Installation of officers in the 1990’s. From left to right: Sookie Weinberger Seriff, Linda Cox, Janis Daemmrich, Eileen Ladd, Bettie Forman, Georgia Levin, Sue Goldstein, Karen Siegel, Tobi Sokolow, Beth Sher, Karen Naseck, Lisa Gerhardt. Courtesy: Karen Siegel

By Bettie Forman

On September 22, 2024 the National Council of Jewish Women Austin (NCJW) will host an event celebrating 36 years since becoming an independent NCJW section. In Judaism, 18 stands for chai or life and since they are two times 18 years old, this is the NCJW Austin Double Chai Celebration. 

In 1983, NCJW Dallas opened a satellite office in Austin, Texas. The initial group of women grew rapidly and in 1988, Austin NCJW became an official 501(c)(3) section of the national organization. 

The central call to action for National Council of Jewish Women is, “Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue” (Deuteronomy 16:20). NCJW was founded in 1893 and is the oldest Jewish women’s grassroots organization in the country, continually guided by Jewish values that call on us to improve the lives of the most vulnerable women, children, and families. We work both in the United States and Israel to achieve this goal. 

NCJW’s work has shifted in response to the most pressing challenges facing all vulnerable women, children and families. This has included refugee aid, pioneering juvenile justice reform, advocating for family leave and child care, protecting reproductive health, rights, and justice and passing critical civil rights legislation. Their work now focuses primarily on safeguarding and expanding access to abortion and contraception, protecting and promoting the vote, and pushing for fair, independent, and qualified judges on federal courts, among other issues. 

In Israel, NCJW focuses on social and gender justice and empowers Israeli and American women to create a fair and just society by using our same theory of change. 

Here in Austin, their work has been defined by their commitment to and belief in education, advocacy and community service for all the causes they believe in. 

On September 22 at 6:00 p.m. at the Dell JCC, they will celebrate their leaders and successes with dinner, drinks and a program. The program will include a short slide show about their history and accomplishments in Austin with photos and words from past leaders. 

They also look forward to honoring all of the past presidents: 

• Augusta Gelfand, 1983-85
• Barbara Speyer, 1985-1987
• Sandy Schwartz, 1987-1988
• Tina Coverman, 1988-1989
• Barbara Schrager (z”l), 1989
• Joanne Pelc, 1990
• Linda Cox and Rona Statman, 1990-1992
• Sookie Weinberger (z”l), 1992-1993
• Sookie Weinberger (z”l) and Bettie Forman, 1993-1994
• Bettie Forman and Karen Siegel, 1994-1995
• Karen Siegel and Eileen Ladd, 1995-1996
• Eileen Ladd and Karen Naseck, 1996-1997
• Joan Brook and Ellen Sable, 1997-1998
• Joan Brook and Bettie Forman, 1998-1999
• Bettie Forman and Ellen Sable, 1999-2000
• Ellen Sable and Marilyn Shashoua, 2000-2001
• Marilyn Shashoua, 2001-2002
• Judith Sokolow, 2002-2003
• Judith Sokolow and Lisa Humphrey, 2003-2004
• Lisa Humphrey and Susan Pintchovski, 2005-2006
• Bettie, Jackie Nirenberg, Lisa H and Lisa Saslavsky, 2006-2007
• Shelli Miller, Jackie N and Susan P, 2007-2008
• Leslie Archambault, 2009-2010
• Leslie A and Michele Schwartz, 2010-2011
• Michelle Schwartz, 2011-2012
• Melanie Cox, 2012-2014
• Barbara Laudenheimer, Ruth Ann Plotkin, Bettie F, 2015-2015
• Barbara L and Ruth Ann Plotkin, 2015-2016
• Leslie Otis, Joni Rothenberg, Elyse Rosenberg, 2016-2017
• Elyse Rosenberg and Joni Rotheberg, 2017-2018
• Melisa Markman and Amy Webberman, 2018-2020
• Nancy Kahn and Anne Kocher, 2020-2022
• Merle Dover and Marsha Steinback, 2022-2023
• Merle Dover, 2023-2024
• Merle Dover and Beth Payan, current

In addition, they will award the Hannah G. Solomon Award to Courtney Newmark, their webmaster and tech guru for 20 plus years. Solomon was the NCJW founder and this award is the highest honor, presented to an individual who has changed the lives of others through her leadership and service.