About Us

Who We Are

National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) is a grassroots organization of volunteers and advocates who turn progressive ideals into action. Inspired by Jewish values, NCJW strives for social justice by improving the quality of life for women, children, and families and by safeguarding individual rights and freedoms. Founded in 1893, NCJW is the oldest Jewish women’s grassroots organization in the country. Our work, in the U.S. and Israel, is continually guided by Jewish values and the central call to action “Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue” (Deuteronomy 16:18).
NCJW Atlanta Section does not require any financial commitment to join our section.

Our members/advocates are made up of women with a desire to better our community and make our world a better place for women, children, and families.

Our Leadership

NCJW Atlanta Section Staff

Elaine DeSimone

Elaine DeSimone

Office Manager

Kerry Cross

Kerry Cross

Communications & Administrative Coordinator

2025-2026 Officers

Susan Gordon

Susan Gordon

Co-President

Susie Greenberg

Co-President

Laura Kurlander-Nagel

First Vice President

Joyce Bihary

Co-Vice President, Advocacy

Kate Kratovil

Co-Vice President, Advocacy

Sue Tilis

Co-Vice President, Advocacy

Jenny Reiner

Co-Vice President, Community Service

Debra Saxe

Co-Vice President, Community Service

Renee Videlefsky

Co-Vice President, Community Service

Marcy Bass

Co-Vice President, Development

Sheri Labovitz

Co-Vice President, Development

Elizabeth Schmitt

Co-Vice President, Programming

Samantha Schoenbaum

Co-Vice President, Programming

Ronnie van Gelder

Co-Vice President, Programming

Deborah Harris

Recording Secretary

Jana Frank

Treasurer

2025-2026 Board of Directors

  • Barbara Abend

  • Wendy Aspes

  • Adele Bedrick

  • Kathy Evans

  • Betsy Fleisig

  • Stacey Hader Epstein

  • Michele Hirsch

  • Merle Hoch

  • Karen Isenberg Jones

  • Lizzie Lack

  • Debbie Levinson

  • Molly Light

  • Marcy Louza

  • Debbie Neese

  • Sheri Panovka

  • Jane Perlman

  • Lisuan Poh

  • Rachel Raucher Cox

  • Beth Schafer

  • Gabby Spatt

  • Cathy Toren

  • Sherri Wildstein

  • Mimi Zieman

Our History

The Atlanta Section of National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) was established on October 10, 1895, two years after the national organization was founded in Chicago. At the turn of the 20th century, NCJW Atlanta members assisted newly arrived immigrants with a free kindergarten, a Sabbath School for immigrant children, free hygiene programs, and the Children’s Dental Clinic. During World War II, NCJW Atlanta members helped secure housing and organized English language classes for families fleeing war-torn Europe.

During the 1940s, NCJW Atlanta launched a program of personal services for the children’s ward at Grady Hospital; provided clothing, toys, and educational materials to young Holocaust survivors living in Israel; and founded its popular thrift shop to raise funds for its community programs. The shop was eventually replaced by the section’s annual major fundraiser, Bargainata, in 1970.

NCJW Atlanta established its Golden Age Recreational Clubhouse in 1954, offering a place for senior citizens to socialize, enjoy hobbies, and learn new skills. Two years later, the section opened the Golden Age Employment Referral Service, placing senior citizens in jobs around Atlanta.

NCJW Atlanta Section launched its Tay-Sachs Disease Prevention Program in May 1975 to identify carriers of this fatal disease within Atlanta’s Jewish community. The screenings eventually led to a permanent Tay-Sachs testing facility at Emory University.

Advocacy has been a hallmark of the section since 1910, when members wrote letters to their legislators to support the Federal Child Labor Bill. Since then, NCJW Atlanta members have used their voices, their feet, and their votes to work tirelessly on advocacy issues such as women’s suffrage; the ERA; women’s reproductive healthcare, justice, and freedom; antisemitism; immigrant issues; maternal and infant health; gun safety; and the placement of fair and impartial judicial nominees.

In 2007, NCJW Atlanta brought the Atlanta Jewish Coalition for Literacy into its fold, placing more than 100 volunteer reading tutors in several Atlanta Title 1 schools each school year. This successful program led to the section’s popular “pop-up” Mother’s Day jewelry shops as well as its annual Back-to-School Backpack Project. Atlanta Section’s other community service work reaches immigrant women seeking assistance from domestic violence situations, provides maternal healthcare to mothers and babies in need, warmly welcomes and helps settle newcomers from Afghanistan and Ukraine, feeds the homeless, and provides menstrual products to homeless women and teens.

Community Partners

NCJW Atlanta Section has a long history of working side by side with dedicated partner agencies in our community whose goals and passions align with the mission of NCJW. Among those coalitions are

Women Who Dare: Celebrating Our Sheroes

2022 Honorees

2021 Honorees

Read more about our 2021 event here.

Due to the Covid pandemic, our 2021 Sheroes luncheon was held virtually. You can watch the entire online luncheon here.

Alyza Berman Milrad

Founder, Owner, & Executive Director, The Berman Center

Gail Evans

Poiltical, Media, & Non-Profit Activist

Libby Gozansky

Journalist, Lawyer, & Political Activist

Amy Zeide

Founder & Co-Executive Director Creating Connected Communities

Elana Bekerman Frank

CEO & Founder Jewish Fertility Foundation

Lois Frank

Community Advocate & Volunteer

Elizabeth Finn Johnson

Past President, Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation

Valerie Habif

Co-Founder, Jewish Democratic Women's Salon

Joanie Shubin

Co-Founder, Jewish Democratic Women's Salon

Dr. Mimi Zieman

Dr. Mimi Zieman

OB/GYN, Author, & Reproductive Health Advocate