Please join us for an educational program that will highlight the groundbreaking initiatives supported by the Hadassah Foundation. Meet gender equity leaders from Israel and the U.S, and help us kick off our 25th Anniversary year.
Monday, April 8th, 2024
8:30 a.m. – Noon PT
Mercer Island, WA
Address will be provided upon RSVP
Speakers
Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari
Founding Academic Director
The Ruth and Emanuel Rackman Center for the Advancement of the Status of Women at Bar-Ilan University
Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari is the founding academic director of the Rackman Center, which she founded in 2001. She holds the rank of a full professor at the Faculty of Law at Bar-Ilan University and, from 2007 through the end of 2018, she served as a member and vice president of the Expert Committee of the UN Committee on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). While serving on the committee, in 2013, she initiated and led General Recommendation Number 29 regarding the economic consequences of marriage, family relations and their dissolution; and in 2017, conducted CEDAW’s official investigation of the prohibition against abortions in Northern Ireland, which led to a legislative change in July 2019.
About the Rackman Center: Operating at Bar-Ilan University, the Rackman Center provides legal representation, academic expertise, and policy recommendations to improve the status of women in Israel’s family laws and policies. Grants have supported Rackman’s advocacy initiatives as well as its pro-bono legal support and counseling for women who lack the resources and information they need to navigate Israel’s court systems.
Amee Huppin Sherer
Greenstein Family Executive Director
Hillel UW (University of Washington Hillel)
Amee is currently in her ninth year serving as the Greenstein Family Executive Director at Hillel at the University of Washington. After a 25+ year career as a Jewish educator, she returned to Hillel UW where she was the program director for three years in the early ’90s, and the acting director when Rabbi Dan Bridge took a sabbatical in 1995. She earned her BA in Jewish studies and her master’s degree in education from UW. Amee has also served on several nonprofit boards throughout her career, including Camp Solomon Schechter and the Good People Fund. Amee is married and has two adult children.
About Hillel UW: Hillel UW inspires students and young adults to explore, embrace, and celebrate Jewish life and identity
Elizabeth Slotnick
President and Founder
JWI Young Women’s Impact Network in Seattle
Elizabeth Slotnick is the president and founder of JWI Young Women’s Impact Network in Seattle and is currently a Seattle Federation Courageous Leadership Fellow. Elizabeth is originally from Richmond, Virginia and moved to Seattle in 2020. Having moved to the city during a time of isolation, Elizabeth sought out the Jewish community and felt the need to form a group for young women in Seattle. In her daily life, Elizabeth is a sales manager at Oracle and enjoys exploring the Seattle food scene with her husband, reading a good book, and cheering on the Seattle Kraken.
About JWI (Jewish Women International): Based in the U.S., JWI works to empower women and girls – of every race, culture, ability, gender identity, and sexual orientation – by ensuring and protecting their safety, building access to long-term economic security, and lifting and mentoring women leaders. JWI is a Visionary Partner grantee of the Hadassah Foundation.
Meira Wolkenfeld
Rabbinical Student
Yeshivat Maharat
Meira is the director of education and community engagement and rabbanit at Congregation Beth Israel in Berkeley, CA. This June she will graduate from Yeshivat Maharat’s Advanced Kollel: Executive Ordination Track. She earned her doctorate in Talmud from Yeshiva University in 2022. She also studied at the Graduate Program in Advanced Talmudic Studies (GPATS) at Stern College after earning her BA in ancient Near Eastern civilizations and cultures at UCLA. She has taught at Nyack College, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, and the Drisha High School Program.
About Yeshivat Maharat: A Jewish educational institution in New York, Maharat was the first Orthodox yeshiva in North America to ordain women.
This program is made possible by the Bernice S. Tannenbaum z”l Fund for Education, which enables the Hadassah Foundation to invest in a broad variety of educational opportunities. A President of Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Bernice was instrumental in establishing the Hadassah Foundation. She was a trailblazer who valued learning and re-invention.