Susan K. Stern

International Lion of Judah Conference Founder

Susan K. Stern is a community activist and political advocate. Stern is the Chairman of the Board and a founding member of the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) 

Stern was appointed to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Council by President Biden in 2022. She was appointed by President Obama as Chair of the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, focusing its work on human trafficking. She is the past chair of the New York State Commission on National and Community Service, serving under three governors. Ms. Stern has been dedicated to Jewish communities in New York and across the globe throughout her life. She was Chair of the Board and Campaign Chair of UJA-Federation of New York, and Vice Chair and National Campaign Chair and Chair of National Women’s Philanthropy of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA)where she was co-creator of the International Lion of Judah Conference in 1993. She was the chairman of the Young Leadership Cabinet and was privileged to be an eyewitness to Operation Solomon the rescue of Ethiopian Jews in 1991 Ms. Stern was a Vice President of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, has served on the President’s Advisory Council for the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and the Dean’s Advisory Committee at the University of Michigan, and is currently a Vice President of Central Synagogue in Manhattan. Her best job is being Grandma Susie to six grandchildren.