HONOREE BIOS

Lisa Barr

Lisa Barr is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of The Goddess of Warsaw, Woman On Fire, The Unbreakables, and the award-winning Fugitive Colors. A veteran journalist and editor, she served as an editor for The Jerusalem Post, managing editor of Today's Chicago Woman, managing editor of Moment Magazine, and as an editor/reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times. Among the highlights of her journalism career, Barr covered the historic Oslo Accords Signing Ceremony at the White House, including the iconic handshake between Yitzhak Rabin, Yasser Arafat, and Bill Clinton. Barr has been featured on Good Morning America and Today for her work as both an author and journalist. Three of her novels—Woman On Fire, The Goddess of Warsaw, and The Unbreakables—have been optioned for film adaptation. Her highly anticipated new historical thriller, The Shadow Artist, will be published on March 9, 2027. She lives in the Chicago area with her husband and three daughters (aka: Drama Central).   

Barbra Jo “BJ” Batterman

Barbra Jo Batterman, better known as BJ, is an award-winning makeup artist, stylist, entrepreneur, and mentor whose five-decade career has shaped the faces behind music’s biggest nights and some of the nation’s most recognizable figures. As Hair and Makeup Department Head for the Grammy Awards, Billboard Music Awards, American Music Awards, Academy of Country Music Awards, and iHeartRadio Music Awards, BJ has become one of Las Vegas’ most trusted and respected names in beauty. 

Her distinguished client roster includes legendary entertainers such as Sir Paul McCartney and Pitbull, as well as Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. Renowned for her artistry, professionalism, and leadership, BJ’s expertise spans print, film, television, live productions, and stage. 

Born and raised in Philadelphia, BJ’s passion for beauty began in her mother’s cosmetic boutique, where she eventually took over the family business upon her mother’s retirement. She built an early career as a freelance makeup artist and stylist for magazines, television productions, weddings, and leading photographers before relocating to Las Vegas in 1990. 

Shortly after arriving in Las Vegas, her work as a makeup artist for Chanel helped establish her within the city’s highly competitive beauty industry. She later launched her own studio, providing makeup and styling services for photo shoots, commercials, corporate campaigns, and live productions throughout the city. Her artistry and influence have earned her recognition by Vegas Magazine as one of Las Vegas’ premier makeup artists. 

In 2011, BJ founded The Batterman Group, Inc., Las Vegas’ premier full-service beauty agency. Under her leadership, the agency has grown into an elite roster of makeup artists, hairstylists, wardrobe stylists, and body paint artists serving corporate, advertising, film, television, live event, and bridal clients. The agency’s impressive client list includes Google, Amazon, CrowdStrike, ServiceNow, Hilton, Home Depot, Domino's, Le Vian, Docusign, and numerous other nationally recognized brands and organizations. 

Beyond her celebrated career in beauty, BJ has dedicated more than a decade to empowering women in crisis. A longtime volunteer with Unshakeable, a Las Vegas nonprofit serving women affected by domestic violence, human trafficking, substance use disorder, and homelessness, she has coached and mentored countless women on their journey toward financial independence, renewed confidence, and meaningful careers. In recognition of her extraordinary service, ABC affiliate KTNV named BJ a Vegas Stronger Champion. 

Drawing upon decades of intimate conversations and life experiences shared from behind the makeup chair, BJ also serves as A Reset Coach and lifestyle mentor, helping women rediscover themselves through intentional self-care, sustainable habits, and small, meaningful steps toward lasting transformation. 

Whether leading a team backstage at an international awards show, mentoring the next generation of beauty professionals, or empowering women to reclaim their lives, BJ Batterman’s life’s work has remained constant: helping others see the beauty, strength, and possibility within themselves. 

Sophie Buslik

Sondra D. Bender Community Leadership honoree

Sophie’s commitment to community service began early on when she vividly remembers watching her grandmother volunteer at Holy Cross Hospital every week. Her grandma’s inspiration combined with the strong values instilled by her parents, built the foundation for a lifetime of giving back. Her first volunteer role, at that very same hospital, set Sophie on a path she has never left.  

Sophie graduated from Emory University with a degree in Business. She spent eight years at Booz Allen Hamilton, specializing in change management, strategic communications, and process improvement. While working at Booz Allen, Sophie was a known leader in the company’s corporate philanthropy efforts. In addition, she volunteered almost daily before work at Miriam’s Kitchen, receiving the MK Volunteer of the Year in 2014. During the same time, she dove into many volunteer opportunists such as chairing the American Diabetes Association National Capital Area Walk for three years.  

As Sophie continued to grow professionally and philanthropically, she channeled that same passion for service into the Jewish community. She worked hard to further develop her leadership skills by participating in multiple leadership programs through the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. She then began getting involved in everything. A natural leader, she quickly found herself doing things such as chairing the first DC Good Deeds Day, helping to create Mitzvah Mavens, and leading the Young Women’s Coalition. This led to Sophie, along side her husband, being awarded the prestigious Jewish Federation’s Jerome J. Dick Young Leadership Award in 2015. 

Sophie currently serves on the Board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and the Israel Committee, and is Chair of Women’s Philanthropy. Beyond the Jewish community, she is Co-President of the Primary Day Parents Association and Communications Chair for the Landon Parents Association Executive Board.  

For Sophie, this work is about more than the present moment, it is about the future. Just as her grandmother inspired her, she hopes to instill in her own children that same lifelong devotion to community and to the Jewish people, carrying that thread forward for generations to come.  

Hagar Hajjar Chemali

Hagar Hajjar Chemali is the President and co-founder of the Lebanon-Israel Peace Alliance – an advocacy organization that works to advance a Lebanon-Israel peace deal through policy, partnerships, and public narratives. She has been working on Lebanon-Israel peace efforts since January 2025 – a calling that is personal to her as an American of Lebanese descent and of mixed background. (Her mother is Jewish and her father is Christian.) 

Hagar is also the Founder and CEO of strategic communications and foreign policy consultancy firm Greenwich Media Strategies and the host and creator of Oh My World – an award-winning geopolitical show and educational series on YouTube. She co-hosts The Theat podcast and is regularly featured on CNN, MSNOW, and Bloomberg, where she analyzes foreign policy and national security. She is also an adjunct associate professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). 

Hagar is a former U.S. national security and public affairs official. From 2015-2016, she was Spokesperson and Director of Communications for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations under President Obama. Prior to this position, she was Spokesperson for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the U.S. Department of the Treasury where she handled all communications related to sanctions, counter illicit-finance, and enforcement. From 2010-2012, Hagar was Director for Syria and Lebanon at the National Security Council at the White House. Hagar also previously worked as a Senior Policy Advisor on Asia and as a Middle East Policy Advisor in the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, where she crafted the first counter-Hezbollah financing strategy. 

Hagar has a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs where she concentrated on International Security Policy and the Middle East. She also graduated from Columbia University’s Barnard College with a B.A. in Political Science.  

Leslee Cohen

Leslee Hope Moss Cohen is the founder and managing partner of AllRise Legal Counsel.  AllRise concentrates its transactional practice in securities and startup law, corporate finance, 

technology law and mergers and acquisitions. Leslee founded the firm after 20 years in big law, having realized the need for highly experienced corporate and securities lawyers to service emerging and small businesses at affordable rates. AllRise counsels startups and growth stage companies in connection with their formation and early fundraising rounds, helps them with the day-to-day contracts that every business needs and represents them through significant business combinations, whether they are growing by acquisition or fortunate to experience the dream sale transaction. 

Most importantly, though, AllRise has built a new model for attracting and advancing exceptionally talented women attorneys who do not have the time to spend weekends on golf courses and evenings at charity dinners. After her big law experience, including as head of the firm’s women’s initiative and co-founder of a major female attorney organization called the Coalition of Women’s Initiatives in Law, Leslee was well aware that change was desperately needed.  The typical law firm requires perspective equity partners, who are also the firm leaders, to have a significant book of business which takes an enormous amount of time. That is in addition to the hourly requirements of practicing law, pro bono projects and continuing education. After participating in an accelerator program, Leslee set out to resolve this issue by intentionally hiring lawyers who need flex-time to take on the projects they want and have time to complete. They are valued as top-notch professionals but also as supportive, loyal and caring individuals who are responsive to their clients and to each other. They are gratified to be able to do compelling work while maintaining the flexibility to be fully present as mothers/daughters/wives/sisters, board members, charity workers and friends in a supportive and congenial environment. 

Leslee graduated from the University of Michigan in 1989 and New York University School of Law in 1992.  She is a frequent speaker for organizations and podcasts nationwide as well as a Board member of the Small Business Advocacy Counsel and Jewish Women International’s Chicago chapter, a mentor for startup incubators and accelerators nationwide and a sponsor of GirlCon, an annual international conference supporting high school girls interested in STEM careers. 

She lives in the Chicagoland area with her incredible husband, Jon, and is the proud mom of two very special young men, Noah and Brandon Cohen.  Leslee was an extraordinarily active participant in the movement to free Soviet Jewish refusniks, one of the highlights of her life being the leadership of a humanitarian mission on their be halves to Russia in 1988.  Her dedication to Jewish causes, studying Torah and preserving our beautiful religion and people was deeply instilled by her loving parents, Sheryl and Michael Moss, may they rest in peace, whom she misses dearly every minute of every day. 

Rachel Foster & Lauren Hersh

Loribeth Weinstein Changemaker honorees

Rachel Foster has been dedicated to fighting injustice for over 35 years. She is a 2026 Time100 honoree, the magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world. 

Rachel  has been an advocate at the Tompkins County Task Force for Battered Women and Sanctuary for Families, a community organizer at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, and an attorney and board officer at Brooklyn Legal Services, as well as a board member of the Citizens Committee for Children, Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition, and Community Board Two in Brooklyn. She was Director of New Abolitionists, a national campaign to raise awareness about sex trafficking. Rachel was co-chair of the New York State Women’s Bar Association Human Trafficking Committee. 

In 2016, Rachel co-founded World Without Exploitation, the largest national anti-trafficking coalition, and serves as its president. She received the New Yorkers Who Make a Difference Award from United Neighborhood Houses for her work representing disenfranchised New Yorkers and was honored by the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women and World Without Exploitation for her outstanding commitment to justice and equality for women and girls. She was an adjunct professor at the NYU Silver School of Social Work, teaching a course in sex trafficking, and has given lectures in the US and abroad. Rachel writes on issues of gender-based violence, recently focusing on the search for justice for the Epstein survivors. 

In 2016, Rachel co-founded the Brooklyn Cat Cafe, a one-of-a-kind not-for-profit animal shelter and low-cost veterinary clinic, that has hosted over 315,000 visitors and handled over 16,000 adoptions. 

As Founder and President of Heights Advisors, she does social impact real estate development, building the first ground up domestic violence shelter in the country, with apartments housing over 100 survivors, that allows families to exit abusive situations with their pets. Rachel developed a transitional family shelter in Brooklyn with 165 apartments housing over 500 individuals and a family shelter in the Bronx with 160 apartments also housing over 500 individuals.  

Rachel graduated from Cornell University, recently serving on various university councils, and from Brooklyn Law School where she was an Edward V. Sparer Fellow. 

Lauren Hersh is an internationally recognized lawyer and activist at the forefront of efforts to combat gender-based violence and exploitation in schools, online, and in the legal arena. She is a Time 100 honoree, the magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world for 2026. 

Lauren's work has played a critical role in shaping and advancing legislation designed to dismantle systems that allow those in power to operate with impunity and prey on the vulnerable. Most recently, she has helped lead survivor-driven efforts to advance accountability and transparency reforms in the wake of the Jeffrey Epstein case, including the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. 

She is the Co-Founder and CEO of World Without Exploitation, a national coalition dedicated to ending human trafficking and sexual exploitation. She previously served as Chief of the Sex Trafficking Unit at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, where she led major investigations and prosecutions on behalf of survivors. 

Her work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the National Organization for Women’s Susan B. Anthony Award, Mount Sinai Hospital SAVI Award, and New York Law Journal’s 2016 Rising Stars, and she is recognized as one of New York’s New Abolitionists. She has taught at NYU, lectured at the United Nations and the European Parliament, and written extensively on issues of gender-based violence. 

A frequently sought-after national expert, Hersh regularly provides media analysis on sexual violence, trafficking, and survivor-centered justice. She has appeared on major outlets, including CNN, and has been featured in The New York Times, TIME and other leading news organizations. 

Her work has played a critical role in shaping and advancing legislation designed to dismantle systems that allow those in power to operate with impunity and prey on the vulnerable. Most recently, she has helped lead survivor-driven efforts to advance accountability and transparency reforms in the wake of the Jeffrey Epstein case, including the passage of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

Elizabeth Green

Elizabeth is the Founder and CEO of Civic News Company, the publisher of nonprofit newsrooms Chalkbeat, Votebeat, and Healthbeat. With 15 local newsrooms across the United States regarded as must-reads by their communities and a team of award-winning journalists and media executives, Civic News Company is a leading model to address the crisis in local news. 
 
Elizabeth co-founded Chalkbeat in 2014. Since its launch, Chalkbeat’s reporting has spurred changes in education funding, legislation, policy, and practice, and is regularly cited and republished in dozens of publications. In October 2020, Elizabeth and the Chalkbeat team launched Votebeat, a pop-up newsroom designed to provide independent, nonpartisan coverage of election integrity. After the success of the pop-up, Votebeat launched as a permanent newsroom in 2022. In 2023, the Chalkbeat team introduced Civic News Company as the parent organization of Chalkbeat and Votebeat, and shared their goals to expand to new geographies. In the summer of 2024, the Civic News Company team launched Healthbeat, their third newsroom. Healthbeat reporters cover public health in New York City and nationally. 
 
Elizabeth is recognized as a national leader in the field of local news. In addition to Civic News Company, she led the Summit for Local News in partnership with the MacArthur Foundation and published the Roadmap for Local News in 2023, helping to spur MacArthur’s $500 million Press Forward initiative for local news. She co-founded the American Journalism Project, the first venture philanthropy firm dedicated to local news, in 2019, and served as the Chair of its Board of Directors. Elizabeth is also a journalist known for her 2014 book Building a Better Teacher, which was a New York Times bestseller and notable book of 2014. She has also written for The New York Times Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, and The Atlantic. 
 
Elizabeth has been a Spencer Fellow in education journalism at Columbia University and an Abe Journalism Fellow studying education in Japan. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University with an A.B. in Social Studies. At Harvard, she served as Magazine Chair of The Harvard Crimson and earned the Hoopes Prize for outstanding scholarly work. Elizabeth lives in Washington, D.C. 

Barbara Guterman

Event Chair

Barbara Guterman (WTW ‘23) is a seasoned entrepreneur, passionate business executive, and a veteran community organizer with a desire to create powerful change. Over the last 40 years, Barbara has launched companies and managed businesses in telecommunications, retail, franchising, manufacturing, fine jewelry, and in Internet-based start-ups. Her experience ranges from small business to large-scale public corporations and covers management, operations, sales, investor relations, public relations, community relations, and external affairs. At just 23 years old, Barbara co-created one of the nation’s first competitive local phone companies – the first in its industry to go public, raising more than $80 million and growing to 5000+ employees. Barbara was featured in Forbes' September 1995 issue as a “Woman with a Mission,” and she was the first person to don the cover of Reader's Digest as a distinguished woman entrepreneur. She was also recognized as Ernst and Young’s 1997 Florida Entrepreneur of the Year. Barbara received her B.A. in telecommunication from the University of Florida and an MBA from the University of South Florida, where she was named USF’s 1993 Entrepreneur of the Year. She is currently a mentor and partner in several startup businesses and runs the Teach Give Inspire Fridays women’s speakers series, a “Platform for Women to Inform with Passion”.  

Barbara is a past president of Congregation Bna’i Tzedek in Potomac and has served as VP of the board of KEEN Greater DC for the last 17 years. She is currently the Chairman of the Menorah Life Board, a Senior Health Care Community in St. Petersburg Florida and is also the President of the Board of So What Else, the largest foodbank in Montgomery County, Maryland. Barbara is being recognized for her philanthropic endeavors as the 2026 recipient of the Irene and Abe Pollin Humanitarian Award, honored by the Bender JCC of Greater Washington. She is a devoted wife and mother to three grown sons, a beautiful daughter in law and two adorable grand children who share her passion for family, business and for giving back. 

Jennifer Joel

Jennifer Joel is Co-Head of the Books Department and represents a diverse group of fiction and nonfiction writers, including literary and commercial novelists for adults and young readers, historians, biographers, memoirists, journalists, strategists, adventurers, and entertainers. Her clients include many New York Times and international bestsellers Chris Cleave, Nelson DeMille and Alex DeMille, Kevin Fedarko, A.J. Finn, Stuart Gibbs, Graham Moore, Michael Oren, Evan Osnos, Shonda Rhimes, Adam Rubin, Dan Senor, Jennifer E. Smith, Lisa Taddeo, and Jocko Willink.​
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She also co-represents a select group of writers on behalf of agents at Albatros, Curtis Brown, RCW, and others, including Thomas Erikson, Bonnie Garmus, Richard Lloyd Parry, and Chris Whitaker.​
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Before becoming an agent, she worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and studied history and literature at Harvard. She sits on The Library Council at the New York Public Library.​

Tess Mendelson

Rising Star honoree

Tess Mendelson is the owner and Creative Director of TM Creative Consulting, a digital marketing and content strategy firm that helps businesses and mission-driven organizations grow through strategic storytelling. She partners with nonprofits, Jewish and Israel advocacy organizations, and small businesses to showcase their work, strengthen their brands, and create meaningful digital experiences through social media, content strategy, and visual storytelling.

She earned a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication from The George Washington University, graduating summa cum laude. Her passion for mission-driven communications led her to found TM Creative Consulting, where she combines journalism, design, and digital strategy to help organizations connect with their audiences and amplify their impact.

Tess is also the founder of Ten Seven Stories, a documentary storytelling initiative created in response to her experiences witnessing the rise of antisemitism on college campuses following the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack in Israel. Through live interviews conducted in communities and on college campuses with survivors, victims' families, first responders, and others directly impacted by October 7, she documents firsthand testimony to preserve history and combat misinformation. Through documentary filmmaking, journalism, educational resources, and digital storytelling, Ten Seven Stories is dedicated to ensuring these voices are heard by future generations.

Outside of her professional work, Tess teaches heated yoga sculpt, bakes challah each week, and is always pursuing her next creative project.

Ayelet Razin Bet Or

Ayelet Razin Bet Or holds a graduate degree in Law and Criminology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and specialized in criminal law at the State Attorney’s Office. This early professional experience shaped her long-term expertise in combating gender-based violence and advancing women’s rights.

Following her work at the State Attorney’s Office, she was appointed Head of Government Relations and Legal Advisor to the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel. In this role, she led major public and legislative initiatives, including the approval of electronic monitoring of violent offenders, extending the statute of limitations for sexual offenses against children, expanding access to free legal aid for survivors, and strengthening the rights of victims within the criminal justice system. She also initiated public committees and authored policy reports on law enforcement accountability and victims’ rights.

In 2022, Ayelet was appointed Director of the Authority for the Advancement of the Status of Women at the Ministry of Social Equality. During her tenure, she led a comprehensive national strategy to advance gender equality, working across government ministries and with civil society organizations to promote gender mainstreaming, advance equality legislation, combat violence and discrimination against women, and increase women’s representation in decision-making positions. She served in this role until mid-2023.

Ayelet is internationally recognized for her expertise in gender equality policy and advocacy. She has represented Israel in international forums, including the UN Commission on the Status of Women, the Universal Periodic Review of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and multiple OECD conferences.

She is a co-founder and former member of the Dinah Project, an advocacy initiative dedicated to exposing the war crimes perpetrated by Hamas against women and children on October 7, and to advocating for the rights and recognition of the victims. Her work underscores the urgent need for global acknowledgment and condemnation of conflict-related sexual violence, warning that failure to address such crimes undermines decades of progress in women’s rights worldwide.

Ayelet Razin Bet Or is a candidate for membership in the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Her candidacy reflects extensive experience in criminal law, government leadership, and international advocacy for gender equality, as well as deep engagement with UN and OECD mechanisms. She brings a strong rights-based approach to combating gender-based violence and to advancing the effective implementation of the Convention at the global level.