Our Board

A native of Irving, Texas, Andrea Shlipak Mail is a graduate of Harvard University with an honors degree in Social Anthropology. She received her Master's degree in Religious Education through a joint program with the University of London & The Leo Baeck Center for Jewish Education. From 1988-89, Andrea was a Rotary International Ambassadorial Fellow to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She then spent two years in NYC, promoting Israel programs on college campuses for AZYF (American Zionist Youth Foundation). Andrea returned to live in Jerusalem for two additional years, studying at The Pardes Institute and as a Wexner Fellow… >>

Cindy Zitelman is co-founder and immediate Past President of the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project. A graduate of the university of Maryland, Cindy started her career in advertising. She founded CK Associates, an advertising specialty company in 1985 and spent 16 years in the business before selling her company in 2001. She currently devotes her time and energy as a “professional volunteer”. Cindy is an active member of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. Her time and attention is with the Youth Outreach Center in Beit Shemesh which provides much needed programming and activities for the at… >>

Betty Grinstein is the President of Reshet Capital, a boutique investment firm specializing in helping Israeli companies access global markets. Betty is also the co-founder of Supersonas, the Israel Women's Business Network in New York, and serves in various lay leadership positions including as the president of the Friends of Ono Academic College and on the board of the Keshet Eilon Music Center. Betty is the incoming chair of the JWRP Israel Women’s Division.Betty has five children and lives with her husband, Gidi, and their two daughters in New York City.   >>

Mahra Fox Pailet has worked tirelessly on behalf of the Jewish community, working with the Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles and the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas, and volunteering on behalf of many organizations, including Israel Bonds, the Dallas Jewish Historical Society, Congregation Shearith Israel, the JCC, Ann and Nate Levine Academy, and AIPAC. Mahra also has a vast professional background in marketing, communications, event planning, and product management. Mahra is a recipient of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas's Bess Nathan Young Leadership Award, and a graduate of the Wexner Heritage Leadership Program and AJC’s Hilda… >>

Helen Zalik is a lawyer and a community activist. After traveling to Israel on a MOMentum Trip in 2009, Helen helped turn Atlanta into one of the JWRP’s premier partner cities. She currently serves as a co-president of the Jewish Women’s Connection of Atlanta (JWC), an executive committee member of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, and a member of the Jewish Funders Network. Helen is a member of the JWRP’s Global Leadership Committee.Helen lives in Atlanta with her husband and three children.  >>

Ellen B. Kagen Waghelstein is on the faculty of Georgetown University and Director of the Georgetown Leadership Program, a national learning and consultation effort on effective leadership and change management in complex systems change and community transformation for professionals and civic activists. She has over 25 years of experience training and facilitating at the national, state and local levels.  Ellen is also serving as senior leadership faculty for the ACHARAI fellowship program of the Shoshanna S. Cardin Leadership Development Institute. In addition to her extensive professional experience, Ellen has a wide range of significant lay leadership involvement at the local, national and… >>

Betsy is an expert in the fields of search and career transition coaching, and excels at conducting executive searches for organizations. She also has provided career coaching and executive coaching to hundreds of people throughout the United States, in addition to speaking to audiences around the country about creating career options. Betsy has worked in many private sector industries, including finance, health care, information technology, telecommunications, government contracting, professional consulting, and public relations. She also consults with the not-for-profit world and the Federal government. She has provided guidance to university career centers and has worked with American University, Georgetown University,… >>

Dana Sicherman has been working in the field of Jewish outreach for nearly a decade, teaching, organizing, and speaking to Jewish communities across the world.  Born and raised outside New York City, Dana came to the DC area to attend American University.  While at AU, Dana traveled to Jewish communities across the US, landing in Kiev and Kansas--and many places in between.  Upon graduating with honors degrees in International Relations and Communication, Dana began working for Aish on Campus, running programming for students and young professionals within the DC Metro Area.  Within 2 years, Dana was the Director of Aish on Campus, engaging hundreds… >>

Michelle Leader is a Co-Founder and Vice President of the JWRP.Michelle worked as a registered nurse in the neonatal unit of Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. When her sons started school, she became a professional volunteer, serving on school, synagogue, and Jewish organizational boards. Michelle is active in supporting a range of Jewish- and Israel-related causes.Michelle lives in the Washington, DC area and frequently travels to Israel and Park City, Utah. >>

As an entrepreneurial philanthropist and dedicated Jewish community member, Mrs. Mayberg serves on a variety of boards and is deeply involved in many issues and initiatives impacting how future generations will sustain Jewish values, literacy, practice and belief. Her passion for the JWRP is matched only by her dedication to the Jewish Education Innovation Challenge (JEIC), an initiative she launched in 2012 from the Mayberg Family Foundation grant making platform. The JEIC, over three years, has granted innovative pilots in 6 Jewish day schools across the country through a grant challenge that attracted more than 60 proposals last year, and… >>

A Jewish community activist, Jeanie has served on the board of the Jewish Primary Day School of the Nation’s Capital as co-chair of the Development Committee, the Admissions and Marketing Committee and Co-Founder of the Annual Yitzhak Rabin Memorial lecture. She helped launch Aura, a Washington, D.C. Jewish Women's networking group that connects women to each other and to their Judaism, she is a PAST trustee of the Tikkun Olam Women's Foundation and a founding supporter of the Hope for Henry Foundation whose mission is to support children in the hospital who face life threatening Illnesses. Her early Jewish community… >>