Fern Katz has been an educator for over 35 years with an extensive background in early childhood education and special education as both a teacher and an administrator.  Prior to becoming Chicago Sinai Congregation’s Director of Early Childhood Education in 2012, Fern was the early childhood education coordinator at the Governors State University’s Family Development Center working with Preschool For All and Early Head Start and as an adjunct instructor for the University; and as an early childhood director for JCC Chicago. She has also taught children with special needs as well as religious school in Illinois and New Jersey. Fern’s article “Trust and Separation: God, Abraham, and Early Childhood Educators” was published in the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education journal. Fern has a B.S.Ed from Northern Illinois University and an M.Ed from University of Illinois-Chicago, as well as an M.A. in Jewish Professional Studies from Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership. Fern currently serves as ECE-RJ's First Vice President, just ending her term as Vice President of Conference and Biennial.  Fern has a son and daughter and lives in Flossmoor, IL with her husband Manny.

Lisa Samick has been working in Jewish Education for more than 20 years – initially focusing on informal High School programming, before returning to her original love of Early Childhood.  She has her BA in Early Childhood Education from George Washington University and has completed all of her coursework for her PhD in Education and Jewish Studies at NYU, focusing on Jewish Early Childhood Education.  Before starting as the Director of Early Childhood and Family Engagement at Temple Israel of the City of New York, she worked as the Director at the Brooklyn Heights Synagogue and as the Education Coordinator at Park Avenue Synagogue.  She lives in NYC with her 9-year old daughter, Jenna – a very proud graduate of the ECLC at Temple Israel.

Amy Damast is the Director of the Early Childhood Education & Family Engagement at Temple Sinai in Summit, NJ.  She joined the Temple Sinai staff in 2012 to design their new early childhood school program and to expand programs designed to build community for local families with young children.   Her previous experience includes serving as a lead teacher and Judaic Specialist in early childhood and consulting for the Early Head Start Program as a researcher and trainer. 

Amy has been involved in ECE-RJ for 6 years and credits her participation in the URJ's Pursuing Excellence in Your Early Childhood Program Community of Practice with preparing her to assume the roles of ECE-RJ's VP of Communications and Membership. 

She earned a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in Psychology with a concentration in Developmental Psychology from New York University; her dissertation research focused on toddler play development and parent-child play interactions. 

Amy and her husband, Craig, live in Springfield, NJ with their older son, Devin.  Their younger son, Joshua, visits on his breaks from Penn State University.

Sheila Purdin began her career in early education thirty years ago in her native Seattle, WA. She is currently the Director of Early Childhood Education at Temple Sinai in Denver, CO. She was previously the director of two Reform synagogue early childhood centers in Atlanta, GA. During her twenty years in Atlanta she was an active member of the Jewish Early Childhood Council of Atlanta, having served as co-chair and chairing the Kallah planning committee, and sat on the board of PJ Library Atlanta. She participated in the URJ Pursuing Excellence in Your Early Childhood Center Community of Practice and is a First 36 Fellow. She is a member of the Colorado Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative Project Board. Sheila has been a member of Early Childhood Educators of Reform Judaism since 2008 and currently serves as their VP of Marketing. She lives in Denver with her hamster, Princess Lightening Bolt, and has two adult children who are pretty fantastic.

April Schafer is the Director of the Early Childhood at University Synagogue in Los Angeles, CA.  A Michigan native, she attended Michigan State University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Ecology with an emphasis on youth development. She began teaching pre-kindergarten while she attended DePaul University in Chicago, where she received her Master of Arts degree in Elementary Education with an endorsement in middle school. It was not until she joined University Synagogue’s leadership team in 2014 that she realized the importance of active participation in the larger Jewish community. It is our responsibility to provide hands on experiences to instill confidence and strong Jewish identity in the children who are our Jewish future. April has served on several ECE-RJ conference committees and is thrilled to join the board as the VP of Conferenced and Biennials.

Shelly Sender has been dedicated to the field of early childhood education for 34 years.  She has an undergraduate degree in Psychology  and a Masters degree in Education Administration and Early Childhood Disorders.  She has served as the Early Childhood Education Director at Temple Emanu-El Dallas for the past 10 years, where 330 children and 96 staff members are a vital part of her life.  Shelly lives in Dallas, Texas, and has a husband of 33 years, three amazing children, ages 30, 28, and 22.  She has owned and operated an early childhood school for seventeen years, as well as owned and operated a farm business where children were strongly connected to nature.  Shelly believes that children are competent  and their opinions are very important.  Therefore, she is very passionate about the Reggio Emilia  methodology, which aligns with this belief.  Strong relationships and inquiry based learning are very relevant in her work with children.  Shelly has served on several child advocacy boards, as well as the CJE - Center for Jewish Education, in Dallas. She is very committed to her volunteer work in the Jewish community in Dallas.  Shelly wants to instill in every child a lifelong desire to learn, as well as inspire the educators she is blessed to work with, to continue to grow and learn professionally.

Susie hails from Cincinnati, Ohio, although she is a huge Go Blue fan.  She has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and a Master’s degree in ECE from the Bank Street College of Education in NYC.  Susie raised her family on the East coast and moved to Michigan 7 years ago.  She is excited to continue to be more involved with ECE-RJ as the VP of Administration.

After working with all different ages, Susie feels her heart lies serving in urban, under-resourced areas so she is helping to open a new school called Orchard Academy in Detroit serving ages 5-8.  Her own family consists of three college/grad school-aged children and an awesome husband, plus two dogs they adopted as they became empty-nesters. 

Pam Ranta began her Early Childhood Education journey as a preschool and religious school teacher during her early college years.  After five years in the field and wanting to explore other ventures, she entered the business world. Eleven years and two children later, having earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Child Development, armed with business classes and management experience, and realizing her passion for Early Childhood, Pam re-entered Jewish Early Childhood Education as the Director at a Conservative Synagogue in Encino, California.  Now with over thirty years as an ECE Director, Pam’s professional experience has grown to include Director of Early Childhood Education in Conservative, Reform and Jewish Community Center Programs; Past president of the Association for Early Childhood Educators in Los Angeles;  JECELI (Jewish Early Childhood Education Leadership Institute) mentor in Cohort 2; mentor to students pursing a Master Degree at California State University, Northridge in the Consultants program; and NAEYC Validator.  Her most current position was the Director of Early Childhood Education at Temple Beth Sholom in Tustin, California. 

 Cathy Goldberg is the Early Childhood Education Director at Congregation Beth Israel’s Bill and Sid Rubin Preschool in San Diego.  Cathy has spent 39 years as a professional educator in private preschool and in synagogue based preschools. Cathy was the owner/director of the Learning Tree Preschool for 21 years and has been a director of Jewish preschools for 18 years. Her areas of expertise include family and parent education, staff development, and inclusion.

Early childhood education is Cathy’s life work and passion. Cathy is dedicated and committed to creating a school environment that inspires the teaching staff to provide the best possible preschool experience for young children. She has grown and developed the Infant-Toddler Program at Beth Israel and continues to develop new and exciting programming for the preschool families. Cathy loves to meet and welcome new families, helping them to find a home in the Jewish community.

Cathy lives in Ocean Beach and has two children Jarred 34 and Carly 25. In her free time, she enjoys walks with her dogs and spending time with family.

Lori earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of Cincinnati. Since graduating, she has earned a Childcare Administrative Award and an Early Childhood Literacy Mentoring Award from Cuyahoga County Community College. Before becoming the Director of Early Childhood Education for The Temple - Tifereth Israel Early Learning Center, Ganon Gil, Lori worked as a preschool teacher, director of a corporate day care program, and consultant to several local childcare programs.

Lori currently serves as the Immediate Past President of ECE-RJ, and she was the local Conference Chair for the ECE-RJ 2009 conference "ECE-RJ Rocks the Arts with Ruach Cleveland, Ohio".

In August of 2020 Lori and her husband David relocated to Columbus, Ohio. Lori and David have two daughters Zoe, who attends Kent State University, and Sydney, who attends Ohio University and a Labradoodle, Ziggy. 

An educator of young children for over 25 years, I consider it a pleasure to serve as the first Executive Director of Early Childhood Educators of Reform Judaism. Most recently I served as the Director of Early Childhood Education at Temple Solel in Paradise Valley, AZ since 2005. I spent 5 of those years as Director of Education overseeing both The Solel Preschool, programming for families with young children within the temple community, and as Director of Raker Religious School. I joined ECE-RJ in 2006 and have been an active member ever since. Serving on the board as Membership Chair and most recently as Vice President of Conferences and Biennials. I view my role as an advocate for our members and work to lift up the work that they do and the early childhood profession.

Nicki Federman is the owner of Sensible Ledgers, LLC, a virtual bookkeeping and financial consultation services company. I work with small to medium sized businesses to establish sound bookkeeping systems and practices enabling them to reach their financial goals. I provide full charge bookkeeping services including accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, bank reconciliations, sales tax preparation, inventory control, general ledger maintenance, financial statement preparation and presentation, budgeting and more. I have an extensive bookkeeping background working with various types of businesses, but my passion is working with non-profit organizations like ECE-RJ and helping them to achieve their organization's missions.

Cathy Rolland, RJE, is director of families with young children at the Union for Reform Judaism and the inaugural president of the Early Childhood Educators of Reform Judaism (ECE-RJ). In her role, she provides support and guidance to the URJ Communities of Practices focusing on early childhood excellence and connecting families with young children.  She is the lead advisor and mentor-coach to the BUILDing Jewish ECE and the Chicago Early Engagement Leadership initiatives and oversees the URJ’s partnership with PJ Library.  Cathy was the director of Mountain Top School for Young Children at Temple Har Shalom in Warren, New Jersey, for 11 years before joining the URJ. Cathy recently earned a master’s degree in Jewish education from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and a RJE title. She also earned a graduate certificate in Jewish Early Childhood Education from Gratz College. Cathy and her husband Bob are based in New Jersey, and try to visit their three sons who live in Arizona, Colorado and California as often as possible! 

Coming Soon!

Norma Cahen has been involved in Early Childhood Education since 1976.  She earned her first EC degree from the American Montessori Society in 1984 and her Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education in 1996.   In 1998 she received her Master’s Degree in Pre-K/Primary with a specialization in Administration and Management.  From 1989 until 2013, Norma was the Early Childhood Director at a URJ affiliated temple early childhood center in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. During that time she also taught 6^th Grade Judaic Studies.  Norma was an adjunct professor at Broward College teaching Early Childhood Literature, Creative Activities for Young Children, The Philosophy of Early Childhood and the state mandated Administration and Management Director Credential for over ten years.  Retiring in 2013, she and her husband moved to North Carolina to enjoy mountain life, but was recruited to become the Early Childhood Director at the Louisville, KY Jewish Community Center in 2015.  One of her most outstanding honors was to have been among the original, founding “mothers” of ECE-RJ.  She served as the first Vice President of Membership and subsequently became the second National President (2008-2010). Norma and her husband, Howie, have four sons, four daughter-in-laws and six grandchildren.

Elaine Gaidemak, RJE has been an educator for her entire life.  Beginning as a first grade teacher in a rural Ohio, she went on to teach second and third grades in New Jersey and for the Department of the Army in Vicenza, Italy.  She began her career in Jewish Early Childhood Education when her son was three years old.  She taught two, three and four year olds at the JCC (then called the “Y”) in West Orange, NJ,  and helped found a UAHC sponsored Jewish Parenting Center at Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel in South Orange, NJ where she went on to found and become the first Director of their preschool.  While the Religious School Director at Temple B’nai Or in Morristown, NJ, Elaine earned the title of Reform Jewish Educator. Her final professional experience was as Director of the prestigious early childhood program at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in Short Hills, NJ.  Elaine, a founding member of ECE-RJ, was a leading force in the creation of the By-Laws.  As the first Vice President of Administration she created the database and most of the procedures presently in use by ECE-RJ.  As the organization grew, she was hired as the first Executive Administrator, a position she held until March of 2016 when the position was eliminated.  Currently Elaine is a member of the Advisory Board.  She has an adult son and a grandson who is the joy of her life.

Coming Soon!

Heidi Baker has been in the field of Early Childhood Education for the past 25 years.  She has worked in both private and public sectors, including Head Start. Her previous experiences include Director of a Jewish preschool during the inaugural year of the program, owned, operated and managed a private preschool program, and is currently Director of Education at Temple Beth Avodah in Newton, MA.    She received her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and her Master’s degree in Jewish Education at Hebrew College. She is a founding member and proud to be the current president of the Early Childhood Educators of Reform Judaism (ECE-RJ).  She has two young adult children and lives in Easton, MA with her husband Todd, and her dog Charleston, and cats Allie and Alex. 

Sari Luck Schneider is the Immediate Past President on the ECE-RJ Board. She was previously, the President, the Executive Vice President and the Vice President of Communications on the ECE-RJ Board.

Sari was the founding director of the Temple Shaaray Tefila early childhood school in New York City; she recently retired after 20 years leading the school.  Over the last several years, Sari was also a mentor in JECELI (Jewish Early Childhood Education Leadership Institute).  Sari lives in New York City with her husband; her children and grandchildren also live in NYC.

Jennie is a graduate of Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, earning a Masters of Arts in Jewish Education in May 2017. She is also a graduate of Parsons School of Design with a bachelors degree in design marketing. She attended Fairleigh Dickinson Graduate School of Education, and holds licenses in both elementary and early childhood education. She has been the Director of Early Childhood Education at Temple B'nai Or since 2005.Prior to her work in early childhood, Jennie held high level marketing, operations, and communication positions in the fashion, pharmaceutical, and advertising industries. She has served numerous positions on the ECE-RJ board including National Conference Chair, VP of Marketing, First Vice President and President. Jennie believes that early childhood education is a sacred calling, and knows that the future of  Judaism rests safely in the work of early childhood Jewish educators.