Board of Directors
| Member | Location |
|---|---|
| Michael Berenbaum, PhD | Los Angeles, CA |
| Ruth P. Goldberg | Bryn Mawr, PA |
| Samara Hutman | Santa Monica, CA |
| Harry Pelz | Milwaukee, WI |
| Janis Sherman Popp | Palo Alto, CA |
| Barbara Tobin | Sebastopol, CA |
Staff Biographies
Gesher Calmenson, 72, Project Director, retired in 1995 from a 30–year career in publishing to work in Jewish education. In 2003 he founded the Remember Us Project. Mr. Calmenson is Education Director Emeritus of Dor Hadash Religious School, Congregation Ner Shalom, Cotati, California. He completed a Fellowship in Jewish Family Education (1999–2002). He served as Chairman of the Regional Educators Council, Bureau of Jewish Education, San Francisco (2001–2002), and was a leader in Jewish Family Room, a multi–generation home–based family education program (2002–2005). He currently also serves on the coordinating committee of NESS, a program to encourage excellence in synagogue schools. Mr. Calmenson’s article, “Making Meaning From the Hebrew Letters,” appeared in Aleph–Bet: The Building Blocks of Creation: San Francisco, 2000. In addition to his work with the Remember Us Project, he also mentors bar/bat mitzvah classes and tutors special needs and gifted students.Barbara Tobin, MPA, Names Database Manager, has a background in Jewish communal work, nonprofit administration, and human resources management. She recently held the positions of Program Director for the Sonoma County Jewish Films Series, and Coordinator for the Bureau of Jewish Education’s Feast of Jewish Learning for Sonoma County. Ms. Tobin has a personal connection to the Holocaust: her great–aunt, Cora Berliner, chose to stay in Berlin in 1930, rather than join her family in the United States, so that she could continue her work with the Kindertransport. She is believed to have died at Bergen Belsen.
Cynthia Calmenson is the Outreach Coordinator for the Remember Us Project. Her background includes two years as president of a congregation in Ashland, Oregon. She is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor whose family came to the U.S. on the Liberty ship S.S Jeremiah Johnson. This account is recorded in the book, Haven, by Dr. Ruth Gruber. In addition to her work with the Remember Us Project, Cynthia maintains a private practice in the somatic education system created by Moshe Feldenkrais, D. Sc. She also serves as mikvah coordinator for a liberal Jewish community.
Elly Cohen is the Project Administrator. She was formerly Outreach Coordinator for the seniors program at the Sonoma County Jewish Community Center. Elly has been a longtime active volunteer in the Jewish community, including serving as a cantorial soloist and music coordinator for her congregation, serving on the board of directors of several Jewish organizations, and teaching religious school and adult education classes.