In 1973 Jeanne Manford’s fierce love for her gay son in the face of national condemnation of homosexuality led her to create a support network for other families, Parents of Gays, later known as PFLAG.
Roselle Ungar used new technologies to keep her scattered community together during the evacuation, and her wry humor to keep herself sane despite the upheaval.
Sara Stone was ninety years old at the time of Hurricane Katrina, and her experience of the storm was tempered by a lifetime of helping the city weather hard times.
Donna Sternberg, who had helped found the first local Federation in Baton Rouge after the Six Day War, used her fundraising experience to quickly mobilize national aid efforts to save her community after Hurricane Katrina.
As director of New Orleans’s Parks and Parkways Department, Florence Shornstein mobilized the community to replant the lush greenery that helped define the city.
An education reformer who helped spearhead preschool programs for NCJW and United Way, Schenk focused her attention after Katrina on rebuilding schools.
A third-generation New Orleans native and the first female president of Congregation Beth Israel, Jackie Gothard worked tirelessly to restore the synagogue and bring the community back together.
As executive director of the Jewish Family Service, Deena Gerber helped survivors navigate New Orleans’s shattered infrastructure and access social services after the storm.
Frustrated with Jewish organizations that geared their offerings for women’s involvement around the interests and schedules of stay-at-home mothers, Carol Wise forged a more welcoming place for professional women in the Jewish community.
As assistant executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, Roselle Ungar helped evacuees maintain community and find aid from basic necessities to scholarships for children.
A passionate supporter of Israel with decades of experience in fundraising for others, Donna Sternberg helped raise almost half a million dollars in aid to help her own community recover from Hurricane Katrina.
Both before Hurricane Katrina and during the long process of rebuilding New Orleans, Julie Wise Oreck has struck a balance between leading national Jewish institutions and focusing on organizations closer to home.
Sandy Levy’s lifetime of experience in New Orleans as a fundraiser and a preservationist made her uniquely suited to help survivors of Katrina rebuild their lives and their homes.
Ruth Kullman has dedicated her career to working for positive change in her community, from chairing her local Planned Parenthood to helping her synagogue recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
Rebuilding her life time and again after great upheaval gave Lis Kahn unique insight as she helped the Jewish community of New Orleans heal after Hurricane Katrina.
The first female president of her childhood synagogue, Congregation Beth Israel, Jackie Gothard helped the Orthodox synagogue rebuild after Hurricane Katrina.
A seasoned social worker and executive director of Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans, Deena Gerber helped residents put their lives back together in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
After a highly successful decade as the lead on Little House on the Prairie, Melissa Gilbert defied the odds for child actors by becoming a Hollywood power-broker as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 2001–2005.
Inspired by the youth villages that allowed Israel to welcome staggering numbers of orphans after the Holocaust, Anne Heyman created the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village to shelter orphans of the Rwandan genocide.
