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The tragedies that unfolded earlier this week in Midtown hit especially close to home. The Elluminate community is mourning the losses of the four innocent lives taken by senseless gun violence, including two proud and impact-minded Jewish women. When I read about Wesley LePatner and Julia Hyman's lives, I am reminded of both the importance of Jewish women leadership and the urgent need to support responsive and impactful programs. Now more than ever, we must stand up to hatred and support the initiatives that have lasting impact in our world.
Over the past several months, we have watched with alarm as the federal government slashes funding and rolls back policies that support nonprofits, and the most vulnerable among us. Issues in which we are all deeply invested are being negatively affected, including common-sense gun reform, mental health research, and more. Not only do budget cuts put more pressure on nonprofits to handle a bigger volume of challenges with less resources, but policy changes have diminished many gains that Jewish women have advocated for and achieved over many years, reflecting our shared Jewish values.
We must interpret all of these disturbing developments as a call to action. Elluminate needs your partnership and financial support more than ever before. The visionary women leaders in the Collective are running organizations focused on tikkun olam and social change and are severely impacted by these changes.
Together, we must ensure a pipeline of multigenerational women leaders who are trained executives to steer impactful organizations, be successful courageous advocates, and become future decision makers with shared values and a gender lens onto their communities and the world. Now is the time!
We are thrilled to welcome cohorts 6 and 7 to our Collective this fall and officially launch our global network of Jewish women leaders. Elluminate is creating a space where women leaders are uplifted and their voices amplified because we know they are essential to shaping our collective future.
Thank you for your past and future support of Elluminate.
Warmly,
Melanie Roth Gorelick
Elluminate CEO
| | Save the Date for Elluminate's Events | | |
November 20, 2025
Elluminate's Convening
A one-day conference bringing together Jewish women leaders, philanthropists, advocates and individuals to devise solutions to today’s most emergent issues with a gender lens.
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April 29, 2026
Elluminate’s Annual Luncheon
This annual event will showcase the impactful work of our Collective members. The luncheon will take place at Cipriani's on 42nd Street in New York City.
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Elluminate is thrilled to announce the outstanding and inspiring women in the seventh cohort of The Collective. They are leading organizations that are devising solutions and advancing change across a spectrum of pressing and emerging challenges in the U.S. and Israel: ensuring food equity and justice, improving healthcare for women and girls, preventing sexual violence against women and ending human trafficking and prostitution, creating inclusive spaces, and working for gender equity, among others. The members are:
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Maryam Chishti, Co-Executive Director, The LUNAR Collective
Richmond, CA
Maryam is the Co-Executive Director of The LUNAR Collective, a national organization that cultivates connection, belonging and visibility for Asian American Jews through intersectional programming, performance, digital storytelling and other media.
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Leah Kabran Eden, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Equity Advocates New York, NY
Leah is the co-founder and Executive Director of Equity Advocates, an organization dedicated to tackling the root causes of food inequity in New York through policy change and grassroots power building.
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Tali Ehrenthal, Executive Director, ASSAF - Aid Organization for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Israel
Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Israel
Tali is the Executive Director of ASSAF, a human rights organization advancing the dignity, rights, and wellbeing of refugees and asylum seekers in Israel.
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Dyonna Ginsburg, CEO, OLAM
Jerusalem, Israel
Dyonna is the CEO of OLAM, an international organization that empowers and equips Jewish individuals and organizations committed to global service, international development and humanitarian aid.
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Tal Hochman, Executive Director, Israel Women’s Network
Tel Aviv, Israel
Tal is the Executive Director of the Israel Women's Network, committed to creating social, economic and legal conditions for women to prosper across all sectors of Israeli society.
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Ronie Nof Malc, Executive Director, Women and Their Bodies
Tel Aviv, Israel
Ronie is the Executive Director of Women and Their Bodies, an Israeli nonprofit working to improve the health of women and girls and to elevate their interests in a healthcare system in which there is a gender gap in care, research, and outcomes.
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Lani Santo, CEO, Footsteps
New York, NY
Lani is the CEO of Footsteps, a national organization that provides comprehensive individual support to people who have chosen to leave the insular communities of ultra-Orthodox Judaism, and educate the greater Jewish and broader public about the experiences of this population.
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Daniella Seltzer, Co-Founder and Co-Director, JLM Food Rescuers Jerusalem, Israel
Daniella is the Co-Founder and Co-Director of JLM Food Rescuers, which works to build a more just, sustainable, and less wasteful urban food system in Jerusalem and other municipalities across Israel.
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Moria Rodal Silfen, CEO, ATZUM - Task Force on Human Trafficking and Prostitution
Tel Aviv, Israel
Moria is the CEO of the ATZUM in Israel, advocating for women’s rights, gender equality, prevention of sexual violence against women, and the eradication of human trafficking and prostitution in Israel.
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Dr. Ramona Tenorio, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Tiyuv
Brookfield, WI
Ramona co-founded and now leads Tiyuv (“improvement” in Hebrew), a national Jewish nonprofit supporting organizations in uncovering and addressing biases and practices that create barriers to equity and inclusive environments.
| | | Reflections from the Visionary Circle | | Elluminate's Visionary Circle members gathered over the summer to celebrate the announcement of cohort 7, the outcome of their work this year. The Visionary Circle shapes the future of Jewish women’s leadership in the US, Israel and around the world through its study of philanthropy and social issues and its selection of Elluminate’s Collective members. Our next season of Visionary Circle will begin this fall. Click here to learn how to get involved. | | | |
Collective Member Reflects on the Growing Need for Faith-Driven Feminism
Rabba Daphne Lazar Price (Cohort 6 - Executive Director
Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance), in a July 29 thought piece in eJewishPhilanthropy, writes: “Feminism must mean more than speaking out when it’s easy. It must mean showing up when it’s hard. It must mean holding space for one another’s wounds — especially when we’re hurting … We don’t have to agree on everything. But we cannot let silence be the final word.” To read the article click here.
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Leading with Compassion: Collective Members Unite to Support War-Affected Communities
Dana Talmi (Cohort 4 - CEO of Yahel Israel) and Ela Alon (Cohort 4 - Executive Director of Itach Maaki) joined other Israeli leaders in implementing an emergency relief campaign for communities in need following the most recent ceasefire in Israel. Volunteers came together to prepare 70 food packages for families in areas affected by the war. To learn more about the impact initiative click here.
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A Milestone in Gender Equity: Yeshivat Maharat Celebrates Its 100th Female Rabbi
Congratulations to Rabba Sara Hurwitz (Cohort 4 - Cofounder and President of Yeshivat Maharat), who continues to break gender equity barriers in Orthodox Judaism. On June 16th, Yeshivat Maharat held their 2025 Semikha Ceremony, marking the ordination of the institution's 100th female rabbinic leader. Mazal Tov to Daphne Lazar Price (Cohort 6 - Executive Director Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance) for receiving Semikha during this momentous occasion. To read more about this impressive milestone click here.
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The Collective 5-Year Impact Report: Elluminate’s Leadership Advancement Program captures the findings of an independent evaluation of the first five years of The Collective, our signature leadership program. To read or download a copy of the report click here.
Elluminate's Annual Report 2023-2024 highlights Elluminate’s work and impact in 2023-2024 including our response to October 7th and supporting Jewish women leaders to navigate during wartime and features our collective cohorts 3, 4, and 5 click here.
Crown JEWEL Conversations features members of cohort 5 and the social change they are making. To watch our 2024-2025 series click here.
| | | Welcome to Elluminate's Newest Team Members | | Learn more about our staff and their commitment to supporting Jewish women-led social change initiatives here. | | |
Sara Shapiro-Plevan
Chief Program Officer
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Sharon Pollack
Chief Finance & Operations Officer
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Ari Mosbacher
Administrative Assistant
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Sasha Somers
Engagement Associate
| | Elluminate is excited to kick off the 2025-2026 programming year with new team members. As our organization grows in size, we are excited to scale our impact in expanding Jewish women's leadership capacity. Please consider making a generous gift to support Elluminate's work during this critical time. | | | | |
