Scholar in Residence – Margaret Norman

Margaret Norman is the current Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Birmingham Jewish Federation and a founding creator of the Beth El Civil Rights Experience; a project exploring the complex intersections of Birmingham’s Jewish and civil rights histories. Margaret has a BA in Individualized Study from New York University and a MA in American Studies from UNC-Chapel Hill, where she wrote her thesis on civil rights memory in the Birmingham Jewish community. Prior to her roles at the Federation and Temple Beth El, Margaret held a variety of non-profit and public history roles, working with organizations that include Jones Valley Teaching Farm, Alabama Sustainable Agriculture Network, and Red Mountain Park. She currently serves on the Board of the Southern Jewish Historical Society, is a Core Coalition member for the Jefferson County Memorial Project and former Alabama Folklife Fellow. In her spare time, Margaret channels her passions in storytelling into documentary and oral history work, collaborating with organizations such as the Institute of Southern Jewish Life, the Southern Foodways Alliance, and the Levite Jewish Community Center, where for the last three years she has hosted the monthly interview program, “Southern Jewish Voices.” Margaret is originally from Central New York, but has called Birmingham home the last nine years, where she lives with her husband and toddler.

Heather Booth

Heather Booth is one of the country’s leading strategists about progressive issue campaigns and driving issues in elections. She started organizing in the civil rights and women’s movements of the 1960s. She started JANE, an underground abortion service in 1965, before Roe. There is an Emmy Award winning documentary about this called The JANES.

She was the founding Director and is now President of the Midwest Academy, training social change leaders and organizers. She has been involved in and managed political campaigns and was the Training Director of the Democratic National Committee. In 2000, she was the Director of the NAACP National Voter Fund, which helped to increase African American election turnout. She was the Coordinator of AMOS, that worked to instill social justice in the heart of the Jewish Community. She was the lead consultant, directing the founding of the Campaign for Comprehensive Immigration Reform in 2005.

In 2008, she was the director of the Health Care Campaign for the AFL-CIO. In 2009, she directed the campaign passing President Obama’s first budget. In 2010 she was the founding director of Americans for Financial Reform, fighting to regulate the financial industry. She was the national coordinator for the coalition around marriage equality and the 2013 Supreme Court decision. She was strategic advisor to the Alliance for Citizenship (the largest coalition of the immigration reform campaign). She was the field director for the 2017 campaign to stop the tax giveaways to millionaires and billionaires She directed Progressive and Seniors Outreach for the Harris campaign. She has been a consultant on many other issues and with many other organizations.  She is a member of the consulting firm Democracy Partners.

There is a film about her life in organizing, “Heather Booth: Changing the World.” It has been shown on PBS/World Channel stations around the country.

Stacey Hadar Epstein 

Stacey Hader Epstein is a native Atlantan and a graduate of Auburn University. She worked in media and public relations for many years in Atlanta, San Francisco and Cleveland, Ohio. She has been an active member of the non-profit world for years, serving on the boards of her synagogue, historical societies, and leadership organizations in her community of Sandy Springs, Georgia. A lifetime member of NCJW, Stacey served on the board of NCJW Cleveland Section for several years and is currently serving her fourth year as co-president of NCJW Atlanta Section. 

Stacey has been married for 40 (!) years to her husband, David. They have two daughters and one daughter-in-law, who is like a third daughter. Stacey has been lovingly entrenched in Yiddish lessons for four years—a homage to her late mother. She also loves trying new recipes and eating black licorice—though not necessarily at the same time!

Rabbi in Residence – Sandra Lawson

Rabbi Sandra Lawson serves as the Inaugural Director of Racial Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Reconstructing Judaism. In this role, she collaborates with senior staff, lay leaders, clergy, rabbinical students, and Reconstructionist communities to advance the organization’s mission of becoming an anti-racist entity. Rabbi Lawson is also a writer,  author, sought-after guest lecturer and keynote speaker, focusing on topics such as Judaism, antisemitism, and racism.

Before her current position, she was the Associate Chaplain for Jewish Life and Senior Jewish Educator at Hillel at Elon University in North Carolina and worked as an investigative researcher for the Anti-Defamation League. Rabbi Lawson holds both a BA and an MA in Sociology and received her rabbinic ordination from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. She lives in North Carolina with her wife Susan and their two dogs, Bridgette and Simon.

Kohenet Dr. Harriette Wimms

Kohenet Dr. Harriette is a community convener, Jewish professional, spiritual ritualist, lecturer, and social justice advocate for people marginalized by power and oppression. She is a Maryland licensed clinical psychologist, founder and executive director of the Jews of Color Mishpacha Project, and the Community Relationship and Jews of Color Engagement Steward at Third Space at Shaarei Tfiloh.  K’ Harriette is a Schusterman fellow, a Selah fellow, and a contract trainer for Keshet. She is most proud of being mother to her 20-year-old daughter. She enjoys gardening, sipping cups of tea in the morning, giving hugs, and listening to music.

Monique Faison Ross

Monique Faison Ross is a board member of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), the chair of the personnel practices committee with NCJW, and, in her everyday work life, is a senior benefits administrator for a global agency. She has worked in human resources for the last 17 years, covering multiple countries. Her professional life included many twists and turns before she landed in human resources, including teaching conversational English while living in Japan. Monique is an aspiring environmentalist who succeeded in reviving her synagogue’s green team, which led to installing solar panels for the synagogue, amongst other initiatives. She served on the state of Connecticut’s domestic violence and prevention Fatality Review Task Force and regularly speaks about her near-death experience as documented in her memoir, which has won the IAN Book of the Year Award for Outstanding Non-Fiction and a Readers’ Favorite Gold Award among others. She has also been published in Lilith Magazine.

Monique recently moved to the Jersey Shore with her wife, fulfilling her dream of living by the beach. She is happiest spending time with her four adult children and is a doting savta to her grandchildren. Monique also loves reading, traveling, and ensuring she has time for her regular Mussar study with her chavruta and vaad.