March 2025 Newsletter

Message from Our CEO

We are living through challenging times. In the US, changes in policy and culture are swiftly taking hold with some impacting women’s empowerment, especially those working in the racial justice and gender justice spaces. Many social justice organizations will experience new barriers in their funding opportunities and goals. Some of us are witnessing Israeli hostages being returned — babies, children, mothers, and peace activists — in coffins. We still do not know what lies ahead for Israel and opportunities for peace.

At Elluminate, we aim to make a meaningful contribution to this time by providing a dedicated space for Jewish women as they devise solutions to today’s most urgent challenges. We have created a network of women who support each other to accelerate their work with a gender lens and moral courage as they advance social change.

And we will continue to celebrate the women who are bright lights in our lives — those who continue to push forward using their values of tikkun olam. It is not each of us that must finish the job, but it is our responsibility to repair the world and do good while we are here.

It is in this light that we invite you to attend our amazing Annual Luncheon on May 13 in New York City. We will bring our party shoes and our friends and colleagues, to network with those leading social change, support our amazing honorees who have helped to power women’s advancement, and set a path forward for Jewish women around the world.

The women at Elluminate are inspiring, and I hope that you will help us to scale and grow at this time when we are needed most by joining our Luncheon Benefit Committee, making a significant contribution to our work, and ensuring a wonderful Luncheon program.

Warmly,
Melanie Roth Gorelick
Elluminate CEO

You Are Invited To Attend

The Annual Celebration of Jewish Women Leaders

Elluminate’s Annual Luncheon will take place on

Tuesday, May 13, 2025 in New York!

Meet Our Honorees

We are excited to announce two incredible, visionary and impactful women who embody not only this year’s Luncheon theme of Strong Voices. Bold Choices, but also Elluminate’s mission of empowering women in leadership.

Carol Becker

Philanthropist and Activist

CEO of William Greenberg Desserts

Barbara Hope Zuckerberg

Feminist Philanthropist

Cherished Elluminate Board Member

Carol is an extraordinary force whose impact resonates far beyond her entrepreneurial success at William Greenberg Desserts; she is also a catalyst for change whose commitment to women leaders extends across organizations locally and globally.

Barbara is a long-time member of our Board and has helped forge pathways for countless women leaders whose feminist philanthropic vision shapes a more equitable future. Barbara champions Jewish women leaders by creating systemic social change.

The Luncheon is an opportunity to meet the visionary nonprofit CEOs currently engaged in Elluminate’s Collective Leadership Program. As women worldwide face increasing challenges, these women are on the front lines addressing today’s critical issues – from preserving reproductive rights, advocating for gender justice and women’s empowerment, combating antisemitism, enhancing Jewish women’s leadership in Israel, and more.

Join the Luncheon Benefit Committee

Join us as we celebrate Jewish women leaders and philanthropists working for equity and social change on May 13 and consider making a gift in honor of these inspiring women!

Become a Corporate Sponsor

Join Benefit Committee

You are Invited to A Special Conversation:

Protecting Reproductive Rights: Women Taking Action

March 31, 5:00 PM, NYC

“When silence is not an option, courage becomes our voice”

P.O.W.E.Repro (The Power of Women Engaging in Repro) was founded in 2021 by longtime activists and supporters of reproductive rights to engage friends and networks in education and activism, as well as financial support of organizations on the front lines across the country. Along the way, they grew to a coalition of hundreds, raising tens of thousands of dollars for groups doing the hard work providing access to women across the country. They were early supporters of Julie Kay, an Elluminate Collective member, in her work to make telemedicine abortion accessible through Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine (ACT), and Caroline Weinberg of Plan A Health.

The program will feature:

Caroline Weinberg, Founder and Program Director of Plan A Health, who will discuss her work in the Mississippi Delta and rural Georgia, providing mobile clinics to bring health care directly to underserved communities, with an emphasis on improving sexual and reproductive health.

McKensey Smith, ACT’s Deputy Director, and Kim Chirls, P.O.W.E.Repro Co-Founder, will update us on the state of abortion medication via telemedicine.

The Founders of P.O.W.E.Repro will share their journey and experience building a coalition for social change. Speakers include Audrey Spiegel, Jane Pollock, Kim Chirls, Lissa Hirsch, and Laura Ross.

To RSVP click here. Address will be given upon registration.

Elluminate Holds A Briefing Series on Israeli Women’s Leadership Post October 7

Elluminate held a series of briefings on Israeli Women’s Leadership Post October 7 in New York City, Westchester, New Jersey and Florida. These programs brought together hundreds of women to learn about the work of Elluminate, and hear from our speakers about how women leaders, on the frontlines holding up Israeli civil society during wartime, are rising to meet the challenges of this critical moment. The briefings provided women in the US the opportunity to hear from Israeli women about their lived experiences and where we go from here.

Our speaking tour included talks by Avital Mimran-Rosenberg, Counselor for Human Rights at the Israeli Mission to the United Nations; Orit Sulitzeanu, Executive Director, Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel; Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll, Co-Founder & Director, Chochmat Nashim; and Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, Founding Head of The Ruth and Emanuel Rackman Center. We are proud to have gone “on tour” with these visionary and impactful women leaders, and introducing them to new audiences.

You are invited to join Elluminate’s Crown JEWEL Conversation featuring Keshet Starr on Wednesday, March 12th from 12:00 – 1:00 PM ET. She is the brand new CEO of Shalom Task Force (congratulations!) and Former CEO of the Organization for the Resolution of Agunot and member of Elluminate’s Collective (Cohort 5).

Keshet has been a tireless advocate for eliminating abuse from the Jewish divorce process and helping women receive a get (Jewish divorce). During the webcast, Keshet will reflect on her leadership transition, as she takes on a new role combating domestic violence and fostering healthy and safe relationships and families in the broader Jewish community.

To register click here.

To watch our February Crown JEWEL Conversation featuring Avital Blonder, CEO and Founder of Jindas — Social Urban Vitalization, and a member of Elluminate’s Collective (Cohort 5), click here.

Elluminate’s monthly Crown JEWEL Conversations webcast highlights members of our Collective — visionary women leaders creating social change on today’s emergent, pressing issues.

View a list of upcoming events here.

News from The Collective

“As a formerly undocumented American Jew, I know the intense fear that undocumented immigrants are living with right now. I also believe the Jewish community has a meaningful opportunity to step up and support immigrants in impactful ways — if we come together with the will and commitment to do so,” writes Analucía Lopezrevoredo — Founder and Executive Director of Jewtina y Co., and a member of Elluminate Collective Cohort 3 — in a Feb. 21 thought piece in J. The Jewish News of Northern California. Read the piece, “Our Defense of Jewish Immigrants Isn’t a Remnant of the Past” here.

In a JTA thought piece on February 6, “I was Raised on Peter Yarrow’s Songs, but Don’t Think Jewish Communities Should Sing Them,” Rabbi Mary Zamore, Executive Director of the Women’s Rabbinic Network and a member of Elluminate Collective Cohort 6, writes that synagogues and other Jewish community organizations must prioritize the dignity of survivors of abuse above the pull of charismatic and popular artists whose creations have appeal in the Jewish space. Read the piece here.

Idit Klein, President and CEO of Keshet, and a member of Elluminate Collective Cohort 2 … along with Jodi Bromberg, Former CEO of 18Doors and a member of Cohort 4 … were featured in a March 4 eJewish Philanthropy article — ”Leading, Impact and Moving Forward” — examining the trajectory of Jewish women organizational leaders at the point they decide it is time to transition to new challenges. Read the piece here.

Susan Weiss, Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Women’s Justice, and a member of Elluminate Collective Cohort 1, was featured by eJewish Philanthropy on March 5 as she talked about her decision to sunset the organization, and the strides and continuing challenges advancing women’s dignity, equality and justice under Jewish law in Israel. Read the piece here.

Upcoming Programs

Women’s Spirit, led by CEO Tamar Shwartz — a member of Elluminate Collective Cohort 6 — will present on its impact at the NGO CSW69/Beijing+30 Forum of the United Nations on March 12 at 10:30 am ET. Dr. Maya Guez, Women’s Spirit spokeswoman, will discuss the work of the organization with women survivors of abuse in Israel in light of the current war. To watch via Zoom, click here.

Project Kesher US presents “Looking at Women Looking at War,” a webinar discussion marking International Women’s Day, on March 7 at 12:00 pm ET. The discussion will explore the themes in Victoria Amelina’s posthumous work, Looking at Women Looking at War: A War and Justice Diary, and will feature Karyn Grossman Gershon, CEO of Project Kesher US and a member of Collective Cohort 3, with Professor Amelia Glaser of UC San Diego. Register here.

A Feminist Lens film screening and discussion at Congregation Rodeph Sholom in Manhattan, March 8 at 3:00 pm ET. Photographer activist Joan Roth; producer, writer and Elluminate CEO Melanie Roth Gorelick; producer and director Pamela French; and Lilith Magazine Editor-in-Chief Susan Weidman Schneider will discuss the film, which lifts up the experience of the women’s movement, advocates and diverse women worldwide. Register here.

The Israeli Women’s Leadership Cohort: Finding Support and Collaborations

Elluminate’s Israeli Women’s Leadership Cohort — comprised of our Israeli Collective members — has been meeting regularly, most recently on Feburary 23, facilitated by our Israeli on-the-ground representative, Liron Peleg Hadomi. Responding to the severe challenges posed to Israeli communities and women leaders on and following October 7th, Elluminate created the Cohort to assist our Israeli Collective members in navigating key issues during wartime and holding up and strengthening civil society.

Support Elluminate Today!

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