Albert Z. Praw

Prior to his current role as Chair of the Board of Directors, Albert served as its Vice Chair for 6 years, during which time he also served as Chair of the Strategic Planning and Distribution Committee. He previously served as Chair of the Finance & Administration Committee. Albert was honored in 2017 with the Federation’s Bruce I. Hochman Maimonides Torch of Justice Award. Among his other leadership positions in the community, Albert is a member of the Board of Governors of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and was formerly a member of the International Board of Directors of Shaare Zedek Hospital of Jerusalem and of the Board of Directors of Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters. Albert is also a Past President of Stephen Wise Temple. Albert is Executive Vice President, Real Estate and Business Development, of KB Home, a NYSE listed company and one of the Nation’s largest homebuilders. He graduated with honors from the University of California, Berkeley, and received his law degree from UCLA Law School where is was a member of its Law Review and graduated with Order of the Coif honors. Albert and his wife, Heidi, have four children and seven grandchildren.

Lynn Bider

Lynn Bider was born and raised in Los Angeles. She graduated from both UCLA and then USC. Lynn currently serves as the Chair of the Jewish Federation’s Unistream Committee, on JFNA’s National Women’s Philanthropy Board, the Executive Committee and the Board of the Jewish Federation of LA, as the Secretary and member of the Board of Beit T’Shuvah as well as the Boards of USC Hillel and the Los Angeles Jewish Community Foundation. She is the former President of Stephen Wise Temple, the former Chair of the Federation’s Sylvia Weiss Women’s Campaign as well as its Caring for Jews in Need Strategic Initiative. Among the honors Lynn has received are the JQ Community Leadership Award, the Beauty Bus Lifetime Achievement Award and the Los Angeles Jewish Federation highest honor for Women’s philanthropy, the Leah Rabin Award for distinguished leadership in the Jewish Community. Lynn and Les are the proud parents of two children and two wonderful grandchildren.

Jerry Coben

Jerry, an active Board Member since 2011, is Vice Chair of the Board, a member of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Board’s Strategic Planning and Distribution Committee. He also chairs the Federation’s Advisory Committee for the LA Jewish Teen Initiative and serves on the committee overseeing the Federation’s strategic partnership with Unistream in Israel. Jerry is also a Vice Chair of the Board of American Jewish University and a member of its Executive Committee. After an extended tenure as a Director of Bet Tzedek Legal Services, where he served as Board president, Jerry is currently a member of the Bet Tzedek President’s Council. He is also a Life Member of the Board of Councilors of the USC Shoah Foundation.
Jerry is currently retired, after a 40-year career as a corporate lawyer specializing in mergers and acquisitions and finance transactions. After his retirement from his law practice, Jerry has served as a director of several corporations and often serves as an expert witness in a variety of cases arising out of his areas of practice. A graduate of Brown University, Jerry received his law degree from New York University, where he was a Root-Tilden-Kern Scholar. He and his wife Carol have two children, Lesley and David, and two grandchildren, William and Eleanor.

Heidi Monkarsh

Heidi is currently serving her second term as Vice Chair of the Board. She is also on the Federation’s Executive Committee, the Campaign Cabinet and Birth Through High School strategic initiative. Previously, she served as Chair of Sylvia Weisz Women’s Philanthropy, Chair of the Ensuring the Jewish Future strategic initiative, and Chair of Young Adult Engagement and Leadership Development. She was instrumental in launching CLI (Community Leadership Institute), our Federation’s premiere leadership program. Heidi is currently Co-Chair of National Women’s Philanthropy’s upcoming International Lion of Judah Conference as well as a board member of JFNA (Jewish Federations of North America). In 2001, Heidi received the Mildred Allenberg/Dorothy Handler Young Leadership Award, and in 2007 was awarded the Doris Factor Leadership Award. In 2017, Heidi was honored with the Woman of Achievement Award from the American Jewish University. She is a past member of National Young Leadership Cabinet and has had leadership roles with The Jewish Community Foundation, Sinai Temple, Camp Ramah, Cedars Sinai, The Cayton Museum and Brentwood School. Heidi and her husband Jon have two adult children.

Orna Wolens

Orna currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and the Jewish Federations of North America as well as National Women’s Philanthropy.
She serves on the Los Angeles Federation’s Campaign Cabinet, The Strategic Planning and Distribution Committee and is a Community Leadership Institute mentor. Orna has chaired the NuRoots Committee, Ensuring the Jewish Future Committee, Jewish Campus Life Committee and the Hineni Dinner. In addition to her Federation leadership, Orna enjoys her involvement with the art world. She is on the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art Board of Directors, a member of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Contemporary Acquisitions Committee and the Hammer Circle. She is active as a Friend of both the Israel Museum and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Orna graduated from Bryn Mawr College and received her law degree from Loyola Law School. Orna and her husband Keenan have four children.

Jill Namm

Prior to becoming Valley Alliance Chair, Jill was Valley Alliance Campaign Co-Chair, Valley Alliance Women’s Philanthropy Chair, and Valley Alliance Women’s Chair. She is an Executive Committee member of the Federation’s Board serving as Secretary. Jill is also the Mission Chair and Chair of the Jewish Campus Life committee and an alumnus of National Women’s Philanthropy Board (NWP).

Having traveled on many Federation National, Heart 2 Heart and local LA missions to Israel, Poland, Ethiopia, Budapest, Greece, Russia, China, and Lithuania. She has seen firsthand our work’s impact on the lives of those in Jewish communities worldwide. A Lion of Judah since 1998, Jill was Co-Recruitment Chair for the ILOJ in New York City in 2012, co-chaired the Heart 2 Heart mission to Israel, and was the Vice Chair of Communication on the NWP Board. Jill has received the Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award, the Golda Award, and the Rita Reznikoff Award.
She and her husband Steven reside in Encino. Together, they have three children and three grandchildren.

Leon Janks

Leon is a returning Board Member, having served on the Federation Board for more than 10 years and was also the chair of the Audit Committee. Leon is a Board Member of the Milken Community School and is a Past Chairman and currently serves on the Executive and Finance Committees. Leon also served for many years on the Board of Camp Ramah of California. Leon was the Managing Partner at Green Hasson Janks, a public accounting firm on the Westside, and currently serves on the Board of PriceSmart, a public company located in San Diego. Mr. Janks earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa. He and his wife Sharon have three children and five grandchildren.