Contact:
Mitchell Slepian
mslepian@hadassah.org
NEW YORK, NY—Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, is pleased to announce that both Liz Alpert and Fran Feldman have been elected National Vice President and Marcia Gabrilove Ladin has been elected National Secretary of Hadassah’s National Board, the organization’s governing body. The new officers, who succeed Janet Hand Deixler, Dr. Rachel Schonberger and Carol Ann Schwartz, start their three-year term on January 1, 2023.
Liz Alpert is a nearly 40-year life member of Hadassah from Santa Cruz, Calif. She has served on the National Board since 2021, in addition to having served twice previously, and is geographic area and resource annual planning chair. Her previous positions include president and area/VP advisor of Hadassah’s Santa Cruz Chapter, Central Pacific Coast area/VP advisor and region president of Hadassah Central Pacific Coast. Alpert has served as Hadassah’s representative to the World Zionist Organization and is a member of two Hadassah philanthropic circles, the Society of Major Donors-Luminaries and Keepers of the Gate.
Among the many portfolios held over the years by Fran Feldman of Boston, Mass., who was made a life member of Hadassah at the age of 9, are chair of the Resolutions and Curriculum Watch committees. She is currently co-coordinator of the Marketing & Communications Division. She is a past president of Hadassah’s Northern New England and Central Pacific Coast regions. Feldman and her husband, Gary, a Hadassah Associate (male supporter), are members of the Hadassah philanthropic circles Guardians of the Dream and Keepers of the Gate. Feldman retired in 2013 after working as a teacher, as an editor for Sunset Books and as an administrator in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. In retirement, she enjoys teaching and learning at the Brandeis Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.
Forty-year life member Marcia Gabrilove Ladin of Rochester, NY, is co-coordinator of Hadassah’s Marketing & Communications Division and a Hadassah representative to the Young Judaea global board. She has served as a Hadassah national vice president, vice chair of the Young Judaea program and a member of its scholarship committee, co-chair of Hadassah’s 2014 national convention and president of the Upper New York State Region, among many other positions. Ladin and her husband, Scott, are Centennial Founders at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem, one of Hadassah’s two hospitals in Jerusalem, and members of Hadassah’s Keepers of the Gate philanthropic circle. For more than 30 years, Ladin owned RSVP, a stationery and gift shop in Rochester. An accomplished calligrapher, Ladin is especially proud of the Holocaust Book of Remembrance she created for the Rochester Jewish Federation.
Said Hadassah National President Rhoda Smolow, “Liz, Fran and Marcia are wonderful examples of Hadassah’s motto, ‘The Power of Women Who Do.’ Their dedication, ability and energy have contributed so much to Hadassah. Their new roles will offer them even greater opportunity to help Hadassah combat antisemitism, promote Zionism and fight for women’s health equity.”
In addition to the three officers, 13 Hadassah members were elected to the National Board: Aileen Bormel, Sharon Cadoff, Rachel Freedman, Ruth Gursky, Lynda Heyman, Carol Rosenthal, Greta Rothschild, Roni Schwartz, Merna Shapiro, Rita Shapiro, Sharon Sisselsky, Amy Solomon and Diane Taub. Miriam Aron, Barbara Shurberg and Susan Glicksberg have been elected to the National Board as Geographic Resource Area (GRA) Board Members serving the Metro, Mountain Southwest and West Coast geographic areas, respectively.