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

Christine E. Heller

Administrative Director

Elaine DeSimone

Elaine DeSimone

Communications & Administrative Coordinator

2023-2024 Officers

Stacey Hader Epstein

Co-President

Susan Gordon

Susan Gordon

Co-President

Susie Greenberg

Susie Greenberg

Co-Vice President, Advocacy

Mimi Zieman

Co-Vice President, Advocacy

Adele Bedrick

Co-Vice President, Community Service

Renee Videlefsky

Co-Vice President, Community Service

Kate Kratovil

Kate Kratovil

Vice President, Communications

Marcy Bass

Marcy Bass

Vice President, Development

Samantha Schoenbaum

Co-Vice President, Programming

Ronnie van Gelder

Co-Vice President, Programming

Libby Gozansky

Secretary

Rachel Rosner

Treasurer

Jana Frank

Assistant Treasurer

Sue Tilis

State Policy Advocate (SPA)

2023-2024 Board of Directors

  • Sandy Abrams

  • Wendi Aspes

  • Joyce Bihary

  • Mindy Binderman

  • Linda Davidson

  • Sara Duke

  • Deborah Harris

  • Michele Hirsch

  • Merle Hoch

  • Cathy Jacobson

  • Laura Kurlander-Nagel

  • Sheri Labovitz

  • Marcy Louza

  • Debbie Neese

  • Lisuan Poh

  • Jenny Reiner

  • Beth Schafer

  • Alicia Simpson

  • Gabby Spatt

  • Ellen Williams

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

2024 Honorees

2022 Honorees

Elana Bekerman Frank

CEO & Founder Jewish Fertility Foundation

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