Ruderman Family Foundation

The Ruderman Family Foundation believes that inclusion and understanding of all people is essential to a fair and flourishing community. Guided by their Jewish values, the Ruderman Family Foundation supports effective programs, innovative partnerships and a dynamic approach to philanthropy in their core areas of interest: advocating for and advancing the inclusion of people with disabilities throughout our society; fostering a more nuanced understanding of the American Jewish community among Israeli leaders; and modeling the practice of strategic philanthropy worldwide. The Foundation provides funding, leadership, expertise and insight in both the U.S. and Israel, with offices in both countries.

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Chabad Lubavitch

Chabad-Lubavitch is a philosophy, a movement, and an organization. It is considered to be the most dynamic force in Jewish life today. There is no mystery about its philosophy: Love every Jew; educate every Jew; reach out to help every Jew. Chabad open its arms and hearts to all, regardless of education or affiliation. Today 4,000 full-time emissary families apply 250-year-old principles and philosophy to direct more than 3,300 institutions (and a workforce that numbers in the tens of thousands) dedicated to the welfare of the Jewish people worldwide.

Dr. Sarah Kranz-Ciment, PT, DPT

Project Director

Dr. Kranz-Ciment is a physical therapist and has been a strong advocate for the disability community for over ten years. She is the founder of Steps PT and the director of the Friendship Circle of Virginia, a non-profit organization that empowers social opportunities for children and individuals with disabilities.

Chaya Perman

Chabad Inclusion Specialist

Chaya is a trainer, consultant, case manager and counselor specializing in inclusion program design, program development, and implementation. She has published extensively in the field, and her work has earned her the Kulanu Prize for efforts on behalf of inclusive integration, and the Community Inclusion Prize for her success with the Friendship Circle.

Shelly Christensen, M.A.

Inclusion Consultant

Ms. Christensen is the Executive Director of Inclusion Innovations in Minneapolis, MN. She has served as director of the award-winning Jewish Community Inclusion Program for People with Disabilities, and has worked with the Union for Reform Judaism and Jewish communities across North America. In 2013 she co-founded the Jewish Leadership Institute on Disabilities and Inclusion at the University of Delaware.

Marcy Horwitz

Grant Writer

Ms. Horwitz has spent her entire working life in non-profit administration. In Richmond, she was director of development for the Richmond Children’s Museum and Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden before creating Marcy Horwitz & Associates, Inc. She holds a certificate in non-profit administration from VVU and was an adjunct faculty member at the UofR’s Institute on Philanthropy.

R. Shmaya Krinksy

Executive Director

Chani Schmidt Baram

Administrator

Growing up as the older sister of three siblings with disabilities, Chani approaches her work from a unique, personal perspective. She is an advocate for promoting awareness of the disabilities community with a specific focus on inclusion within the Jewish community. A co-founder and director of the Philly Friendship Circle, Chani brings extensive experience in Jewish education to disabilities management and programming.

Rabbi Chaim Bruk

Advisory Committee Member

Rabbi Chaim, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, studied at the prestigious Rabbinical College of America in Morristown, New Jersey, and received his rabbinical ordination from the Central Chabad Rabbinical Court in Israel. His weekly Torah Email reaches hundreds of thankful recipients around the globe.

Mr. Tzvi Burston

Advisory Committee Member

Rivky Deren-Berman OBM

Advisory Committee Member

Rivky Berman, a young Chabad-Lubavitch emissary who inspired many throughout her lifelong struggle with Bloom syndrome, passed away May 29 at the Duke University Hospital in Durham, N.C. She was 29 years old. While she only served on RCII’s advisory board for 4 months, her impact and wisdom will last a lifetime. “EVERYTHING ENDS UP OK IN THE END AND IF ITS NOT OK ……… THEN ITS NOT THE END!!!” -Rivky Deren-Berman

Mrs. Vivi Deren

Advisory Committee Member

Mrs. Shifra Aviva Deren is co-director of Chabad-Lubavitch of Connecticut and Western Massachusetts. With a passion for education, Mrs. Deren is the founding director of the award-winning Gan Yeladim Early Childhood Center in Stamford, Connecticut. She is a sought-after speaker on the role of women in Jewish life, and a mentor to many.

Yitzi & Dina Hurwitz

Advisory Committee Member

Yitzi, father of 7, is married to Dina, the most wonderful Rebbitzin in the world, and works together with her at making the world a brighter place. Yitzi and Dina works as emissaries at the Chabad Jewish Center in Temecula, CA.

Rabbi Yossi Kahana

Advisory Committee Member

Yossi is the director of the Jewish National Fund’s USA Task Force on Disabilities. He is responsible for fund raising for the creation of Aleh Negev-Nahalat Eran, a state-of-the-art rehabilitative village in Israel. As a parent of a child with disabilities and a professional in the field, Yossi is an unstoppable ambassador for inclusion.

Ephraim Levin

Advisory Committee Member

Rabbi Ephraim Levin has been working at Lubavitch House at Penn since 1990. Ephraim is on the Board of Directors for Jewish Heritage Programs, which he co-founded with Menachem Schmidt in 1993. Ephraim is also a Rabbinical advisor and board member to Tikvah, a socialization and support group for Jewish adults with mental illness. Ephraim received his rabbinical degree from Lubavitch Yeshiva in Brooklyn, NY in 1989 and a B.S. in Psychology from Georgetown in 1981.

Mrs. Raizy Metzger

Advisory Committee Member

Raizy is a Shlucha in New York City where she co-directs Chabad of Sutton Place and Manhattan Jewish Montessori, a Chabad Preschool. She is the author of numerous published articles and a forthcoming children’s book about special needs and blogs at www.ordinary-extraordinarylife.blogspot.com. She and her husband have five beautiful children. Her second child and only son, Mendel, is ten years old and has non-verbal autism.

Rabbi Mendel Samuels

Advisory Committee Member

Born in Crown Heights, Mendel Samuels’ family moved when he was barely a toddler to Miami, then to Seattle and later to Milwaukee, all because his parents were Chabad emissaries. At 16, he went to the Rabbinical College of America in Morristown, N.J., where his grandfather, like his father, was a rabbi and dean of the school. By the time Samuels arrived in Simsbury, Ct., he had spent two years in Caracas, Venezuela, as a rabbinic intern, and then sold goods in Manhattan for almost seven years because he wanted to make some money before working as a rabbi. He now lives with his wife Blumie and their children in Simsbury, Connecticut where their Chabad House has flourished over the years.

Chana Sharfstein

Advisory Committee Member

Chana Sharfstein, an expert on Scandinavian Jewish history, is a noted author, educator and tour guide; she is also the mother of an autistic daughter. Raised and educated in Stockholm, Sweden, Chana is a retired member of the New York City school system, and a docent at the Museum of Jewish Heritage and the Center of Jewish History. Her book is entitled Dignified Differences: A Special Soul

Mrs. Nechama Shemtov

Advisory Committee Member

Rabbi Levi & Bassie Shemtov

Advisory Committee Member

Dr. Stephen Shore

Advisory Committee Member

Stephen is a professor at Adelphi University where his research focuses on matching best practice and meaningful inclusion for supporting people with autism and other differences. In addition to working with children and talking about life on the autism spectrum, Stephen is internationally renowned for presentations, consultations and writings on lifespan issues pertinent to education, relationships, employment, advocacy, and disclosure. His most recent book College for Students with Disabilities combines personal stories and research for promoting success in higher education. Dr. Shore is a board member of Autism Speaks, president emeritus of the Asperger’s Association of New England, and advisory board member of the Autism Society; he serves on the boards of the Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism Association, The US Autism and Asperger Association, the Scientific Counsel of OAR, and other autism related organizations.

Rabbi Yehoshua Soudakoff

Advisory Committee Member

Rabbi Yehoshua Soudakoff is a Deaf Jewish Rabbi and the executive director of the Jewish Deaf Foundation, a nonprofit organization serving the Jewish Deaf community around the world. One of Rabbi Soudakoff’s biggest projects is an annual international Jewish summer camp program for deaf boys and girls.