Liza Levy Explained

Liza Levy
Birth Place:Cape Town, South Africa
Nationality:American
Occupation:Jewish community activist
Years Active:Late 1980s – present
Known For:Past president, Jewish Federation of Greater Washington
Co-founder, Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse
Co-founder, Tikkun Olam Women's Foundation
Spouse:Michael Levy

Liza Levy is an American community activist in Washington, D.C. She is a past president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, co-founder of the Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse, and co-founder of the Tikkun Olam Women's Foundation.

She has been honored with the Kipnis/Wilson Friedland Award from the Jewish Federations of North America as well as the Jerome J. Dick Young Leadership Award.

Biography

She was born in Cape Town, South Africa, to a Jewish family.[1] She graduated from the University of Cape Town Teachers College with a degree in childhood education. In 1984, she and her husband immigrated to the United States, settling in Washington, D.C.

She taught at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington's Early Childhood Department satellite center in Silver Spring, Maryland, later becoming director of the center.[1] She joined the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington in the late 1980s, finding it a venue both to make friends and retain her Jewish identity. In 1998, she became a Federation board member, and served as president of women's philanthropy, chair of planning allocations, and chair of financial resource development. In 2013, she was elected to a two-year term as president.[2]

In 2000, Levy co-founded the Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse, for which she is an executive board member.[3] In 2003, she co-founded the Tikkun Olam Women's Foundation, which invests in programs for women and girls.[1] [4]

She has been a member of the board of the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School since 2001, and the board of the Adat Shalom Reconstructionist synagogue from 1999 to 2003.[3]

Honors and awards

In 2012, she was named one of the Women to Watch in the category of Community Leadership by Jewish Women International[5] [6] and received the Kipnis/Wilson Friedland award "for women demonstrating the highest ideals of leadership, philanthropy and volunteerism" from the Jewish Federations of North America.[5] In 1999, she received the Jerome J. Dick Young Leadership Award.[3]

Personal

She and her husband, Michael Levy, have three children.[1] They reside in Potomac, Maryland.[7]

Notes and References

  1. Liza Levy: Serving as a Voice of Change in Community Organizations . Susan. Josephs. Jewish Woman Magazine. Fall 2012.
  2. Web site: Levy to Lead Federation. https://web.archive.org/web/20160220221841/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-3016988381.html . dead . 20 February 2016 . Emily. Minton. 12 June 2013. 19 December 2015. Washington Jewish Week. subscription .
  3. Web site: Liza Levy. Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse. 19 December 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151222134451/http://jcada.org/www/docs/1.122/. 22 December 2015. dead.
  4. Web site: How We Began. Tikkun Olam Women's Foundation. 19 December 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20180417113724/http://towf.org/who-we-are/how-we-began/. 17 April 2018. dead.
  5. Web site: Inspiring Jewish Women Leaders Celebrated As JWI 'Women to Watch' (press release). Anne Rose. Greenberg. 4 September 2012. 19 December 2015. Jewish Women International.
  6. Web site: Building a Community of Women. https://web.archive.org/web/20160220221823/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-2862811881.html. dead. 20 February 2016. Emily. Jacobs. Washington Jewish Week. 29 November 2012. 19 December 2015. subscription .
  7. Web site: Levy Family Starts the New Year in Tel Aviv. 16 January 2012. 19 December 2015. Tel Aviv-Yafo Foundation. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20151222145707/http://www.telavivfoundation.org/us/News/Details/44. 22 December 2015.