The Charlotte Jewish News - June-July 2009 - Page 9
Women’s Professional Network
Michael Koss (center left), the first recipient of the Bernstein Young
Leadership Award, presents to Risa Miller (center right) the 2009 BYL
Award, which is named in honor of Bobbie (far left) and Don Bernstein
(far right)
Risa Miller Wins Award
(Continued from page 2)
Federation members in good
standing contributing regularly
to the Annual Campaign.
The Bernstein Young
Leadership Award carries with it
financial support to attend the
General Assembly where recipi
ents are recognized at a Young
Leadership Luncheon.
Risa Miller has been an
active Federation board member
since 2005, recently serving for
two years as its Treasurer She
is also Federation’s representa
tive at the Foundation for the
Charlotte Jewish Community,
and serves on the Finance
Committee, Main Event
Steering Committee and
Campaign Cabinet. Additionally,
she has chaired the Newcomer
Committee and participated in
the Second Class of the
Bernstein Leadership Group.
Notably, she has generously
contributed to the Federation’s
Annual Campaign for ten
straight years and is a member,
with her husband David, of the
Ben Gurion Society.
Beyond the Federation, Risa
is very active at the Charlotte
Jewish Day School, where she is
a board member and currently
chairs their Annual Fund. She
has also served as Board
President and Silent Auction
Chair for the Jewish Preschool
on Sardis, and is currently a
member of the JCC Board of
Directors.
The Board and Staff of the
Jewish Federation thank Risa
for being an exemplary leader in
both her actions and commit
ments, and for all her many con
tributions as an outstanding
young leader ^
(Continued from page 7)
being both a participant and a
facilitator for this lively and
entertaining group of savvy
women. At each WPN meeting I
met someone new with whom I
had something in common, per
sonally and professionally,”
remarked Jennifer.
“Train Your Brain” was the
topic for our January meeting
sponsored by McCormick and
Schmick’s SouthPark. Vicki
Parker Director of Learning Rx
and her talented team facilitated
the program which allowed
women to flex their mental
muscles with a series of brain
training exercises. WPN
returned to The Light Factory in
March for Table Topics, facili
tated by Lisa Blau.
“Networking: Do’s and Don’ts,”
“Career Empowerment: Taking
Matters into Your Own Hands”
and “Building Your Personal
Brand” were the topics facilitat
ed by a highly professional
group of women.
In order to educate and
inform women about the Jewish
Federation, an active volunteer
offered a “Federation Minute”
prior to each meeting. Cary
Bernstein, co-chair of the
Annual Campaign, Pam Levy, a
member of the Allocations
Committee, Linda Seigel,
Major Gifts Chair, and Gale
Osborne, past president of the
Charlotte Jewish Day School,
have each supplemented Fern
Epley’s warm and informational
welcomes.
“How wonderful to be part of
such an amazing group of
women. The women of WPN
genuinely care about each other,
about serving the community,
developing professionally, and
growing personally all while
having a little fun. Leave it to
the Jewish Federation to serve
the professional Jewish women
of our community by initiating
such a great program. From
fashion trends to training your
brain, every meeting has been
interesting and different.
Definitely not your same old
networking,” states Kelly
Gaines, owner of Charlotte
Aquatics.
Membership in the WPN is
limited to those women who
make a minimum commitment
of $180 to the Federation
Annual Campaign. A directory
was emailed to members in
early May and will be updated
as new members join. To leam
more about how you can get
involved or to receive email
communications about future
programs, please contact Sue
Littauer, Development Director
of the Jewish Federation at
sue. littauer@j ewishcharlotte. org
In celebration of the first year
of the Women’s Professional
Network, a Summer Social and
Wine Tasting will be held for
the membership on Thursday,
June 25 from 6-7:30 PM at the
home of Fern Ingber Epley
Recognizing the challenge of
our current economy, women
who would like to join but are
unable to meet the minimum
pledge are encouraged to call
Sue Littauer for special arrange
ments.
According to Jane
Rabinovitz, owner of Jane’s
Gems Boutique, “The response
to the premier year of the
Women’s Professional Network
has been a resounding ‘yes.’
Our community of professional
women have networked, been
enriched, educated and support
ed by one another. This is a very
powerful new resource for our
community. We’ve only just
begun.”
The Women s Professional
Network presented by the
Jewish Federation of Greater
Charlotte offers women the
opportunity to engage socially
and connect with a cause. The
Network meets five times each
year and is open to all profes
sional women whether or not
they are actively engaged in
careers outside the home. ^
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