcasters. In that capacity, he administered Code approval of all radio and television broadcast advertising related to medical, health, and nutrition products and services. Before joining the NAB, Alan was a research virologist with the Waksman Institute of Microbiology at Rutgers University. Alan is currently involved with the Development Corporation for Israel/State of Israel Bonds, the Israel Taskforce of his local Jewish Federation, and chairs his synagogue's Israeli student exchange program. He is an active member of Congregation B'nai Tikvah and has held numerous executive board and trustee positions over a fourteen year period. Alan and his wife Arline have two daughters and live in North Brunswick, New Jersey.

Eugene M. Grant, president of the Eugene M. Grant & Co., a real estate investment and development firm headquartered in New York, is past general chairman of the New York UJA/Federation campaign. He is a life trustee of the Jewish Museum as well as chairman of the Westchester Holocaust Commission, a member of the National Cabinet of the State of Israel Bonds, a board member of the American Israel Chamber of Commerce, a trustee of the NY UJA/Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, the Israel Children's Centers and the American Jewish Committee. He is also a director of the Metropolitan Opera Association, a trustee of the Richard Tucker Foundation, and a member of the Real Estate Council of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Carnegie Hall. In his professional life, he is treasurer of the Realty Foundation of New York, a trustee of the Real Estate Institute of New York University, and a former governor of the Real Estate Board of New York. Gene graduated from the University of Michigan and Columbia Law School and is a member of the New York Bar Association. He served with a fighter group of the US Air Force in Europe, ending his tour as a Major. He resides in Mamaroneck, New York with his wife Emily, who is president of the Emelin Theater and is a chairperson of the Purchase College Foundation. The Grants have three daughters: Terry, who resides in Virginia, Andrea and Carolyn in Boulder, Colorado.

Dottie Bennett is chair of Project Interchange, an Institute of the American Jewish Committee which sends influential non-Jews to Israel for educational purposes. She is also immediate past chair, National Council, The American Jewish Committee, a member of AJC’s National Board of Governors, AJC’s Executive Committee and past president of the AJC Washington Chapter. She has also been AJC’s national chair, Inter religious Affairs. She also serves on the AJC Centennial Endowment Committee. Dottie is also involved with AIPAC. She is a 2004 Presidential appointee to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Council where she chaired the Collections and Artifacts Committee and now chairs the Education Committee. She also serves on the Executive Committee. She serves on the Board of the United Jewish Endowment Fund and its grants committee where she works on major gifts and endowments. She is also a member of the Jewish Funders Network. She also is a Board member of the Harold Rosenthal Fellowship in International Relations. Previously she served as Vice President for Multiple Appeals of the United Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. She works with Planning and Allocations and serves as co-chair of Outreach and Engagement. She also co-chairs the building campaign for Gesher Jewish Day School. She is a member of Congregation Agudas Achim and Temple Rodef Shalom. She has served on the Board of Directors of International Country Club. Previously she served on the boards of the Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, the Darrell Friedman Institute and the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia. She is a 2003 recipient of the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. She taught school for more than 20 years and is deeply involved in the issues of Jewish education and in efforts to maintain and enhance Jewish identity. Her pride and joy are her daughter Ann, son-in-law Bob and her three grandchildren, Zachary, Arielle and Jared.


Todd L. Blue is responsible for the business development and strategic direction of Cobalt Ventures, LLC. He is responsible for partnership and brand development as well as leading the development, management and leasing of Cobalt's real estate portfolio. Mr Blue co-founded Cobalt Venture in 1998, after most of the assets of the The Blue Industrial Group were divested. In late 1999, he led Cobalt's transformation to become an active operating business. Formerly, Mr. Blue was Vice President for Progress Rail Services Corporation, a subsidiary of Florida Progress Corporation (NYSE). In this role he represented Progress Rail in its expansion into the foundry market in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, and steel mills nationwide. From 1994 to 1998, Todd was responsible for commercial activities at Louisville Scrap Material Company, where he served as Vice President. While there, he oversaw all steel, and metals trading, as well as brokerage, industrial account purchasing, and shipping. From 1992 to 1994, Todd Blue was an Executive in Chicago with Luria Brothers, a Division of Connell Limited Partnership. His responsibilities included steel scrap brokerage to steel mills and foundries. Mr. Blue earned his degree in International Business from the George Washington University in Washington DC in 1992.


Laura Samberg Faino is Co-director of the Samberg Family Foundation, which concentrates its grantmaking in the following programmatic areas: Jewish issues; education and youth development; health; and housing and community development. Much of the Foundation's giving is in the New York metro area. Its offices are in Washington, DC. Laura has been on the professional staff of the Foundation since May 2001. Prior to that, she was a Project Manager at R.O.W. Sciences, a health services research firm. Laura's policy and advocacy experience also includes positions at the American Council on Education's Clearinghouse on Postsecondary Education for Individuals with Disabilities, and the Institute for Educational Leadership's Coalition for Community Schools. Laura holds a BA in History from Cornell University and a MA in Education from Stanford University. She and her husband Michael Faino reside in Arlington, VA.

With a successful history of technology leadership, systems architecting, project management, and expertise in complex internet security systems integration and implementation, David Friedland has consistently crafted and led innovative projects around the globe in all vertical markets. Some key clients include: Siemens, Neiman Marcus, University Health Hospital Systems, Hyundai/Kia, Host hotels, Justice Federal Credit Union (DOD), Banco BHD, and the Key West Police Department.  David’s background comes from working in the venture capital industry, which is leveraged to provide creative solutions in a fast paced entrepreneurial market. David was previously the vice chair for his Alma Matter, The University of Texas at Dallas where he graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2002, was a participant in PLP ( a think tank of entrepreneurial 20 something Jewish leaders), has traveled to 25 different countries, and resides in Houston, TX with his wife.

Mitchell H. Frumkin founded Kipcon, Inc. in 1986 and fosters its growth with constant innovation and education. A Licensed Professional Engineer in eighteen states, Mr. Frumkin holds the Community Associations Institute’s (CAI) Reserve Specialist designation. In addition, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) named him a Certified Green Professional. A recognized industry expert, Mitch Frumkin is a frequent speaker, writer, and committee member on the state and national levels for the CAI, NAHB, and many other professional organizations. He is former president of Congregation Bnai Tikvah in North Brunswick, NJ and is currently responsible for the implementation of the new strategic plan at the Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County, NJ.

Jane Gellman is immediate past president of the Milwaukee Jewish Community Center. Active in the national JCC movement, she is currently on the executive committee of the Jewish Community Center Association. Jane is also on the boards of the UW-Milwaukee and Madison Hillels; a member of the executive committee of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation and co-chair of the Alliance for Educational Programs in Israel. She is very involved in Partnership 2000 where she holds the position of cluster chair of the Sovev-Kinneret region. She is on the board of Visitors in Jewish Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Jane has two children (Sarah is 24 and is living in Portland, OR and currently looking for a new job in outdoor education; Sam is almost 21, and about to start his junior year at Stanford). Trained in physical education (M.A., Ohio State; B.A., University of Wisconsin), Jane recently became certified as a personal trainer.

Rachel Cohen Gerrol currently serves as the Program and Event Coordinator for The Nexus: Global Youth Summit on Innovative Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship. She is also Founder/Executive Director of Olam Service Adventures, a non-profit offering Jewish “voluntourism” trips for young adults to countries recovering from Genocide or struggling over serious religious, racial or political divides.  Previously, Rachel served as Special Assistant to Ambassador Nancy Rubin, U.S. Representative to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and as Director of Young Adult Initiatives for the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.  Rachel is Chair of the Birthright Israel Advisory Committee for Washington, DC, serving over 11,000 alumni, and has testified before the Israeli Knesset on renewing their investment in the Birthright Israel program.  She is the Chair of the Young Leadership Board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and was named a "Young Leader to Watch" by the Washington Jewish Week.  She is on the Speakers Bureau of the Jewish Federations of North America and has spoken alongside Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and human rights activist Natan Sharansky on engaging the millennial generation and embracing interfaith families.

Meredith Jacobs is author of "The Modern Jewish Mom’s Guide to Shabbat:  Connect and Celebrate—Bring Your Family Together with the Friday Night Meal" (HarperCollins) and co-author (with daughter, Sofie) of "Just Between Us: a no-stress, no-rules journal for girls and their moms" (Chronicle Books, Spring 2010).  She is host of "Modern Jewish Mom" on The Jewish Channel and host of "Connecting Family" on WYPR 88.1 fm (NPR in Baltimore, MD), parenting advice columnist and co-founder and editor of www.ModernJewishMom.com.  She hosts the video series "Faith in the Family" available on www.Beliefnet.com.  Her monthly parenting columns appear in The Baltimore Jewish Times. She has written for various national Jewish publications including Jewish Living, The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, JTA and Jewish Woman. She has been featured in First for Women magazine and interviewed for her perspective as a Jewish mom for articles in such publications as Parenting and Parents magazines and The Forward.

Carolyn Mintz Kaplan is the Chairman of the Strauss Family Office. She is an active volunteer having served on numerous Boards of Directors including the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, The Depelchin Center, and Congregation Beth Israel Religious School serving as co-chair. She currently is the middle school Chairman of the St. John’s School Community Service Committee. Carolyn lives with her husband in Houston, Texas and is the mother of 3 children.

Renee Karp is a resident of Dallas, Texas. From 2008 though 2009 she was Foundation Associate for the Morton H. Meyerson Family Foundation. Prior to that she was Program Director fro 21 years at Temple Emanu-El in Dallas where in this capacity she founded programs including wide-ranging Adult Education, Caring Congregation volunteers, Older Adults, a Young Adult Social Action Group, Family Retreats, Mitzvah Days and many others—designed to create community and access to a Jewish way of life and worship. Renee is also member of the Advisory Board for Interfaith Family.Com and on the Board of Trustees of the Dallas Chapter American Jewish Committee. Currently Renee is facilitating a Mothers Circle group in Dallas.

Laura R. Kinyon was born and raised in NY and now resides in Avon, Connecticut. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, she holds Masters degrees in social work and in counseling/education from Washington University. Her career began and continues in employee assistance programs, providing individual counseling management consultation, corporate training, clinical network development and management, for corporations. Laura has been an active member in NCJW and Hadassah, taking on leadership roles on the PTA boards of Solomon Schechter schools in Pittsburgh and West Hartford. Currently, Laura sits on the board as part of the Executive Committee of "Jewish Teen Learning Connection" (or "J-Teen Connect", previously, "Yachad"), a supplemental program for Jewish high school teens. For the past 8 years, Laura has partnered with the Hartford Jewish community by initiating and leading JOI programs The Mothers Circle and The Grandparents Circle, along with leading a group called Love and Religion for interfaith couples. One of Laura's most successful programs is "Beyond Mothers Circle,” a group for MC alumni, which she created upon completing the first Mothers Circle, now in its eighth year.

Bettina Kurowski divides her time between Los Angeles and Denver. She recently retired as CEO of the LA chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. Before that she led her own health care biotech consulting firm for many years; built a specialty HMO, managed 2 medical centers; and started as an academic at the U. of Colo. Schools of Medicine and Business. She has a Ph.D. and MPA in Health Policy and a BS in Finance from U.S.C. She now runs the family real estate business. All her volunteer activities have focused on the Jewish community. She has held 12 chairs across three communities over 25 years in several Jewish Federations, most recently having chaired the LA General Campaign and been President of the Valley Alliance. She is currently an Ambassador of the JDC and on the board of the Denver Federation. She met her husband, Dennis Rose (of blessed memory), and came to know of JOI through the Federation, eventually funding the development of the curriculum for the original Grandparents Circle. She has two children and three grandsons.

Lee Livingston, is nearing completion of his third year and final year as president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County. His community involvement spans both the Jewish and secular. He served as president of Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple from 1995-1997 and is a member of the temple’s endowment board. He is the treasurer of the Jewish Social Service Committee of New Brunswick and Highland Park; is a state vice-chairman of ADL; he serves on the Foundation board of the Wilf Campus. In the secular world, Livingston was a long time board member of Women Aware, the Middlesex County anti-domestic violence program and shelter. He was a two time board member of George Street Playhouse and was on the board of the Middlesex County American Red Cross. His many awards include the New Jersey “Person of the Year” awarded by Governor Florio in 1992. He is president of Imperial Consultants, Inc., a real estate development and management company. He and his wife Lanny have lived in East Brunswick for more than 35 years and have two sons, Eli and Jed.

Dr. Michael Rappeport is the founding partner of R.L. Associates, a survey research and consulting firm in Princeton, New Jersey. He has worked in market and survey research areas for more than 30 years. As part of his work, he has made more than 80 appearances as an xpert witness in legal cases at trial and/or through deposition. His testimony has dealt with statistics and statistical analysis, marketing and public opinion cases in such disparate areas as trademark infringement, libel, damages for failure to fulfill a contract, and reapportionment. He has also testified as an expert in a number of quasi-legal proceedings before a range of public boards, agencies, and regulatory bodies. He serves on the boards of Panim and the National Havurah Committee. Michael also serves on editorial board of The Trademark Reporter.

Dr. Norton Rosensweig, a licensed Physician in New York State, graduated Cum Laude from Princeton University and New York University School of Medicine. He currently serves as the director of the Program in Functional GI Disease and Esophageal Function Laboratory at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital in New York. Norton has also served as a captain and major in the Medical Corps in the U.S. Army. He is the recipient of the U.S. Army Commendation Medal and the U.S. Army Science Conference Award and is a New York State Regents Scholar in Medicine.

Dana Sacks and her husband Jeremy live in Portland, Oregon with their two children Hannah and Jeremy. Dana is currently Chair of the Israel Affairs Committee at Congregation Neveh Shalom in Portland. She is founding chair of Israel Affairs committee, which helps promote a positive, non-political identification with Israel through programming, monthly Cafe V’Ivrit sessions, movie and television showings, and Yom Ha’atzmaut dinners. She is on the Board of Directors of Congregation Neveh Shalom and is currently the secretary. As secretary she attends Board meetings every month, takes and produces minutes of every Board meeting and Executive Committee meeting. As member of the Personnel Committee, she helps perform yearly review of synagogue clergy and volunteers at various synagogue functions and services.

Henry Salmon earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Real Estate and Urban Development from American University and an MBA in Finance and marketing from Cornell University. Since 1985, he has been President and Chief Appraiser for Equity Valuation Associates, Inc, a firm that performs commercial, industrial and residential real estate appraisals in New York and New Jersey. Henry has served in numerous leadership positions and won multiple awards for his service to his local community and beyond. He is immediate past board chair of the Staten Island Museum and winner of the museum’s Leng and David Award. He is also past Board and Economic Development Committee chair for the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, which awarded him its Louis R. Miller Award for business leadership, and has received the “Alan Weissglass Distinguished Leadership Award” For Outstanding Community Service by the JCC of Staten Island. Additionally, he was recognized as Outstanding Community Member by the Chai Society at Wagner College. In his home community, Henry is past president of the Solomon Schechter Day School of Raritan Valley in East Brunswick, NJ, where he was recognized for outstanding service. Henry and his wife, Linda, live in Edison, NJ, and have three children and two grandchildren.

Kenneth Schriber has been CEO of the Schriber Group of construction and metal fabricating operations based in Dayton, OH, for the past 35 years. He has served on many committees of the Jewish Federation of Dayton and has been a board member of The Engineers Club of Dayton, The Dayton Art Institute and the University of Cincinnati Foundation and was also Board Member & Chairman of the Dayton Area Chapter of the American Red Cross and the Good Samaritan/Premier Health Foundation Board. He lives in Dayton, OH with his wife Constance Adams Schriber, and has two daughters and four grandchildren.

Jerry Bedingfield Tilles was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, grew up in Washington DC, and considers herself the product of an interfaith marriage (Catholic and Baptist). Like most children of interfaith families, she decided to investigate other religions rather than show favoritism to one parent. Jerry converted to Judaism in 1972 through the Conservative movement at Adas Israel Congregation in Washington DC; was introduced to Reform Judaism in 1984 at Temple Beth El of Great Neck, NY, where she immediately became, and continues to be, a member of the Women of Reform Judaism. Some of the other Temple Beth El activities included chairing the Outreach Committee, chairing a committee on the Role of the Non-Jew in the Synagogue and being a board member. Jerry has chaired local and regional Outreach Committees for the New York Federation of Reform Synagogues and has served on the National Executive Outreach Board of the Union for Reform Judaism (now URJ). Jerry chaperoned the first trip to Israel of Jewish and Catholic high school children with Project Understanding and participated in the first Vatican commemoration of the Holocaust under the auspices of Pope John Paul II in Rome in 1994. Jerry has been involved with the Jewish Outreach Institute for over 10 years, and is currently the Secretary for the Board of Directors. Jerry and Roger Tilles make their home with the youngest two of three children in Great Neck, NY.

Roger Tilles graduated in 1968 from Amherst College with a bachelor of arts degree and from the University of Michigan College of Law in 1971. He became Director of Law and Legislation for the Michigan Department of Education, and, in 1975, he was the Executive Secretary to the Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives and opened his own law practice in Washington D.C. in 1978, until his return to Long Island in 1983 where he is a director of the Tilles Investment Company. He is the president and a founding member of the Association for a Better Long Island, serves on the executive committee of Long Island University and Union of American Hebrew Congregations, serves on the board of the Long Island Philharmonic and is the executive vice Chairman of the Tilles Center of the Performing Arts and is currently chairman of the Board of Long Island University. He grew up at Temple Beth-El and was president of the Junior Temple Club in 1962. He has served as chair of the social action committee; building and grounds committee; and the development committee, as well as vice president. He was president of Temple Beth-El from 1991 to 1996. He is also involved with significant interfaith activities; two of the most valuable being Project Understanding, which he formed with Monsignor Tom Hartman in 1987, bringing Catholic and Jewish teenagers together on a mission to Israel; and as the producer of the first Vatican commemoration of the holocaust under the auspices of Pope John Paul II in Rome in 1994.

Rabbi Abigail Treu serves as a Rabbinic Fellow for the Jewish Theological Seminary, where she teaches and leads grassroots fundraising operations and community engagement programming, and is the incoming National Director of the Torah Fund and Philanthropic Planning.  A veteran teacher at the 92nd St Y in New York and co-author (with Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins) of The Bible’s Top 50 Ideas, Rabbi Treu writes  regular parsha commentaries and a midrash column for JTS’s weekly parsha email distributed to nearly 30,000 people and leads JTS’s free, open-to-the-public High Holiday services drawing one thousand worshippers annually.  An avid knitter and yoga enthusiast, she lives in Manhattan with her husband and three children.

Terrence A. Elkes, of blessed memory, was a Managing Director and co-owner of Apollo Partners, Ltd., which is involved in investing in media, communications, entertainment, cable and broadcasting companies. Terry had a 15 year relationship with Viacom International Inc., where he served as a member of the Board of Directors, President and Chief Executive Officer. He received his bachelor’s degree in Economics and Political Science from the City College of New York and earned his Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Michigan. He maintained an active association with the University as a member of the President’s Advisory Committee and the Investment Advisory Board. Terry was deeply committed to preserving Jewish culture and values and believed that “JOI’s mission is a crucial element in ensuring the perpetuation of Judaism in future generations.” Terry and his late wife Ruth are survived by three sons and seven grandchildren.

David G. Sacks, of blessed memory, was director and past president of the Seagram Co. as well as past president of UJA/Federation of New York, and Vice President of CJF. A native New Yorker, David and his wife, Marcella Rosen, were both devoted members of the JOI Board and David served as Chair. In a recent Sh'ma, a journal of Jewish responsibility, David observed “while some intermarrieds are committed to break with the Jewish community, most express their desire for a continuing sense of connectedness to Judaism and its traditions in a variety of ways. According to the 1990 National Population Survey, about 28% of the children of intermarrieds are raised as Jews. One of our goals ought to be to raise that percentage to something over 50%.”



David Belin, of blessed memory, was the founding president of the Jewish Outreach Institute. He was honorary Vice-Chairman of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and served as chairman of its Outreach Program from its inception in 1978 until 1988. He also served in leadership capacities in other Jewish organizations including membership on the Executive Committee of the Jewish Foundation of Christian Rescuers (ADL), a national organization which emphasizes the teaching of moral values and which helps support Christians who, at the risk of their own lives, helped shelter Jews in Nazi-occupied lands in Europe during the time of the Holocaust. In addition, he had a broad range of public service including appointment by Chief Justice Earl Warren as counsel to the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy (Warren Commission), appointment by President Ford as Executive Director of the Commission on CIA Activities within the United States (Rockefeller Commission), and membership on the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. He was the author of a number of books, including Final Disclosure: The Full Truth About the Assassination of President Kennedy and Leaving Money Wisely.



Egon Mayer, of blessed memory, was Professor of Sociology at Brooklyn College and Director of the Center for Jewish Studies of the Graduate School of the City University of New York. He was also Founding Director of the Jewish Outreach Institute, a non-profit organization committed to helping interfaith families integrate within the Jewish community. Dr. Mayer was a widely sought-after lecturer and author of major studies in Jewish intermarriage, including: Intermarriage and the Jewish Future (1979), Children of Intermarriage (1983), Conversion of the Intermarried (1987), and Rabbinic Officiation and Intermarriage. His widely acclaimed book, Love & Tradition: Marriage between Jews & Christians, was published by Plenum Publishing Co. in 1987. Dr. Mayer was also author of a book on the Orthodox and Hasidic communities of Boro Park, From Suburb to Shtetl, published by Temple University Press. Born in Switzerland and raised in Budapest, Hungary, Egon Mayer immigrated with his family to the United States during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. He received his B.A. from Brooklyn College in 1967, his M.A. from the New School for Social Research in 1970 and his Ph.D. from Rutgers University in 1975. Dr. Mayer lived in Laurel Hollow, New York, with his wife and children.