Dr. Amalia Honick, Immediate Past Chair

Amalia "Emily" Fried Honick is the immediate past chair of Goucher Hillel and served on the Executive Board as secretary. She began her involvement with Hillel many years ago as a board member of Hlllel of Greater Baltimore. She has been a member of the faculty at Goucher College for over 30 years where she teaches courses in international relations. She is currently on the board of the Baltimore Jewish Council and serves as co-chair of the Israel Committee. She and her husband, Gary, have two grown children with their own families, and they are Savti and Saba to four adorable grandchildren.

Marla Mendelson, Chair

I am a community member and was introduced to the board of Goucher Hillel several years ago by a neighbor of mine who is an alumna. After I attended my first board meeting, I was struck by how involved the student body was in Hillel programs and how excited the board members were to help craft more meaningful experiences for students. I was in awe of the level of motivation of the board to help make an impact in other’s lives and I knew this was something much greater than myself in which I wanted to be part. I am currently the Chair of board of directors having also served on the finance, governance and PR committees. As a finance professional, I have worked in investment banking and currently serve as head of a corporate finance department at a publicly traded company. A native New Yorker, I love NY sports teams (go Yankees!), and love cooking, hiking, nature photography, adventure travel and baseball card collecting. I volunteer with several local and women focused charitable organizations, and on the weekends you can usually find me exploring the countryside, thrift shopping and/or spending time with family.

Jeremy Kraut-Ordover '01

Jeremy Kraut-Ordover '01 lives in Phoenix, AZ and serves as the Vice President for Individual Giving at Habitat for Humanity. In his role at Habitat, Jeremy leads major and planned giving efforts for the global housing organization and serves as a member of the senior leadership team. Jeremy serves on the development committee for Goucher Hillel as well as the UNDAUNTED campaign cabinet for the college. He and his husband, Calvin Goetz, enjoy travel and community service opportunities in their spare time and have a shared commitment to health and wellness.

Saburah Posner '02

I live in Penn Valley, PA, just outside of Philadelphia. I am a school administrator at an independent school. I graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Goucher with a degree in education and went on to get my Master's in Elementary Education.

I have always been proud of my Jewish heritage. My families (Posner and Cohen) come from Brooklyn and Queens. Although I was also raised in a Sufi community, Jewish holidays and traditions were a favorite part of my childhood. My wife and I continue to carry out these traditions for my siblings, nieces, and nephews. I attended Hillel a few times while at Goucher and had the incredible opportunity to travel to Israel through the Birthright Program.

I have always been an athlete at heart. I played field hockey, lacrosse, and even swam for a year while at Goucher. After college, I took up rugby where I won two national championships while playing for New York Rugby Club. I also was a member of the US National Rugby pool. Our family cares deeply about social justice including the Black Lives Matter movement, all anti-racist/anti-bias work, and causes related to the LGBTQ+ community. Now that I am a mother of 3 boys, my hobbies include: making lunches in.a short amount of time, doing many loads of laundry each week, making puzzles and perler bead projects with the kiddos, and sharing my varied interest in music with them.

Carol Hirschfeld Roth '70, Vice Chair; Chair - Development Committee

A proud alumna of Goucher College, I was introduced to the board of Goucher Hillel several years ago by my sister, Tina Sheller who is a faculty member at the college. I currently serve as the chair of the Development Committee for Goucher Hillel and I help solicit funding for the organization’s many wonderful activities and programs. I worked as an elementary school teacher, literacy specialist and director of instruction in the School District of Philadelphia in a career that spanned 38 years. Currently, I am retired, living in Wilmington, Delaware with my husband Jeff, and do some educational consulting work as well as many volunteer activities. My guilty pleasures include reading, doing crossword puzzles and playing Mah Jongg. I love to walk and to try out new recipes.

Ellen JK Schneiderman P'23

A lifelong Wisconsinite, I just recently moved from Milwaukee to Madison. I have the best jobs (I’ve never had just one) and am fortunate that I am able to spend time supporting causes about which I am passionate. I’ve been training animals, mostly dogs, for nearly 25 years. I love helping people gain a better understanding of their pets, and teaching them how to get the behaviors they want. I’ve also spent nearly as long in commercial real estate development, helping transform underperforming properties. After volunteering at a local natur center, I was offered my dream job, and spent 8 years training birds of prey and educating audiences about raptors. From there I changed course and became the Director of Development for a local Jewish day school. Of course, I still train dogs too.

I am thrilled my daughter Rhyan Orenstein chose to attend Goucher College, and proud she has taken on a leadership role at Hillel. I was invited to join the board last year, and am honored to support the initiatives and goals of Goucher Hillel. I currently serve on the development committee helping to find income sources to support all of Hillel’s outstanding programs.

My favorite hobbies include hiking, travelling, cooking for my family, knitting, reading, and basically anything involving nature and animals.

Jonathan Siegel

I am a community member, living in Lutherville, Maryland. I work as an in-house attorney at T.Rowe Price. My connection to Goucher Hillel stems from attending high holiday services on campus. I've enjoyed these services for many years and volunteering on the board provides me with a way to give back. Hillel's Rabbi Snyder also performed my daughter's baby naming service at Haebler Memorial Chapel so Goucher will always be a special place for our family.

My interests include a range of physical activities like biking, skiing, and working out. I also enjoy taking time out to experience and explore nature.

Margie Simon '75, Secretary

My name is Margie Simon. I graduated from Goucher in 1975 with a double major in elementary education and psychology. I graduated from Simmons College with a Masters in Library Science in 1977. In the late 1970s and the 1980s I worked as a librarian at the University of Maryland Health Sciences Library, located at the University of Maryland at Baltimore. In the 1990s I was the Readers' Services Librarian at Goucher College. From 2000 until my retirement in 2016 I was the school library media specialist at Perry Hall High School in Baltimore County. I now do volunteer work including serving as secretary for the Board of Goucher Hillel, working through my synagogue with a group of asylum seekers and doing political advocacy work with Jews United for Justice.

Don Soyer P'23

I live in Needham, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. My connection to Goucher Hillel is through my daughter Leah Soyer, and I have enjoyed attending several Hillel dinners and other events (before Covid). I recently retired but I spent most of my professional career working for nonprofit organizations in both communications and management. My interests and hobbies include playing classical piano, reading, listening to music, cooking, and learning new things. I enjoy being outdoors, walking, kayaking, hanging out at the beach, and barbecuing.

Sara Erlbaum P’24

Merle Intner, Treasurer

Emily Kaufman ‘16

Amy Natterson Kroll P ‘12

Linda Nathan P ‘23

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES

Maya Witenberg ’22 and Rhyan Orenstein ‘23, student co-presidents