NISHMAH

NISHMAH: THE ST. LOUIS JEWISH WOMEN'S PROJECT Empowering the Spirit of Jewish Women Home l About Us l Programs l Nishmah Board l Nishmah Banot l Banot Buddies l Photo Gallery l Donate l Contact Us

		Staff
		Ronit Sherwin, Executive Director ronit@nishmah.org

		Ronit co-founded Nishmah in 2005 with Nishmah's immediate past-President Karen Sher. Ronit is an innovative thirty-something Jewish educator who has worked in the Jewish communal field for 13 years. Ronit is a native of Cleveland, Ohio and completed her B.S. in Education at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. She subsequently spent a year in Israel on Project Otzma and then spent two years working as the Jewish Program Specialist at the Jewish Community Center of Columbus, Ohio. Ronit completed a Master's degree in Theological Studies at Harvard Divinity School, during which time she also completed a fellowship at Pardes. Previous to founding Nishmah, Ronit served as the Assistant Director of the Helene Mirowitz Department of Jewish Life at the JCC in St. Louis, Missouri from 2000-2005. In 2007, Ronit was a participant in the ROI 120 Summit in Jerusalem - a diverse community of young Jewish innovators and leaders from around the world. Ronit was awarded the JPRO Peer Excellence Award for Visionary from the Jewish Professional Association of St. Louis in 2007 and the Fred A. Goldstein Memorial Service Award for outstanding professional leadership and service to the Jewish community from the St. Louis Jewish Federation in 2008. Ronit also serves as a national Group Leader Trainer for Rosh Hodesh: It's a Girl Thing! What Ronit loves the most is teaching students of all ages and mentoring young women. Simone Picker, Banot Fellow simone@nishmah.org


		A native of Johannesburg, South Africa, Simone completed her Master's of Social Work at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis in May 2009. She primarily concentrated in courses dealing with social and economic development, with a minor focus on management. During graduate school, Simone participated in the Jewish Communal Service practicum unit, working as an intern in the following Jewish agencies in the St. Louis community: Jewish Community Center, Jewish Community Relations Council and the Jewish Federation. Prior to beginning graduate studies, Simone worked with immigrants and refugees as an Employment Specialist at the International Institute of St. Louis. Simone also completed her undergraduate studies at Washington University, majoring in Psychology and Spanish. She is active in programming at Bais Abraham Congregation in St. Louis.

		History of Nishmah Nishmah was founded in March 2005 under the vision and leadership of Karen Sher and Ronit Sherwin. Karen and Ronit listened to the voices of girls and women in the St. Louis Jewish community. They listened to the needs, concerns and ideas that girls and women had to offer in order to further build and enhance the strength of the Jewish community. Working with a founding Board of Directors composed of 16 individuals, Nishmah created a mission and a vision for girls and women in the St. Louis Jewish community. While Nishmah seeks wisdom and guidance from other Jewish women's organizations throughout the nation, Nishmah is not an organization that derives from a previous mould. Nishmah is organic in that it originates from the girls and women of St. Louis and is devoted solely to the girls and women of St. Louis. Nishmah is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Vision of Nishmah Nishmah is a new approach to Jewish community and leadership, striving to strengthen and empower the spirit of girls and women. Nishmah believes that women have unlimited wisdom and counsel to offer to the Jewish community. Authority, leadership, spirituality, creativity, boldness and consciousness are all within realm of a woman's being, and we want to foster the complexity of this potential within the girls and women of this community. Nishmah is also committed to community partnerships with other Jewish communal organizations and synagogues. It is through such partnerships that Nishmah believes the Jewish community can best meet the evolving needs of girls, women and the larger community. Mission Statement Nishmah exists to promote and enrich the lives of girls and women from within the spectrum of the St. Louis Jewish community through educational, spiritual and social programming. Nishmah serves as an additional avenue for girls and women to be more engaged and supported in Jewish life, thus strengthening the larger community. Our mission will be fulfilled through: Creating programming that builds bridges throughout the Jewish community Providing services that enable existing organizations to develop and strengthen their women's programming and leadership Serving as a community resource for Jewish women's interests A word from Ronit... Each and every day I am inspired and energized by the girls and women I encounter in my community. Nishmah began as a vision of a small and mighty group of individuals, but Nishmah is a reality because of the hundreds of girls and women that support us through their presence. Nishmah means "we will listen" and Nishmah is committed to reflecting the active listening that is inherent in our name. Nishmah also has a future -"we will" - and we are committed to the future generations of girls and women. We have wisdom, strength and vision that we feel can make a difference in the lives of all of us in the Jewish community. The work of Nishmah is not soley about girls and women, but is also about creating a cultural shift in how the community thinks about girls and women and the impact of this thinking on larger Jewish life. We know that Nishmah is unique and is often difficult to articulate in words. Nishmah is unlike any other Jewish organization, and we hope to open the eyes of the community to the possibilities of what can be when we truly "listen" and are not afraid to take action with what we hear. b'shalom, Ronit












Nishmah P.O. Box 11566, St. Louis MO 63105 email: nishmah@msn.com phone: 314-862-2777