For additional information, contact: Principal Deborah Bromberg Seltzer at (413) 584-6622.
The Lander-Grinspoon Academy (LGA) is pleased to welcome Rabbi Debra Kolodny (they/them) as its new Executive Director. Debra brings twenty years of Executive non-profit leadership to the position, having served as the Executive Director for two national Jewish organizations, ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal and Nehirim. They also served two local non-profits in Portland Oregon and served in both a rabbinic and executive capacity in two congregations.
LGA Board Chair Lisa Newman shares, “The Board of Directors is absolutely thrilled to have Debra as the next Executive Director of LGA. Given the importance of outreach, enrollment and financial sustainability, as well as growing partnerships with congregations and other Jewish institutions, Debra’s expertise in coalition and institution building, Jewish education, program expansion, fundraising and strategic planning will be especially beneficial to the mission and growth of the school.”
Debra says, “I am delighted to be joining such an impressive institution and to be working with such an amazing Principal, faculty, Board and group of families. I am excited to help grow the school so that even more area families can take advantage of LGA’s remarkable general and Judaic academics, sophisticated music, art and performance programming, outdoor education at Abundance Farm and focus on tikkun olam (civic engagement and world repair).”
Debra continues, “But we all know that a school is not just its content. A school is also about culture and character. To serve in LGA’s pluralistic environment where students learn together in heart centered joy is an honor. To join a school where Jews of all religious, cultural and racial backgrounds, including those in interfaith and/or LGBTQIA+ families are not just welcomed, but celebrated, is kind of a dream come true. What could be better than helping cultivate our next generation with wisdom, knowledge, care and compassionate responsibility for one another and the earth?”
Debra and their wife, Brio Howard along with their 13-year-old Border Collie/St. Bernard, Cinnamon, recently relocated to Amherst, MA, from Portland OR. They are delighted to be back on the East Coast. They moved to be close to family and friends, enjoy the robust and multifaceted Jewish community, take advantage of abundant hiking, swimming and CSA options, and enjoy the intellectual and cultural richness of the area. Having grown up in Far Rockaway, NYC, gone to undergraduate college at Cornell (a similar bio-region), attended Law School in Philadelphia, and lived in Washington DC for twenty-six years, Debra feels like they have found their forever home.
The Lander-Grinspoon Academy is still accepting new students from Kindergarten through 6th grade. The school serves students throughout the Pioneer Valley including Hampshire, Hampden and Franklin counties. Learn more about the school at www.landergrinspoon.org and about enrollment here.
Lander-Grinspoon Academy is a Jewish day school in the Pioneer Valley welcoming children of families from all Jewish traditions and backgrounds.
LGA’s mission is to provide a rich, academically rigorous, and values-based education integrating general and Jewish studies in a nurturing environment.
LGA’s vision is to inspire a community of lifelong learners to create a better world.
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