Fourteen community leaders will be honored on Wednesday, Sept. 10, at the Jewish National Fund Annual Tribute Banquet.
The event will take place at the River Club of Mequon, 12400 North Ville du Parc Dr.,with cocktails at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6 p.m.
Proceeds from the evening will benefit JNF’s “Go North” campaign, which aims to attract 300,000 new residents to the Galilee.
Deborah and Richard Alpert, Nancy Kennedy Barnett and Dr. Jim Barnett, Deborah and Richard Hacker, Jan Loeb and Marc Shovers, Susan and Richard Strait and Andrea and Michael Waxman will be recognized for their commitment to Jewish causes and their support of JNF’s work in developing the land of Israel.
In addition, Eli and Jacob Cohen will be recognized as this year’s Next Generation Leaders.
Richard Alpert is currently manager of traffic operations for the Total Traffic and Weather Network for Milwaukee and Madison. He has spent more than 40 years in the broadcasting industry in Wisconsin.
Deborah Alpert was a founding member of City Wide Jewish Singles, where she met Richard. She is currently a managing director of Evolent Health, located in Arlington, Va. She has spent 40 years in the field of human resources and benefits.
The Alperts are active in Congregation Beth Israel Ner Tamid, where Richard has served as vice president and Debbie chaired the Torah Fund.
Nancy Kennedy Barnett and Jim Barnett moved to Milwaukee from Cincinnati in 1983.
Nancy served on the Congregation Shalom board and has been president of the synagogue for two terms. Currently, Nancy sits on the board of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation as Shalom’s representative. She is a member of the executive committee for the Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center.
She is a vice chair of the Harry and Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center and is one of the chairs of the 2015 JCC Maccabi Games. Nancy also is a vice chair of the MJF and heads its Israel and Overseas Committee.
Jim is a practicing dermatologist and has given his time at the Greater Milwaukee Free Clinic and the Veterans Administration hospital of Milwaukee for many years; and he teaches medical students and residents.
Deborah Hacker is a native of Milwaukee and a nurse practitioner. She works for Planned Parenthood in Delavan. She was a camp nurse for the Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute, the regional Union for Reform Judaism camp in Oconomowoc, for more than 20 years.
She has been a b’nai mitzvah tutor and Sunday School teacher for 25 years at Congregation Emanu-El of Waukesha and Chavurah Or Tikvah. She has held leadership positions at Emanu-El.
Engineer Richard Hacker is a Milwaukee native and served in the U.S. Navy from 1971-1977. While working with Allis-Chalmers Corporation in West Allis, he and three partners formed Engineered Pump Services, Inc., an engineering and manufacturing company.
Richard is an officer of the company, sits on its board of directors, and since 2001 has been the general manager of the manufacturing facility in Mukwonago. He has mentored youth in Junior Achievement, served in leadership positions in the Boy Scouts, and currently volunteers as secretary of the Mukwonago Area Chamber of Commerce.
Jan Loeb has been involved with the Jewish Federation of Madison, Beth Israel Center and Hadassah. She spent many years as a member of the Camp Shalom committee. She is now a member of the Midrasha Hebrew High School committee.
Jan works as an IT compliance analyst at Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation.
Marc Shovers is a managing attorney for the Legislative Reference Bureau of the State of Wisconsin, where he drafts legislation for both houses of the legislature in individual income taxation, county law and municipal law.
He performed many volunteer activities for the JFM over the years. In 2011, he received the JFM’s Ben Minkoff Volunteer Service Award. He is now chair of the Tzedakah Campaign and a JFM vice president.
Marc also has served for many years on the board and executive committee of Beth Israel Center, where he is a member. He is currently in his fourth year as secretary of the shul.
Richard Strait has managed a variety of investment portfolios during his career at Northwestern Mutual, with a current focus on private equity.
He has been a long-time board member and officer of COA Youth & Family Centers. He also serves on the UW-Madison Department of Economics Alumni Advisory Board and on the board of the Jewish Home and Care Center Foundation, where he chairs the investment committee.
Susan Strait has been a full time volunteer. She worked first with the Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s Women’s Division, where she served as the Women’s Philanthropy campaign chair and president.
At the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center, Sue has served on many committees and the board of directors, and is the immediate past chair. She serves on the National JCC Association board of directors.
Rick and Sue have also been active members and leaders of Congregation Beth Israel Ner Tamid.
Andrea Waxman and her family have been members of Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun, where she was Sisterhood president, and Congregation Sinai, where she taught kindergarten. Andrea taught English at Milwaukee Jewish Day School, and worked as a reporter and assistant editor at the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle.
She has volunteered as a docent at the Jewish Museum Milwaukee and as a member of the board of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s Women’s Philanthropy. For the last three years she has worked as a multi-media reporter for the award-winning online Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, which covers news of the central city.
Michael Waxman is a professor of law at Marquette University Law School. He has twice served as a Fulbright Scholar. Michael has taught in Japan, Mexico, Australia and England.
Michael was elected to the American Law Institute, and is a former president of the Milwaukee Jewish Council for Community Relations.
Eli Cohen is a senior at Nicolet High School. He spent the spring semester studying in Israel through the EIE program. He serves as a vice president of Congregation Sinai’s youth group, and works as a madrich in Congregation Sinai’s youth education program.
Jacob Cohen is a senior at Nicolet High School. He also spent the spring semester studying in Israel through the EIE program, and also serves as a madrich in Congregation Sinai’s youth education program.
Tickets are $80 per person and contribution opportunities are available. Register at jnf.org/wibanquet or call 414-963-8733. For more information, contact Sidney Rivkin, srivkin@jnf.org.
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