Linda Silberman has served on the Board of Trustees at the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. She has also been the Co-Chair of Premier Gifts for the Federation Community Campaign 2017 through 2022 and the President of Women’s Philanthropy in 2019. She also has served on the board of Jewish Kids Groups as the Chair of Development and most recently as Chair of the Board.

Linda helped start the PJ Library advisory committee for the Atlanta Federation. She also served on the Alliance Theatre Advisory Board in Atlanta. Served as President of the sisterhood at Temple Kehillat Chaim, Roswell, Ga. She has four amazing kids, six grandkids, and enjoys biking, painting, traveling and is an admitted TV junkie.

Jodi Bromberg has been the president of InterfaithFamily since October 1, 2013—the day that the Pew Report on Jewish Americans came out. Prior to joining InterfaithFamily, she most recently practiced corporate law, predominantly with non-profit organizations and small businesses.

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University Beasley School of Law, Jodi is excited to now advocate and work on behalf of interfaith families interested in exploring Jewish life, and in the past year, has written for eJewish Philanthropy, the Jewish Journal, the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent and the Jewish Daily Forward. She has also been speaking and advocating on behalf of the inclusion of interfaith families in Jewish life, most recently at the International Lion of Judah Conference, and serves on the Advisory Boards of Honeymoon Israel and Seder2015. After growing up in northern New Jersey, and living in the Philadelphia area for the past 20 years, Jodi, her spouse and preschooler twin boys now live outside of Boston. (But she remains a diehard New York Yankees fan!)

Joanna S. Ballantine is Vice President for Philanthropic Services for the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts. Prior to joining the Community Foundation, Joanna was a Financial Planner with The Davis Financial Group.  Previously, Joanna was Vice President at The Trustees of Reservations whose mission is to preserve—for public use and enjoyment—places of exceptional scenic, historic and ecological value in Massachusetts. Before her career in conservation, Joanna was executive director of The Harold Grinspoon Foundation for over a decade and was instrumental in creating and growing the organization’s three signature programs: PJ Library, PJ’s sister program Sifriyat Pijama in Israel and JCamp180 focused on the Jewish overnight camping sector. In her 20-plus years of work in the Jewish world, Joanna has focused on outreach and engagement of interfaith families. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts with her husband Clay, has a son Caleb at Skidmore College and is proud of her daughter Hannah, who graduated from Hampshire College.

Laurie Beijen runs a real estate investment and management business, after a lengthy career in political and policy communications. She has a long history of non-profit volunteer work. Laurie serves on the Leadership Council for 18Doors in the Bay Area, as well as serving on program committee on the national board. Laurie also serves on the JCRC- San Francisco board.

Laurie is actively involved with Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco, where she is on the Interfaith programming committee and the Tribe for Women (moms’ group) programming committee. In the past, Laurie served as the founding president of the San Francisco Women’s Political Committee, as well as the president of the National Women’s Political Caucus- SF Chapter. She has also served as the vice-president of the board of the California Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (CARAL- now NARAL Pro-Choice California), chair of the CARAL PAC Board and chair of its political committee. She lives with her interfaith family in San Francisco, California. Her family has been involved in the interfaith community in San Francisco for a long time and building and sustaining this community is very important to her.

Julia Bergman began her interfaith journey when she met her future husband at graduate school in Japan. They now live in San Francisco with their two children. Born and raised in the UK, Julia graduated from the University of Oxford with a degree in Japanese Studies, followed by a Master’s degree in International Relations from the International University of Japan. Julia has used her Japanese fluency in a variety of jobs, culminating with her role as Public Relations Coordinator at the Japanese Consulate in San Francisco. Since having children, Julia’s focus has been on volunteer work. Until recently, she was the director of after-school enrichment programming at her children’s elementary school. Julia is actively involved with Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco, where she is on the Interfaith programming committee and the adult education committee. Julia enjoys choral singing, sewing, and visiting museums.

Joanne Birnbrey has served on the board of Trustees and the Executive Board at the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. She was the Woman’s Philanthropy Chair and President as well as the General Campaign Chair. Currently, Joanne is a Premier Gifts captain and solicitor, and is very active in Jewish Education Loan Fund (JELF). She served on the Executive and General Board as Chair of Resource Development.

Joanne lives in Atlanta, Georgia. She is married with four children and so far, 6 grandchildren. All in Atlanta! Ensuring the future of Atlanta’s Jewish Community is a top priority. Joanne graduated from Tulane University and was President of the Undergraduate Business School. She is a member of Brandeis, Hadassah, National Council of Jewish Women, and Congregation B’nai Torah

Michael Cedillos is an attorney and shareholder in the litigation department of Greenberg Traurig, LLP. Michael joined the 18Doors Board in May 2013 and is also a member of the Jewish Federations of North America National Young Leadership Cabinet and a past Campaign Co-Chair of the Executive Committee of the Young Lawyers Group of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and her law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.

Fern Chertok is the Director of Advising and Field Experience Programs in the Hornstein Professional Jewish Leadership Program. She is a community psychologist and is the editor of “Researching Community Psychology: Issues of Theory and Methods.” As part of the Hornstein program, Fern teaches courses in program evaluation and organizational behavior. Fern has been involved in a variety of research projects including studies of the experiences and preferences of interfaith families, economic insecurity in Jewish households, the organizational health of synagogues, the Jewish identities and participation of young adults, and innovation in Jewish community centers and synagogues. Fern has also conducted extensive research on volunteerism in the Jewish community. In addition to her research and teaching, she has conducted training and consultation for a variety of Jewish communal organizations including synagogues, day schools and federations. You can browse Fern Chertok publications here.

Dr. Mary Fernández consults with non-profit organizations on strategy, operational planning, and leadership development. During her three-decade career, she has been a non-profit leader, a research computer scientist and technology leader, and a passionate mentor and advocate of students from historically under-represented groups in science and engineering. She earned an AB and ScM at Brown University and the PhD at Princeton University. Mary became a Jew after raising two Jewish daughters with her husband, Adam Buchsbaum. Mary is currently is trustee and VP of Education and Worship at Temple B’nai Or in Morristown, NJ, where she especially loves singing and praying at Mishpacha T’filah (Family Prayer) during Sunday morning religious school.

For over 30 years, Rick Franklin has provided audit, accounting, tax and consulting services to Warady & Davis LLP (W&D) clients in a wide variety of industries, including manufacturing, distribution, real estate, construction, finance, not-for-profit and numerous service industries. As immediate past Co-Managing Partner of W&D, Rick continues to lead strategic initiatives across the firm including growth strategies, new business development and strategic alliances with third party service providers. He currently serves as a member of the Illinois General Assembly’s Public Accountant Registration Committee and is the past Chairman of the Illinois CPA Society’s Ethics Committee. As part of the AICPA’s Peer Review program, in the past, Rick conducted many reviews of other certified public accounting firms.

Michael is a Vice President of Technology Banking at Silicon Valley Bank’s Atlanta Office where he focuses on helping early-stage tech companies grow. He has an MBA from Georgia Tech’s Scheller College of Business and attended the University of Colorado as an undergrad where he double majored in Political Science and Sociology. In his free time, you can find him enjoying the outdoors with his wife Kasia, sons Milo and Luka and dog Stella either mountain biking, hiking, or snowboarding.

Dr. Ruth Nemzoff is a resident scholar at The Brandeis University’s Women’s Studies Research Center, with expertise on topics including family dynamics, gender, women in the workplace, communication, mothering and Jewish education. She speaks and writes about intergenerational and interfaith relationships and is the author of two books: Don’t Bite Your Tongue: How to Foster Rewarding Relationships with Your Adult Children and Don’t Roll Your Eyes: Making In-laws into Family. Ruth is also the advice columnist for the American Israelite and is a frequent blogger for various sites. She is the former assistant minority leader in the New Hampshire Legislature and has served on the boards of the Brandeis Women’s Studies Research Center, the Center for Women, Politics and Public Policy/University of Massachusetts. She is currently on the board of the Jewish Grandparents Network and she joined the 18Doors board in 2014. During the pandemic, she has spoken extensively about Jewish grandparenting.

Alicia Oberman is Senior Strategist, Volunteer Leadership at Leading Edge. Before Boardified was acquired by Leading Edge, she was Founder & Chief Experience Officer of Boardified. Alicia deeply understands the challenges of volunteer leaders and those who work alongside them. She is committed to meaningfully engaging with leaders in what she calls their “extra, extra time” (i.e., the time they spend to further develop themselves in their volunteer roles). She encourages everyone she works with to seek a state of “inspired excellence,” recognizing that the most successful leaders are viscerally inspired by their work and take ownership and pride in how they approach all of their commitments (especially those for which they volunteer).

In her own “extra” time, Alicia currently serves on the Boards of Directors of, and in advisory capacities to, a number of nonprofit organizations, including: the Goldie Initiative (Executive and Governance Committees), 18Doors, Leading Edge (Governance Committee), and the Melanoma Tissue Bank Consortium. Alicia lives in Chicago, has three daughters, and enjoys running outside, and reading for leisure.

Bruce spent his 40-year professional career at Cole Taylor Bank. He served in various positions including president, chairman and CEO during that time. Since leaving his full-time role at the bank in 2014, he founded Taylor Investment Partners investing with his family in venture and private equity transactions. He co-founded the NextLevel Exchange, an entrepreneur support program that partners with several organizations serving diverse minority communities in the Chicago Area. He currently serves as chairman of 18Doors. Bruce is treasurer and on the board of governors for The Metropolitan Planning Council of Chicago. He also serves as director of the Jewish Federation of Chicago, director of JCC Chicago and director of Midwest trustee of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. He sits on the advisory board of MTL Insurance Company, a life insurance and annuity company located in Oak Brook, Illinois. He is also a past chairman of the Illinois Bankers Association. Bruce earned his B.S. from Babson College in 1977 and his MBA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1979. He and his wife Barbie have lived in Northbrook, Illinois, for 37 years, and they have three children and five grandchildren.