Leadership & Board

Officers, Executive Committee, and Board Members

Sara Charney

WRJ President
wrjpresident@wrj.org Elected in March 2021, WRJ President Sara Charney is the organization's first Canadian president. She has been actively involved in WRJ since becoming local sisterhood president at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She has held many positions on the District and North American levels.

Rabbi Liz P.G. Hirsch

Executive Director
Rabbi Liz P.G. Hirsch (she/her) is the Executive Director of Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ), a role she has held since 2023. Previously, Hirsch was the rabbi of Temple Anshe Amunim in Pittsfield, MA. She was ordained at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York.

Karen Sim

First Vice President
Karen Sim is the WRJ First Vice President. She is a member of Isaac Mayer Wise Temple in Cincinnati, Ohio. Karen became a member of the WRJ Board in 2003.

Lillian Burkenheim Silver

Vice President of Philanthropy
Lillian Burkenheim Silver is the WRJ Vice President of Philanthropy. She grew up in NFTY, engaged in the Reform Movement and pursing tzedek/justice. This laid the groundwork for a passion to empower people to learn, to thrive, and to act.

Shoshana Dweck

Vice President of Social Justice
Shoshana Dweck is WRJ’s Vice President of Social Justice. A recovering lawyer and engineer, she served as sisterhood president of Temple Shaaray Tefila in Bedford Corners, New York, where she now serves on the Temple Board and on the WRJ then-District 3 Board.

Jane Taves

Vice President of Engagement
Jane Taves is the WRJ Vice President of Engagement. She is an active member of Temple Beth El in Madison, Wisconsin, where she serves on the sisterhood Executive Board and the congregation’s Executive Committee. Jane has been a member of the WRJ North American Board since 2013.

Judy Wexler

Vice President of Member Services
Judy Wexler serves as Vice President of Member Services. She also currently serves as WRJ Midwest District Vice President of Social Justice and is a past sisterhood president. Judy has been a member of the North American Board of WRJ since 2015.

Karen Goldberg

Secretary
Karen Goldberg is the WRJ Secretary. She is a past president of Women of Isaiah in Lafayette, California, where she remains active on the leadership team.

Susan Singer

Treasurer
Susan Singer is the WRJ Treasurer and has been on the WRJ Board since 2018. She serves on the Budget Committee, Finance Committee, and Investment Committee.

Susan C. Bass

Immediate Past President
Susan C. Bass is the immediate past President of WRJ. An Atlanta native, she currently lives in Houston. Through every phase of her life, Susan has been affiliated with institutions of the Reform Jewish Movement.

Jennifer Daley

Executive Committee
Jenn Daley is a Member At Large of Women of Reform Judaism’s Executive Committee and a member of the North American Board. She currently serves as the Marketing and Communications Chair. Jenn is the Immediate Past President of WRJ’s Southwest District.

Andrea Gingold

Executive Committee
Andrea Gingold was elected to the WRJ North American Board in 2015 and is now serving her second term as a Member At Large of the Executive Committee.

Shelley Niceley Groff

Executive Committee
Shelley Niceley Groff is a WRJ Executive Committee member. She also serves as a Vice-Chair of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), and as URJ Lay Leader for Youth.

Madelyn Katz

Executive Committee
Dr. Madelyn Katz is a Member At Large of the WRJ Executive Committee. As a “child” of the Reform Movement, Madelyn has spent her entire life involved in the Reform Movement.

Michelle Scheinkopf

Executive Committee
Michelle Scheinkopf is a Member At Large of the Executive Committee of the North American Board of Women of Reform Judaism. She is a past co-president of Women of North Shore Congregation Israel (WNSCI) in Glencoe, Illinois, and is the Immediate Past President of WRJ Midwest District.

Andrea Stillman

Executive Committee
Andrea Stillman is a Member At Large on the WRJ Executive Committee. She has served on the WRJ Board since 2018, participating on multiple committees including Budget, Resolutions, and serving as one of the WRJ representatives to the Commission of Social Action.

Julia Wackenheim

Executive Committee
Julia Wackenheim is a Member At Large of the WRJ Executive Committee. Born in Reno, Nevada and raised in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Julia received her BFA in Acting from Emerson College in Boston.

District Presidents

WRJ Atlantic District
Jan Shaw
Rodef Shalom
Pittsburgh, PA

WRJ Mid-Atlantic District
Andrea Stillman
Temple Rodef Shalom
Vienna, VA

WRJ Heartland District
Rozan Anderson
Temple Beth El
Madison, WI

WRJ Northeast District
Yvette Bergman
The Community Synagogue
Port Washington, NY

WRJ Pacific District
Carol Schuster
Temple B'nai Torah
Bellevue, WA

WRJ Southeast District
Faith Alexander
Congregation Schaarai Zedek
Tampa, FL

WRJ Southwest District
Phyllis Strasberg
Temple Israel
Memphis, TN
 

District First Vice Presidents

WRJ Atlantic District
Abby Gilbert
Congregation Beth Or
Maple Glen, PA

WRJ Heartland District
Cheryl Stern
Congregation Beth Am 
Buffalo Grove, IL

Marci Delson
Congregation Beth Tikvah
Columbus, OH

WRJ Mid-Atlantic District
HarrietAnn Litwin
Congregation Beth Emeth
Wilmington, DE

WRJ Northeast District
Marsha Moller
Temple Beth Shalom 
Needham, MA

WRJ Pacific District
Lillian Burkenheim-Silver
Women of Temple Beth Hillel
Valley Village, CA

Flo Cohen 
Temple Sinai
Glendale, CA

WRJ Southeast District
Amy Ahmed
Temple Emanu-El
Tuscaloosa, AL

WRJ Southwest District
Debra Goetz
Temple Emanuel
McAllen, TX
 

District Immediate Past Presidents

WRJ Atlantic District
Lori Motis
Congregation Beth Or
Maple Glen, PA

WRJ Central District
Lizabeth McOsker
Isaac M. Wise Temple
Cincinnati, OH

WRJ Mid-Atlantic District
Marilyn Morrison
Temple B'nai Shalom
Fairfax Station, VA

WRJ Midwest District
Zabe Williams
Temple Beth El
South Bend, IN

WRJ Northeast District
Sharon Sobel
Temple B'nai Chaim
Georgetown, CT

WRJ Pacific District
Cher Krichmar
Temple Beth Ohr
La Mirada, CA

WRJ Southeast District
Madelyn Davidson
Congregation Beth Am
Tampa, FL

WRJ Southwest District
Cheryl Barenberg
Temple Emanuel
Beaumont, TX

 

WRJ Past Presidents

Susan C. Bass
Congregation Beth Israel
Houston, TX

Lynn Magid Lazar
Temple Sinai
Pittsburgh, PA

Blair C. Marks
Temple Kol Emeth
Marietta, GA

Judith O. Rosenkranz
Congregation Shaarai Zedek
Tampa, FL

Rosanne M. Selfon
Congregation Shaarai Shomayim
Lancaster, PA

Judith Silverman
Cape Cod Synagogue
Hyannis, MA

Helene H. Waranch
Baltimore Hebrew Congregation
Baltimore, MD

Dolores Wilkenfeld 
Congregation Emanu El
Houston, TX

 

WRJ Board Members

Carol Berger
B'nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim
Deerfield, IL

Kadie Black
Temple Beth Am
Pinecrest, FL

Andrea Blain
Temple Beth Israel
Skokie, IL

Ruth Bohm
Shirat Miriam
São Paulo, Brazil

Leslie Brier
Main Line Reform Temple Beth Elohim
Wynnewood, PA

Nancy Cohen
Temple Kol Emeth
Marietta, GA

Rachelle Weiss Crane
Temple Emanu-El
Dallas, TX

Rabbi Marla J. Feldman
Temple Shaaray Tefila
New York, NY

Linda Ferguson
Congregation Beth Ahabah
Richmond, VA

Sherri Feuer
Temple Israel
Minneapolis, MN

Allison Fine
Individual Member
Sleepy Hollow, NY

Sandi Firsel
Temple Chai
Long Grove, IL

Laurel Fisher
Temple Shalom
Dallas, TX

Joanne B. Fried
Congregation Gates of Prayer
Metairie, LA

Elizabeth Goertzel
Temple De Hirsch Sinai
Seattle/Bellevue, WA

Rabbi Linda Henry Goodman
Garden City Jewish Center
Garden City, NY

Mandee Heinl
Individual Member
Baltimore, MD

Josie Hertz-Ackerman
Temple Rodef Shalom
Falls Church, VA

Betsey Hurwitz-Schwab
Individual Member
Cumberland, MD

Dr. Patricia Joseph
Isaac M. Wise Temple
Cincinnati, OH

Jane Karlin
Temple Israel of the City of New York
New York, NY

Alyse Kirschen
Temple Beth Tikvah
Fullerton, CA

Wendy Kohlenberg
Temple Israel
West Bloomfield, MI

Linda C. Kramer
Congregation Beth Am
Los Altos Hills, CA

Robin Krieger
Temple Shalom of Newton
Newton, MA

Judy Enteles Landis
Individual Member
New York, NY

Deborah Lelchuk
Temple Beth David
Westminster, CA

Beth Levin
Congregation Schaarai Zedek
Tampa, FL

Hon. Carole Levy
Westchester Reform Temple
Scarsdale, NY

Estelle "Giddy" Lief
Bet Menorah
Pretoria, South Africa

Robin Lilien
Temple Israel of Long Beach
Long Beach, CA

Shelley Lindauer
Temple Shaaray Tefila
New York, NY

Cheryl Marks Young
Temple Emanu-El
Westfield, NJ

Ellen Miller
Washington Hebrew Congregation
Washington, D.C.

Sabrina Miller
Temple Israel of the City of New York
New York, New York

Sharon Miller
Temple Beth-El
San Antonio, TX

Luisa Narins
Individual Member
River Vale, NJ

Genia Neuhaus
Temple Beth Am
Pinecrest, FL

Eve Panush
Congregation B'nai Israel
Sacramento, CA

Marina Polinovsky
Shiryat HaYam
Haifa, Israel

Bernice Porrazzo
Temple Rodef Shalom
Falls Church, VA

Michelle Rosen
B'nai Israel
Southbury, CT

Ellen Y. Rosenberg
Riverdale Temple
Bronx, NY

Rachel Roth
Temple Chai
Long Grove, IL

Dr. Lisa B. Schwartz
Individual Member
Yardley, PA

Nayda Schwartz
Temple Israel
West Bloomfield, MI

Jacquie Schwitzer
Temple Emanu-El
Temple Shalom
Dallas, TX

Micaela Sheinhait
Individual Member
Waltham, MA

Dana Spiel
Temple Emanuel of Tempe
Tempe, AZ

Sharon Lore Weiss
Congregation Schaarai Zedek
Tampa, FL

Lisa Wise-Wolk
Congregation Emanu El
Redlands, CA

Lori Wise
Washington Hebrew Congregation
Washington, D.C.

Tina Wolfe
Temple Mount Sinai
El Paso, TX

Sharon Zydney
Temple Emanu-El
Westfield, NJ