Susie Gelman's Story

Susie Gelman’s journey to becoming an inspiring, influential leader in the American Jewish community is a remarkable story of love for the Jewish people and for Israel and a steadfast commitment to ensuring Israel’s future as secure, Jewish, and democratic via a negotiated two-state outcome to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
We are truly fortunate to have Susie as Chair of Israel Policy Forum’s board of directors and to have benefited from her countless hours of service and leadership. A graduate of Harvard University and Georgetown University Law Center, Susie has been Board Chair of Israel Policy Forum since 2016. She previously served for three terms as president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, one term as Federation’s campaign co-chair, and is a lifetime member of the Federation’s Board of Directors. She previously co-chaired the Israel Religious Expressions Platform (iRep) of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), an initiative that focused on pluralism through freedom of choice of marriage in Israel. Susie was the inaugural chair of the Birthright Israel Foundation and served for many years as a member of its board as well as the Taglit-Birthright Israel Planning Committee. She served as co-chair of UJC (now JFNA) Israel and co-chaired JFNA’s General Assembly in Jerusalem in both 2003 and 2013. Susie is a member of the Board of Governors of The Hebrew University, an honorary fellow of Brandeis University, and is past president of the Georgetown Day School Board of Trustees, where she served on the board for 12 years. She is the past president of the Goldman Environmental Foundation, where she continues to serve on the board. Susie and her husband, Michael, have three adult children, three sons-in-law, and three precious grandchildren.