Congratulations to the New Class of 
Berrie Fellows Leadership Program

Lisa Marcus Abramowitz
Andi Arensen
Joshua Bernstein
Michael Frenkel
Sharyn Gallatin
Sari Gross
Penina Grossberg
Ari Hirt
Evan Hochberg
Lee Lasher
Anna Lazar
Gil Makleff
Ilana Matteson
Jonathan Rochlin
Steven Rogers
Pam Scheininger
Judah Skoff
Harley Ungar
Adam Weiss
Ian Zimmerman

The Vision

The vision for the Berrie Fellowship is to create a cadre of focused leaders who will take action to make the Northern New Jersey Jewish community stronger, more dynamic, inclusive and responsive to a changing environment.

The Berrie Fellowship invests in each Fellow so that they have the knowledge, skills and networks to collaborate across the community.  Empowering the fellows to lead through a Jewish lens will enable the Northern New Jersey community to be at the vanguard of national Jewish life

What is the Berrie Fellows Leadership Program?


Russell Berrie was a true visionary who was committed to action and a believer in people making a difference.

His vision for a strong Jewish community led by informed and passionate leaders who act to strengthen Jewish life is embodied by the Berrie Fellows Leadership Progam. Russ’s belief was centered on what he saw as the impressive potential of the next generation of Jewish leaders to rise to the challenges of the times and create opportunities to do great things for their community.

He saw his role to inspire them to explore the deep meaning and personal rewards of Jewish involvement. By doing his part, Russ believed that he could create a potent mix of vision combined with knowledge, commitment, experience and teamwork to lead to action.

In his memory, the Russell Berrie Foundation, led by Angelica Berrie, its president, created the preeminint Jewish leadership and learning initiative known as The Berrie Fellows Leadership Program. The goal of the Fellowship is to realize Russ Berrie’s vision by creating a motivated group of inspired, educated, skilled and action-oriented leaders for the Northern New Jersey Jewish community.

Inside the
Berrie Fellows
Leadership Program

Berrie Fellows homepage