[MODERATOR NOTE: We apologize for sending this important announcement
yet again. The earlier version may have been incorrect due to technical
problems. The version below has been approved by Dr Fishbein and by the
leadership of the JewishGen Board of Governors.]

New York, NY —The Board of Governors of JewishGen is pleased to announce
that Sarina Roffé, a respected family historian and journalist with a
background in communications and nonprofit management, has been elected
unanimously to a position on its Board.

Following her election, Rand Fishbein, Ph.D., a member of the Board’s search
committee, commented, “The Board could not be more delighted to welcome
Sarina onto the JewishGen team. We will be looking to her for fresh ideas
on how to expand our programming and online resources to include Jewish
communities that, up until now, have been under-represented in our work.
Her knowledge and experience are sure to prove invaluable as we look to
expand our outreach activities.”

Ms. Roffé is a member of Brooklyn's Syrian Jewish community and an active
member of the Jewish Genealogical Society, Inc. (of New York) (JGSNY). She
has published widely on themes connected with Sephardic and Mizrahi Jewish
genealogy and is a recognized authority on the history and culture of
Aleppan Jewry.

Ms. Roffé comes to JewishGen with wide experience as a writer and speaker in
the fields of marketing, fundraising, deaf education and public relations.
She served as President of the National Cued Speech Association from
2002-2008 and as the Director of Public Affairs for the New York City
Department of Juvenile Justice >from 1996-2002. Currently, Ms. Roffé is the
Executive Director of the Shehebar Sephardic Center in New York, NY, a
nonprofit organization that fundraises for its rabbinical training program
in Israel, and support for schools and outreach centers in more than sixty
cities worldwide.

When asked how she felt about joining the JewishGen Board, Ms. Roffé said,
“It is both a great honor and opportunity to be asked to help guide this
important organization. I believe deeply in the richness and diversity of
our Jewish heritage and in the role family history can play in illuminating
our collective past. By providing our children with documentary proof of
their roots, we are grounding them for the future. I hope those who are not
working yet with JewishGen will consider doing so.”

Observed Dr. Fishbein, “When we speak of ‘Am Yisrael’ we speak of one
worldwide Jewish community. It is the mission of JewishGen to strengthen
our community by providing family history researchers with easy access to a
wealth of online Jewish genealogical information. Jewish tradition teaches
that when we honor our ancestors we honor ourselves. By working together we
can achieve what none of us can do alone, the collection, preservation and
dissemination of Jewish family history. Having Sarina on our leadership
team brings us another step closer to realizing this important goal.”

Rand H. Fishbein, Ph.D.
Member
JewishGen Board of Governors
Potomac, Maryland

Dear Sarina
Welcome to the Board

--
Enid Elton