JEWISH FEDERATION OF EASTERN CONNECTICUT

Our Team

Our team is made up of smart, passionate, and dedicated employees. Every day our team strives to strengthen our community and brighten the lives of those we interact with. We create events to foster new relationships, help community members in need, and connect different organizations to maximize their effect. It is a full-time job that we love doing. We would love to share some of our stories and experiences with you.

Meet Our People

Our professional and volunteer leaders bring a wealth of experience and expertise, reflecting the unparalleled diversity and dynamism of Eastern Connecticut’s Jewish community. They work side by side with our professional staff to address today’s most pressing problems and plan for tomorrow.

Our Leadership

Barbara Sahagan

Prior to assuming the role as JFEC Board Chair, Barbara was Treasurer for five years and has served on the Board for many years. Barbara moved to Mystic in 1995 to accept a position with Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. Prior to her retirement, Dr. Sahagan was a Research Fellow in Neuroscience Discovery where her work focused on Alzheimer’s Disease.

In addition to her work with the Federation, she is co-chair of the Program Evaluation Committee at Safe Futures and a past Trustee of the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut.

Her professional interests have always been integrated with volunteer philanthropy in her field as well as activities in her community and in international venues. Active on behalf of women in science, Barbara served as the first president of the Pfizer Women’s Leadership Network. While pursuing her interest in global public health, she worked with non-governmental organizations in Kenya as a Pfizer Global Health Fellow and in Uganda as a volunteer with American Jewish World Service.

Barbara has always loved to travel, visiting all seven continents, and enjoys photographing the people and places she visits.

Peter Lewiss

VICE PRESIDENT

Jenn Kronick Shapiro

TREASURER

Ron Leeser

SECRETARY

Directors at Large

One-year term expires 6/27

Jenn Kronick Shapiro
Ronald Leeser
Peter Lewiss
Barbara Sahagan
Romana Strochlitz Primus (Ex-Officio)

Two-year term expires 6/28

Dan Bendor
Lauren Doherty
Helen Elperina
Roslyn Etra
Felice Farber
Erica McCaffrey
Richard Pascal
Martin Rutchik
Sema Stein

Three-year term expires 6/29

Carol Curland
Steven Daren
Kenn Fischburg
Gabriel Stern (Ex-Officio)
Debbie Stoloff
Scott Wolfe (Ex-Officio)

Our Staff

Rachel Levy

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Rachel Levy

Rachel has been working in the Jewish community for more than 25 years. She is a transformational leader who has focused her efforts on fundraising, leadership development, and community building. For the past decade, Rachel has served as the Director of the Network of Independent Communities where she traveled to more than 22 states as a Jewish Federation consultant for the country including Boise, Bloomington and Burlington. Rachel received her Bachelors in Judaic Studies and Psychology from Brown University.

She was awarded a Wexner Graduate Fellowship towards her Masters in Nonprofit Management at Columbia University with the goal of becoming a Jewish Federation Executive. She has served in the roles of Young Leadership, Women’s Division and Major Gifts, Grant Writer and Corporate Sponsorship Director for the Jewish Federations in Boston, New York, and Northern New Jersey.

Rachel’s roots span across four generations in Connecticut and began when her great-grandparents Tessie and Reuben Alexander moved from Poland to Norwich in 1905. Tessie owned the La France Shop in downtown Norwich.

Rachel loves to travel and organized Jewish Federation Missions to Israel, Minsk, Tbilisi, and Cuba over the past few years. She is looking forward to getting involved in our community and meeting everyone. Please reach out and welcome her.