Susan Kline was featured on Sunday, Nov. 1 as part of the Past Women Presidents of the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts virtual program and luncheon.
Sue Kline was JFWM president from 2006-2009, and her presentation focused on the way she unified people who had various opposing views of Israel, especially from the local colleges. She was part of Ann Pava’s leadership team, and Federation nurtured her leadership from the beginning in 1989 when Betsy Gaberman asked her to lead the Education Committee. One of her accomplishments was the creation of the Resource Center for Jewish Education, which was of special importance to the Pioneer Valley and Jewish schools as far as Pittsfield, MA and the Jewish communities of Vermont. Sue Kline and CEO Harold Berman led the transition of the Federation from “Greater Springfield” to “Western Massachusetts,” as the organization shifted to serving Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties as a whole. Through her ongoing involvement in the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, Sue began Create a Jewish Legacy in Western Massachusetts and its $1.8 million campaign beginning in 2008, which served as the model for what is now the Life & Legacy program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation.