Board of Directors

Governance

A volunteer Board of Directors oversees the operations of Kerem Shalom, which is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The Board includes officers, vice presidents focused on specific programmatic or administrative areas, and several at-large members. Board members are elected by members at Kerem Shalom’s Annual Meeting in June and serve two-year terms.

Guests are welcome to attend Board meetings, which are held monthly. Currently , these meetings are held via Zoom but at some point the Board will resume in-person meetings at the synagogue. Information about upcoming meetings is available on Kerem Shalom’s online calendar and in the weekly email sent to members and friends of Kerem Shalom.

Board members work closely with staff, with members serving on committees, task forces, working groups, and with other volunteers. These efforts focus on a wide range of areas and topics including: Adult Programs, Building & Grounds, Chesed (Caring), Communications, Development, Family Education, Finances (including dues, fees, and abatements), Fundraising, Governance, High Holidays, Membership and Member Engagement, Operations (including policies related to the COVID-19 pandemic), Religious and Hebrew School, Scholarships, Security, Social Action, Spiritual Life, and Technology. If you are interested in becoming involved in some of these activities, please contact the Temple Administrator at or 978-369-1223.

Kerem Shalom Board

Mark Stein

Mark Stein

President

Mark has been a member of Kerem Shalom for more than twenty years  He previously served as VP of Finance and Clerk/Member at Large. During the past several years, Mark has played a critical role in enhancing Kerem Shalom’s fundraising capacity, developing a culture of charitable giving here at Kerem Shalom. Mark’s expertise in international corporate law has been a great asset to the KS Board. Mark and his wife, Rosa, and their two daughters, live in Concord.

Deena Whitfield

Deena Whitfield

President Emerita

Deena is a founding member of Kerem Shalom and a former member of the Concord Area Jewish Group. She has served in several capacities during her long-time membership: President, School Committee chair, Treasurer, Nominating Committee Chair, and as chair of Membership Engagement Committee and co-chair of the 30th Anniversary Celebration Committee. Prior to her retirement in 2013, she spent 10 years as a partner in an executive search firm that focused on finding senior-level administrators for colleges, universities, and non-profits and ten years in college admissions as an Associate Dean of Graduate and Adult Baccalaureate Admissions at Lesley University and as Dean of Admissions at Brandeis University. After retirement, Deena served on the Board of Open Table for six years, three years as chair, and continues to be active in the organization. She lives in Concord with her husband, Ron. She has two adult children and five grandchildren, the oldest of whom was a Bar Mitzvah at KS in 2018.

Jane Appell

Jane Appell

Vice President, Adult Programming

Jane Appell has been a member of Kerem Shalom since 1985. Wearing many hats, Jane leads the KS Jewish Content Book Club and regularly attends classes and programs sponsored by AP, enjoying the spiritual and intellectual stimulation they provide. Jane is a psychologist in private practice and the mother of two adult children who both attended Kerem Shalom Hebrew School and had their B’nai Mitzvot at KS. She is also the proud grandmother of Akiva, who lives with his parents in Portugal.

 

Ted Barten

Ted Barten

Treasurer

Ted and his wife, Iris Werbalowsky Barten, have been members of Kerem Shalom since 2013 and have found Kerem Shalom to be very welcoming to interfaith couples. They both enjoy Rabbi Darby’s dynamic and moving services and the beautiful music provided by Cantor Rosalie and the Kerem Shalom musicians and they have participated in a number of the Adult Programming offerings. Iris is a member of the ASL choir and has served on the membership engagement committee for many years.

Ted is an environmental engineer, who has served on Boards in his technical field and for the Deaconess Abundant Life Communities, based in Concord. 

Iris and Ted live in Bolton where they enjoy walking, gardening, and the sunsets over Mount Wachusett.

 

Marty Blue

Marty Blue

Vice President, Member Engagement

Marty Blue and her husband, Jeff, joined KS in 2002. Their daughters Samantha, Ellie, and Carly all attended Hebrew School and had their Bat Mitzvahs at KS. 

Marty is a Senior Advisor at Boston Consulting Group where she works with OEMs on their go-to-market strategies, and she is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Harvard Business School. Previously, she was engaged as an SVP of Business Development at CarGurus, and she spent 16 years at Reebok International predominantly as a licensor. She serves on the Board of Directors at Good Sports and is Chair of the Advisory Council at the Women’s Foundation of Boston. Marty and Jeff live in Carlisle, MA.

 

Brad Guth

Brad Guth

Vice President, Development

Brad and his family have been members of Kerem Shalom since 2005. He co-led the temple’s recent successful capital campaign and is committed to sustaining KS’s vibrant, inclusive community. In other pursuits, he is passionate about soccer, supporting Fulham FC, and playing in his adult Sunday league. Brad and his wife Tracey live in Concord and always welcome visits home from their twenty-something children, Madeline and Ben, who reside in Washington, D.C. and New York City.

Michelle Kahan

Michelle Kahan

Vice President, Education

Michelle and her family joined Kerem Shalom in 2013. Michelle has served on the Governance Task Force, Interim Education Director Search Committee, Director of Congregational Learning Search Committee (co-chair), and Youth Advisory Group. Michelle is a social policy researcher, experienced nonprofit manager, and educator. She currently works in the Center for Early Relationship Support,  Jewish Family & Children’s Services.  Michelle lives in Bedford with her husband Bob Fagan and two teens, Calla and Arlo.

John Langell

John Langell

Vice President, House

John has been a member of Kerem Shalom since 2013 and, for some years prior to that, he was a frequent visitor and attendee, along with his partner of 30 years, Kitty Stein, and her service dog Charger. Prior to becoming a member, John studied Hebrew and took many other Adult Ed classes at Kerem Shalom, including completing Me’ah in 2014. Trained as an Electrical Engineer, he was a computer programmer for many years before becoming a Product Manager and Director. Although he has no children, he takes great pride in the work of Kerem Shalom’s Hebrew School. He lives in Lincoln with Kitty and her current service dog Boone.

Jan Huber O'Callaghan

Jan Huber O'Callaghan

Member at Large

Jan has been a member of Kerem Shalom since the 1990s, at which time she and her husband Don were looking to join an ‘interfaith family-friendly’ synagogue. They found a welcoming home at Kerem Shalom—and their now adult twins grew up at Kerem Shalom, assisting Jan as an active volunteer at concerts, holiday festivals, and other events. Jan has served as Co-President of the Board, Chairperson of the Executive Committee, VP-Education, and on numerous committees, such as Rabbinic Liaison, KS Retreat, High Holidays, and the Governance Taskforce, among others. Currently, she is primarily involved with overseeing day-to-day financial operations and the implementation of KS’s new CRM and Member Portal. Prior to retirement, Jan worked for the Commonwealth of MA, Dept of Mental Health for 42 years. She resides in Littleton with her husband Don.

 

David Luberoff

David Luberoff

VP Communications, Clerk

David and his wife Jody Tannenbaum have been Kerem Shalom members since 1997, when they found the synagogue after many years of “temple shopping.” Both of their now-adult daughters became B’nai Mitzvot at Kerem Shalom. David returned to the Board after a long hiatus, having served from 2002 to 2004 as a member-at-large focused on communications. Currently, the Deputy Director of Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, he’s held a variety of positions at Harvard and elsewhere focused on the interplay of urban policy, politics, administration, and governance, particularly as they relate to land use and infrastructure, especially in Greater Boston. David and Jody live in Lexington.

Lee Rosenbaum

Lee Rosenbaum

Member at Large

Lee and his family have been members of Kerem Shalom since 2006, and he has volunteered at KS in various capacities over the years. Lee has worked in the investment management industry for 20 years and prior to that served in the United States Coast Guard for five years, achieving the rank of Lieutenant. Lee and his wife, Judy, and their two daughters, live in Concord, MA.

 

JoAnn Simon

JoAnn Simon

Vice President, Governance

JoAnn and her husband  Tse-hsin Lin joined Kerem Shalom in 1996 where their two sons attended Hebrew school and became B’nai Mitzvah. JoAnn joined the Education Committee where she served for several years and after joined the Social Action committee which later she co-chaired. At that time, she joined the Board and became a fellow in the OnBoard program of the Legacy Heritage Fund. This program trains new board members of Jewish organizations to become more proficient in their roles on a board of directors. She now chairs the Governance committee.

JoAnn has been an acupuncturist for over thirty years and loves gardening, walking, biking, and hiking. She studies Biblical Hebrew and has been a member of the Torah Conversations group at Kerem Shalom. She lives in Westford with her husband.

Sue Wolff

Sue Wolff

Member at Large

Sue Wolff joined Kerem Shalom in 2014. During a life phase of trying new things, she wondered, “Can I find a local Jewish community where I’ll feel at home?” Sue became one of the 2017 B’not Mitzvah group, and since then, the weekly Torah Conversations group. She has served on the Adult Programming Committee, the 2019 Communications Task Force, the Ad Hoc CRM Committee, the Covid-19 Task Force, and the Digital Futures Task Force. In 2020, she became “co-captain” of the KS Communications Team, and joined the KS Board. As a KS Board member, she has worked on a variety of projects with the KS Communications Team and is curious to discover what’s next!

Sue lives in Lincoln, as does her son Izak. Prior to becoming a parent, Sue had a career as a physician.