Board Officers

Robin Roger

President | New York

Robin Roger is a general counsel, litigator and a corporate and securities regulation lawyer. She’s headed legal departments at large and mid-sized organizations, advised public and private boards, led human resources departments and handled public relations for firms of various sizes. She has served as pro bono counsel in immigration matters, and as a volunteer at the New York Civil Liberties Union while serving on the board of NCJW, Inc., where she chaired the Bylaws, Resolutions, and Personnel Practices Committees.

She lives with her partner, Kenny Clemons, in New Rochelle, NY, along with poodle, Dobie. She has 3 amazing adult children, and loves to bake sourdough, hike, read and travel.

Paula L. Garret

Vice President, Strategic Planning | Pennsylvania

Paula L. Garret recently retired as CEO of a privately-held lighting fixture manufacturer, whose company provided lighting for the Grand Central Station and the World Trade Center transportation hub in NYC as well as headquarters lighting for Linked In and Google, and brings a solid background in strategic planning, finance, and personnel management to NCJW Inc. Paula is a Board member of two Foundations headquartered in Pittsburgh, is a Past President of Tree of Life Congregation, and is a Past President of NCJW-Pittsburgh. Most recently, Paula has been the interim Chief Operating Officer of the Tree of Life Center, a newly-formed 501C3 organization which is focused on ending antisemitism through education and strategic partnerships.

Paula splits her time between her home in Pittsburgh and a teeny, tiny apartment in NYC’s upper East Side, where she and her husband James play with their 1 1/2 year old and 3 1/2 year old granddaughters several times each week.

Emily Kuvin

Vice President | New York

Emily Mathes Kuvin is a jewelry designer and entrepreneur helming Emily Kuvin Jewelry. She arrived at professional jewelry design after years working in television journalism, law, and professional fundraising. Her commitment to do good infuses all her work, and she strives to give back to her local and the global communities through board and volunteer work, financial donations, and raising awareness of causes and issues that affect all of us.

She has served two terms on the NCJW Board of Directors and is honored to serve as a Vice President for the current triennium. In addition, Emily co-chaired the 2025 NCJW Washington Institute.

Emily began designing jewelry in high school and continued to refine and develop her aesthetic and skills over the years. She has a BA and a JD from Cornell University, an MSJ from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and has completed coursework at the Gemological Institute of America. Today, Emily designs from her studio in New York City where she lives.

Monnique Faison

Vice President | Pennsylvania

Monnique Faison is currently on the board of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), where she also chairs the Personnel Practices Committee. In her professional career, she serves as a Global Benefits Administrator with 19 years of experience in human resources across multiple countries. Her diverse background includes years on a hospital trauma team and teaching conversational English while living in Japan.

An aspiring environmentalist, Monnique successfully revived her synagogue’s green team, leading to the installation of solar panels and other sustainable initiatives. Her community leadership includes service on the Board of Trustees for the Solomon Schechter Jewish Day School in West Hartford, CT, and The Emanuel Synagogue. She has also served on the State of Connecticut’s Domestic Violence Prevention Fatality Review Task Force.

Monnique is a frequent speaker regarding her near-death experience, which is documented in her memoir. Her book has received several honors, including the IAN Book of the Year Award for Outstanding Non-Fiction and a Readers’ Favorite Gold Award. Additionally, her work has been published in Lilith Magazine.

Personally, Monnique enjoys doting on her five grandchildren and spending time with her four favorite people adult children. Her interests include reformer Pilates, reading, traveling, and dedicated Mussar study with her chevruta and va’ad.

Beth Salamon

Vice President | Kentucky

Beth Salamon is a dedicated leader and longtime volunteer in the Jewish community. She currently serves as Board Chair of JewishLouisville and as the Kentucky NCJW Co-State Policy Advocate. Beth is also the immediate past chair of the Louisville Jewish Community Relations Council (JCJRC). 

Before relocating to Louisville, Beth worked as an attorney for the California Legislative Council, bringing a strong background in public policy and legal affairs to her community leadership roles. 

Outside of her volunteer work, Beth is an avid tennis player, enjoys cooking, and loves to travel. She lives in Louisville with her husband, Michael, and their dog, Harry. They have two adult sons, Alex and Jack, who reside in Chicago.

Luise Mann

Treasurer | Connecticut

Luise is the chief operating officer of an energy company in Connecticut.  Luise is a certified public accountant who spent 40 years in public practice prior to making the switch to private industry.  Luise’s love and commitment to Judaism has been fostered by her Jewish roots and mentors from all facts of Jewish life.

Luise has served as President of B’nai Israel in Bridgeport, Connecticut where she has belonged for over 50 years.  Luise has served as treasurer and vice president of the Union for Reform Judaism and served as the chair of the Boston biennial.  Luise also served on the board and audit chair of the Reform Pension Board.  Luise is very committed to social justice issues, especially abortion, voters’ rights and equality, which is why she is especially proud to be a member of the Board of NCJW.

Luise lives in Fairfield, Connecticut with her poodle Howie.  Family is paramount to Luise and she loves to spend time with her significant other, Steve and her son, Marc, daughter-in-law Adrienne and their son Lucas.  Lucas is the love of Luise’s life.  Luise likes to exercise, travel, cook, read, go to the beach and share a bottle of Sancerre with friends.

Donna D. Stein

Assistant Treasurer | New York

Donna is a results-oriented, hands-on, team-focused executive with strong managerial and communications skills and proven track records for professional excellence in both the profit and not-for-profit arenas. She shifted career focus in mid-2015 to serve as interim CFO/COO, working collaboratively with staff and board of organizations in transition to build highly effective “21st century” non-profit staff teams, create financial and operational stability and optimize structure for sustained mission delivery. 

Jill Tavlin Swartz

Secretary | Florida

Jill Tavlin Swartz is a committed community volunteer, an appellate lawyer in a boutique defense firm, and runs her own Executive and Leadership Coaching business. In her Miami community, Jill engages with NCJW locally and serves on several local boards, including the University of Miami School of Law Alumni Association, the Jewish Community Services of Miami Board, and with the Florida Foster Care Review. In addition, she is a retired civil servant, having served as a lawyer for the U.S. government for nearly 30 years. 

When she’s not busy coaching, practicing law or out advocating for women and children, Jill is sitting on a beach chair next to husband Ken or one of her adult sons, Eric or Justin.

Stephanie Rodgers

Officer at Large | Illinois

Stephanie Rodgers has committed her life to volunteerism. She was raised licking NCJW envelopes and building honey boxes for the South Cook section. This will be Stephanie’s fourth triennium on the NCJW National Board. Her passion for Israel is the driving force behind her work, but she has never met a process she did not like implementing. Stephanie’s Jewish values have led her to sit on her temple board at B’nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim (BJBE). She is also involved with her local school Parent Teacher Organization, the school speakers bureau, and other organizations around the Chicagoland area.

Stephanie lives in the northern suburbs of Chicago with her husband, Tom, and her three daughters, Zoey, Stella, and Emma.

Laura Monn Ginsburg

Past President | Minnesota

Laura Monn Ginsburg is a strategic communications and nonprofit leader. She owns a public affairs firm based in Minneapolis and sits on several nonprofit boards, including National Council of Jewish Women Minnesota where she served as their President and National Council of Jewish Women, Inc. Both professionally and personally, Laura is committed to promoting social justice and advocacy.

Laura is an avid traveler and travel planner, including fulfilling her 10 year-old’s goal of visiting all 50 states. She lives in Minneapolis, MN, with her husband, son, and two moderately well-behaved dogs.

Board Directors

Darien Alpern Arnstein

Director | Missouri

Darien Arnstein has been committed to utilizing her Harvard MBA and her corporate background in consulting and business to engage with non-profit organizations to achieve the betterment of the Jewish and general community in St. Louis. Darien has been an active advocate, leader and fundraiser for the St. Louis Jewish Federation, the Solomon Schechter Day School in St. Louis (now the Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School) and National Council of Jewish Women St. Louis over the past 40 years.

She cites her achievements in leadership with NCJWSTL, serving for five years as State Policy Advocacy chair for Missouri, a two-year term as Board President, and as chair of NCJWSTL’s 125th Anniversary Endowment Campaign; and was honored to receive the Nancy K. Kaufman Enduring Leader award from NCJW in 2022.

Darien has been a member of The Pioneers, a women’s literary discussion group in St. Louis, since 2004, and enjoys active walking, cooking, travel, birdwatching and bridge. She grew up in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Bethesda, Maryland, and has lived in St. Louis, Missouri since 1980, married for 44 years to her husband Stephen, and recently has begun spending winter months in Palm Springs; they have two adult sons.

Jacqui Beckett

Director | Colorado

Jacqui Beckett is an anti-corruption and ethics attorney with a passion for community service and advocacy. She is currently helping companies all over the world conduct business in a more ethical fashion through her business Beckett Ethics and Compliance International. In addition to working hard professionally, she is dedicated to fighting for women’s reproductive rights and to end gun violence, working to make migrants’ integration into the community smoother and to assuring that education is meaningful for all children.

As past President of NCJW Colorado Section, she helped the section significantly increase membership, build leadership, enhance programing, and become a key force in advocacy and community engagement.

Jacqui loves the outdoors, travel, cooking, photography, knitting and reading. She lives in Englewood, Colorado (a suburb of Denver) with her husband David but can often be found visiting her two grown children in Boston and Seattle.

Laura Gold

Director | New York

Rabbi Dr. Laura Gold works primarily as a clinical psychologist in New York City and has had a private psychotherapy practice for the past three-plus decades, working with adolescents, adults, and couples.  A graduate of Princeton University (A.B. 1982) and the University of Michigan (Ph.D. 1988), she spent seven years as a clinical instructor on the faculty of the University of Michigan and as Director of Training for a University-affiliated outpatient mental health clinic.  In 1995 she spent a transformational sabbatical year in Jerusalem studying at the Pardes Institute, and a year later she began rabbinical studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary.  Laura has served on the faculty of the JTS Rabbinical School as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Pastoral and Professional Skills and as a clinical supervisor to clinical psychology graduate students at the City College of New York.  She has published and/or presented on such topics as sexual boundaries and boundary violations in the rabbinate, eating disorders, depression, borderline personality disorder, and dissociative disorders.  She offers consultations to individuals and organizations, coaches rabbis, and officiates at life-cycle events.  

A long-time supporter of NCJW, Planned Parenthood, T’ruah, and the New Israel Fund, Laura is very grateful for the opportunity that NCJW Board service provides for her to advocate for social justice for all women and children in the U.S. and Israel, the two countries dearest to her heart.  

Laura loves to spend time with friends and family, travel, read, watch movies, and go to art museums.  While both her lines of professional work are deeply gratifying, Laura’s most fulfilling role is that of mother; she is immensely proud of her daughter, who just graduated from college and is spending the next year doing an environmental service fellowship in Panama. 

Debbie Hoffmann

Director | Ohio

Debbie Hoffmann is a past-president of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) and currently serves on the board.  Hoffmann’s history of leadership activities with NCJW is extensive. Before being elected NCJW president in March 2014, she served as NCJW’s treasurer, chaired its finance committee, and was also co-chair of the Israel Granting Committee.  Hoffmann was a founding member of NCJW’s Center for Social Change. Hoffmann is a proud member and past chair of NCJW’s Cleveland (OH) section. 

Hoffmann is chair of the St. Petersburg, Russia subcommittee and a member of the Overseas Connection Committee of the Jewish Federation Cleveland.  She is a passionate advocate on behalf of the Jews around the world, but especially the people of St. Petersburg.

She is involved in leadership roles with many nonprofits in the Cleveland community, and she is currently a vice-president of the American Jewish Committee Cleveland region.

Hoffmann is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University, received an MA from Northwestern University. She is a proud mother of three, grandmother of three and lives in Cleveland, OH with her husband Andrew. In her free time, she loves visiting her grandkids and travelling. 

Sally Kline

Director | Washington, DC

Sally Kline has been a donor and activist on behalf of the autonomy of girls and women, the Jewish community, and chronically ill and unhoused for over 40 years across a variety of nonprofit organizations. Among other projects, she currently serves as a board member for the GW Hillel Foundation, an ambassador for the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, and is excited to begin her first triennium on the national board of NCJW.  

Kline is a former journalist, with an MBA in marketing and a BA in political science. In addition to her early career in the business sector and then over 20 years as a daily newspaper film critic, Kline has contributed as a writer and editor to books, magazines, and newspaper features on a variety of topics. 

Born and raised in in the Tidewater Virginia area, Kline is a fourth generation Washingtonian on her mother’s side. She loves to read, walk, giggle with her friends, and swim in the warm sunshine. 

Mariely Luengo

Director | Ohio

Mariely Luengo is a dynamic leader and CEO of Pueblo Strategy, a culturally competent marketing agency. With a passion for social justice, Mariely has made it her life’s work to create positive change in communities. Her expertise in strategy development, urban research, and public health campaigning has earned her a reputation as a trusted expert in her field.

Beyond her professional work, Mariely is a dedicated volunteer, offering her doula services to refugee mothers and spending time at the NICU of several hospitals. She is also actively involved in her community, serving on several Boards, including the Julia de Burgos Cultural Arts Center, the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, Mt Sinai Health Foundation, and Planned Parenthood Ohio.

When Mariely isn’t working or volunteering, you can find her on the tennis court, honing her skills. She resides on the west side of Cleveland, where she advocates for greater visibility of Jews of Color and works tirelessly to make a positive impact in the lives of those around her.

Aliza Plotkin

Director | Michigan

Aliza Plotkin is a strategic leader in Jewish community planning and education. She serves as Associate Director of Planning & Agency Relations at the Jewish Federation of Detroit, where she leads The Collective, an initiative that brings together professionals and organizations to strengthen collaboration, learning, and innovation across the community. Both professionally and through her service on the National Council of Jewish Women Board of Directors, Aliza is deeply committed to building connected communities and advancing meaningful, values-driven work.

Aliza is passionate about fostering relationships and creating spaces where communities can learn, grow, and lead together. She lives in Metro Detroit with her husband and son.

Jennie Goldsmith Rothman

Director | New Jersey

Jennie Goldsmith Rothman, an employment attorney with experience in law firms, corporate legal offices, and legal journalism, has spent the last 15 years as an independent educational consultant and professional volunteer dedicated to helping people and communities thrive.

Jennie founded JGR Education, where she provides empathy-driven, process-focused guidance to students navigating college, law school, and graduate admissions. Jennie also brings extensive nonprofit leadership experience, including serving as Board President of NCJW/Essex, director at Temple Sharey Tefilo-Isarel (South Orange, NJ),  and twice as an elementary school PTA Co-President.

Jennie is a mom to two twenty-something children and lives in New Jersey with her husband, where she enjoys reading, hiking, traveling, and attending Broadway shows. Guided by her core value of B’etzlem Elohim and commitment to tikkun olam, Jennie is inspired to continue marching together with NCJW changemakers to make the world more just and whole.

Patty Rubin

Director | Ohio

Patty Rubin is a CPA with decades of experience as an audit partner and business consultant. She used her passion for providing services to privately owned businesses and non profit organizations to pursue leadership positions at several International and local CPA firms throughout her career. Upon retirement as an audit partner with BDO USA in 2019 she became involved with several non profit organizations. In addition to her role as past-Treasurer at NCJW, Patty is currently the Board Chair of Hillel at Miami University, Assistant Treasurer at Jewish Family Services of Cleveland and on the local board of AJC.

In her free time, you can find Patty playing pickleball, gardening or visiting her children in New York and Detroit.

Yolanda Savage-Narva

Director | Washington, DC

Yolanda Savage-Narva has twenty years’ experience working with public agencies and non-profit organizations to promote equity and inclusion. She is a Centers for Disease Control (CDC)-trained health specialist who has led community-based efforts in community health assessments for Indian Health Service, directed health equity programs for states and spearheaded active transportation programs and advocacy efforts. Yolanda was also the Executive Director of Operation Understanding DC, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting Black and Jewish and Black/Jewish dialogue understanding, cooperation, and respect while fighting to eradicate racism, anti-Semitism, and all forms of discrimination. She is currently the Vice President for Equity and Belonging for the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ). 

Yolanda’s work in the Jewish community includes lay leadership roles within the DC Federation of Greater Washington, Capital Jewish Museum, Sixth and I Historic synagogue, Leading Edge, American Jewish World Services, Tree of Life, and Kehillat Sankofa. Yolanda has published numerous articles and has written chapters in books such as Sacred Struggle and Communities of Meaning. Yolanda has been featured on ABC News and other media outlets discussing the impacts of antisemitism and racism on the Black Jewish community and is in the the process of completing her first book: a memoir titled; Mississippi Mussar; A Black Jewish Woman’s Spiritual Journey. 

Yolanda is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority; an international Black sorority dedicated to community service and education. Yolanda is a graduate of Tougaloo College and Jackson State University and is currently pursuing her PhD at Gratz College in Holocaust and Genocide studies. 

In her spare time Yolanda loves being outdoors, reading, birdwatching, playing sports and traveling with her son Miles and husband Andrew.

Karen Seltzer

Director | New York

Karen Seltzer is a passionate advocate for women’s healthcare and reproductive rights. She has been an active member of Planned Parenthood boards for almost 20 years, serving as Board Chair of Planned Parenthood of Nassau County before becoming the inaugural Board Chair of Planned Parenthood of Greater New York. She has extensive knowledge of how to manage nonprofit boards and an ability to collaborate and bring people together which was tested and proven in 2020 when the PPGNY merger went live weeks before the COVID shutdown. 

Karen has held many volunteer leadership positions over the past 30 plus years, serving on the boards of her Synagogue, The Community Chest of Port Washington, and holding many leadership roles in several organizations, including the Port Washington School District, Hadassah, and UJA Women’s Cabinet. She is also the immediate past Board Chair of the MB and Edna Zale Foundation in Dallas. 

Karen’s 3 adult daughters are also passionate activists for multiple causes. In her free time, Karen enjoys spending time with her 2 grandchildren, playing tennis, pickleball, reading, and going for long walks as she explores her new neighborhood in NYC. 

Emily Sweet

Director | Illinois

Emily Sweet is a veteran philanthropic leader and policy advisor with more than 25 years of professional experience advancing bold solutions to big problems that drive impact and inspire collective action.

She is currently Vice President of Social Impact at OpenComp, where she leads efforts to advance pay equity and close the gender pay gap. Emily is a national board member of National Council of Jewish Women, a member of the 2013 Leadership Greater Chicago fellows class, and a past recipient of the Jewish Federation of Chicago’s Samuel A. Goldsmith Award.

Emily is an avid reader, and loves cooking with her kids, going on runs and hikes and seeing live music. She lives in Chicago with her husband, Jacob, two children, Adira and Nina, and their dog, Willie.

Michéle Taylor

Director | Georgia

Ambassador Michéle Taylor served as U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council from February 2022 to January 2025, leading the successful effort to restore U.S. membership after its 2018 withdrawal. During her tenure, she championed human rights for all, with a focus on marginalized communities; fought racism, antisemitism, and discrimination; and insisted that every nation be held to international human rights standards. She led efforts to isolate Russia, advance gender equity through the international Youth Gender Champions program she founded, and build the first-ever coalition of countries at the UN to counter antisemitism. 

A lifelong advocate for justice, Ambassador Taylor’s commitment is deeply rooted in her family’s history as the daughter and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors. Before her ambassadorship, she served on the board of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, and held various other national leadership roles in political and civic organizations. She currently serves as a Distinguished Professor of the Practice at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology and is a member of the Board of Councilors at the Carter Center, and is an inaugural board member of the American Message Foundation. 

She and her husband Kenneth have two children. A graduate of Mills College and Boston University, she is an avid adventurer and is currently writing her first children’s novel.

Nancy Zirkin

Director | Washington, DC

Nancy Zirkin is a Strategic Consultant to several public interest organizations, advising on strategy on lobbying, advocacy, and messaging. In addition, she serves in leadership roles on numerous national boards. Zirkin was formerly Executive Vice President of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the nation’s oldest, largest, and most diverse civil and human rights coalition, consisting of nearly 230 national organizations. 

Under Zirkin’s leadership, along with Wade Henderson, president of LCCHR, the coalition staff grew to nearly six times its original 10 person size, creating the infrastructure necessary to support the organization’s growing institutional needs. During the mid-1970’s, Zirkin worked at several public interest organizations including Common Cause and the Women’s Equity Action League, but gained significant experience at the American Association of University Women (AAUW) where she became director of public policy and government relations. 

She distinguished herself there by rising to chief lobbyist and managing the coordination of the Equal Rights Amendment, Women’s Vote Project and Civil Rights Act of 1991.