Susie Gelman, a graduate of Harvard University and Georgetown University Law Center, served as board chair of Israel Policy Forum from 2016-2023 and remains an active member of its board. She previously served for three terms as president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, one term as Federation’s campaign co-chair, and is a lifetime member of the Federation’s Board of Directors. She previously co-chaired the Israel Religious Expressions Platform (iRep) of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), an initiative that focused on pluralism through freedom of choice of marriage in Israel. Susie was the inaugural chair of the Birthright Israel Foundation and served for many years as a member of its board as well as the Taglit-Birthright Israel Planning Committee. She served as co-chair of UJC (now JFNA) Israel and co-chaired JFNA’s General Assembly in Jerusalem in both 2003 and 2013. Susie is an honorary fellow and a member of the Board of Governors of The Hebrew University and is an honorary fellow of Brandeis University. She is past president of the Georgetown Day School Board of Trustees, where she served on the board for 12 years and is currently the president of the Goldman Environmental Foundation. Susie and her husband, Michael, have three adult children, three sons-in-law, and four precious grandchildren.
