Carol Consalvo
NCJW Arizona, State Policy Advocate

I was a teenager when my mother mentioned to me that the women who took her into her home in 1938 when my mother escaped Nazi Germany was active in the National Council of Jewish Women. I seem to remember that she told me she was a Section President but I can’t verify that information. It was a time when NCJW in New York was assisting young women to resettle in the United States from Europe. My mother lived with this family for over 2 years until her parents (my grandparents) were able to immigrate to the United States sometime in 1940. Devoting some time to NCJW is my way of “paying” back for the safety of my mother who survived the horrors of the Holocaust.

In 2003, I met a member of the Valley Section (prior name of the Arizona Section), who after a few times being together discovered that we felt the same about various public policies at the time. Bobby Unger invited me to a General Meeting and immediately I felt I found a home among members who felt as strongly as I did about a Women’s Right to Choose. This was a defining moment when I decided that I would join and add my organizational skills to this group and their efforts. Sammie Moshenberg asked me to consider becoming a state policy advocate (SPA) in 2014.

The policies and the major obstruction to our point of view within the country. I am amazed at how many people think so differently than I do. Our work is never done. We need to continue to fight the same fight over and over again. When my section honored me with the Hannah G Solomon Award in March 2018. This comes after many years after contributing to the Section on many levels and enjoying every minute of it. Representing NCJW as the President for a 3-year term and now as an SPA for the past 4 years in this state. I have created a PowerPoint presentation on Advocacy based on the information and education I received from being involved with NCJW. I have given my presentation to various groups in the Phoenix Metro area. I absolutely love and respect my NCJW sisters for their character, commitment to our mission and attitude to our fellow human beings.