Board of Directors

Our team of professionals and volunteers meets the needs of our community by working together to provide resources and raise support.

Our Board Officers

Orna Wolens

Orna currently serves on the Board of Directors of Jewish Federation Los Angeles and the Jewish Federations of North America as well as National Women’s Philanthropy.

She serves on JFEDLA’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.

Daniel Gryczman

Daniel Gryczman is the grandson of four Holocaust Survivors who were among the most profound influences in his life.  He currently serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors at Jewish Federation Los Angeles (JFEDLA), where he also chairs its Strategic Planning and Distribution efforts.  He previously led JFEDLA’s Community Engagement strategy, among other leadership roles.  Daniel’s deep commitment to the Jewish future also extends beyond JFEDLA.   He is a Governor of the Jewish Agency for Israel, an Officer of Camp Ramah in California, an AIPAC pro-Israel political activist, and a co-founder and co-chair of the California Jewish Political Network. He has also served as a Board Member at Bet Tzedek Legal Services and Temple Beth Am, and is an alumnus of The Jewish Federations of North America’s National Young Leadership Cabinet.  Daniel is a proud product of Los Angeles’ Jewish community having attended its day schools, Hebrew High, USY, and Jewish residential summer camps.  He has also been called upon to serve broader civic needs, including as Chairperson of the City of Los Angeles’ rent control board.  He is an honors graduate of UCLA and the NYU School of Law, a former law clerk at the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and a guest lecturer at USC and UCLA law schools in real estate development and land use.  Daniel and his wife Joelle have three children.

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 JFEDLA’s Unistream Committee, on JFNA’s National Women’s Philanthropy Board, the Executive Committee and the Board of JFEDLA, 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 JFEDLA’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 JFEDLA’s highest honor for Women’s philanthropy, the Leah Rabin Award for distinguished leadership in the community. Lynn and Les are the proud parents of two children and two wonderful grandchildren.

Heidi Monkarsh

Heidi is a Vice Chair of the Board of Jewish Federation Los Angeles. Heidi and her husband Jon chair the Hineni Society, a major donor giving society. Heidi also sits on JFEDLA’s Strategic Planning and Distribution Committee, the Campaign Cabinet, and the Executive Committee. Heidi is past chair of the Birth through High School Strategic Initiative, Sylvia Weisz Women’s Philanthropy, Ensuring the Jewish Future, and Young Adult Engagement and Leadership Development.

Heidi serves on the board of the Los Angeles Jewish Community Foundation, where she is on the Cutting-Edge Grants Committee and the Community Grants Committee. Heidi is also on Cedars Sinai Medical Center’s Board of Governors and Women’s Guild. Heidi recently completed her tenure on the National Women’s Philanthropy Board as well as the JFNA Board. She also has held leadership roles with Camp Ramah, Sinai Temple, the Cayton Children’s Museum and Brentwood School.

Heidi is honored to be part of building and sustaining a strong and inclusive Jewish community for future generations. Heidi graduated from UCLA with a degree in Fine Arts. Heidi and her husband Jon have two adult children, Briana Benaron, married to Jeffrey and Russell Monkarsh, engaged to Mia. She is also proud grandmother of Jagger and Liel Benaron.

Jordan Bender

Jordan is a managing director in Private Wealth Management (PWM). He serves on the PWM Leadership Council and the Investment Experience Committee.

Previously, Jordan served as regional manager for PWM in the Los Angeles office and later was co-head of global recruiting for the Investment Management Division. Prior to assuming this position, he helped lead the Institutional Equities effort in Los Angeles, where he had primary client relationship responsibilities for some of the firm’s key institutional accounts. Jordan joined Goldman Sachs in 1986 as an institutional equities salesperson and was named managing director in 2001.

Jordan serves on the Board of Directors of JFEDLA and as chair of the Financial Services Division. He also serves on the Advisory Board of The Riordan Programs at the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Jordan previously served as president of the Northstar-at-Tahoe Team Foundation, and on the boards of the Brentwood School, Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles and Early Childhood Center at Cedars Sinai Hospital.

Jordan earned an undergraduate degree from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA.

Allison Rosenthal

Allison has been active in Jewish Federation Los Angles for approximately 10 years. She has served on and currently chairs the NuRoots Committee. Allison participated in The Jewish Federations of North America’s (JFNA) Jewish Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity (JEDI) training and is a member of our Federation’s JEDI committee, where she is committed to instilling these principles in the entire organization. She is also a member of JFNA’s JEDI Committee. Allison serves on the board of the Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) Foundation, the charitable operation of the LAFC. Allison was a member of the Parent Association at Sinai Akiba Academy and the Parent Guild at The Windward School.

Born and raised in New York, Allison has been an Angeleno for the last 25 years. She graduated from Tufts University and Penn Carey Law, the University of Pennsylvania’s Law School. She and Bennett Rosenthal have been married for 27 years. They are the proud parents of Brooke, Miles, and Tess. The Rosenthals reside in Beverly Hills, California.

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.

Steven Fishman 

Steven J. Fishman has over forty years of experience providing income, trust, estate and charitable tax compliance and planning, accounting, and strategic and business advisory services. He specializes in working with high-net-worth individuals and their closely held businesses. Steven’s focus is primarily on the real estate industry, specializing in working with sponsors and family office clients. His practice also includes manufacturing, distribution, and other service businesses. Steven’s efforts were recently recognized by the Los Angeles Business Journal when he was nominated in 2024 as one of the city’s top CPAs.

Steven graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in June 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts and a degree in Economics. He received his CPA certificate in 1980. Steven is a member of both the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the California Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Steven has been with Fishman, Block + Diamond, by Cerity Partners for the past four decades and began his career at Kenneth Leventhal & Company which at the time they were the country’s 10th largest national accounting firm (now part of Ernst & Young’s real estate group).

Steven is very active in giving back to the community, both locally and nationally. He is a past President, board member, chair of the strategic planning committee, and member of the HR committee for Stephen Wise Temple. Steven has chaired the local executive committee and is a National Council member of AIPAC. He is also very active in the pro-Israel political network and Super PAC. As a board member of the JFEDLA, Steven is a member of the executive, real estate, and strategic planning and distribution committees, and chair of the finance committee. Steven is a national board member of Birthright Israel, past chair of the Los Angeles leadership council, board member of the Impact Forum, and board member of Wise Readers to Leaders (a summer teen literacy program). Additionally, Steven is an emeritus member of the national board of governors of Hebrew Union College, a national board member of ELNET, an active supporter of JINSA, and a trustee of the Washington Institute.

Steven Fishman has been married to his wife Jodie for forty-six years, has three children, and seven grandchildren.

2025 Board of Directors

2025 Board Observers

Joli Altshule

Daniel Barkin

Aaron Cohen

Rabbi Ahud Sela

Rabbi Aaron Lerner

Kathi Mangel

Mark Schwartz

David Schwartzman

Lauren Schiff

Dan Stone

Hallie Brookman