Jeff Seiden – along with family (Sofie, Max and Nancyellen) have been active members of CAA since moving to Austin 13 years ago. Jeff’s business background is in global operations, finance and electrical engineering, with 25+ years of success founding, building and running public and private companies as CEO or COO. Jeff has been recognized as a mentor, leader and problem solver – currently providing operations, restructuring and business turnaround consulting services to corporations worldwide. Jeff’s solid Jewish identity is rooted in an early orthodox experience at the Providence Hebrew Day School, and broadened with participation in conservative Jewish communities in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Texas. As Treasurer working with the CAA Executive Board, Jeff looks forward to applying his expertise to strengthen CAA’s financial operations, focus on congregational and facility needs, and to help establish systems and processes that allow CAA to support the long term objectives of our dynamic, growing congregation.

Nancyellen Seiden has been a member of CAA for 13 years. She and her husband Jeff have two children: Max, age 19 and Sofie, age 17. Nancyellen has been involved at Agudas Achim for many years. She has been the Torah Reader Coordinator for the past 7 years, as well as a tutor for B’nai Mitzvah students. Nancyellen grew up in Belmont, Massachusetts. She received an undergraduate degree in Urban Planning and a Master’s degree in City Planning and Real Estate Development at MIT.  Before moving to Austin, Nancyellen worked at the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority as the Deputy Director of Planning and Community Development. She looks forward to serving the community and becoming more involved in the organizational and planning aspects of Agudas Achim

Neal Blauzvern -- My wife (Patti), son (Hayden), and I have been members of CAA since 1994. I have had the distinct privilege of serving our community for the last four years as a Member-at-Large of the Board, helping with various projects, as I was needed. Last year, I also served on the Search Committee for our Director of Congregational Learning.  I am a member of the Ritual Committee and Shabbat Services Committee. I also serve as the Chairman of the DJCC Common Area Maintenance Committee, which oversees the apportioning of the Dell campus expenses that are shared among its various organizations. Outside of CAA, I have an active medical practice in Pain Management, which gives me the great satisfaction of helping people with chronic pain conditions. I look forward to further service to our community as the VP of Religious Affairs, especially in helping to establish an online registration system for Yahrzeit/Kaddish minyanim.

Louise Epstein -- Louise and her husband, John Henry McDonald, were inspired to become members of CAA by Rabbi Neil Blumofe.  Louise is a native Austinite and has both a BA and an MBA from the University of Texas. She served on the Austin City Council from 1990-1993. Her career has been in finance and portfolio management. She was the founder and president of a distressed debt company for ten years. She presently serves in several think tanks: the Gerson Lehrman Group, the Roundtable Group, and the Society of Industry Leaders.   Louise is active in animal welfare issues with a particular focus on getting the Legislature to enact a law that requires large commercial cat and dog breeding facilities to provide humane treatment for their animals.  Louise and John Henry are owned by three terriers and two cats. All but one of their animals was a “last chance” rescue.  Louise sees our financial challenges as opportunities for congregants to come together to affirm and strengthen ties throughout the CAA community.

Greg Chanon is a Houston native who moved to Austin in 1977 to attend the University of Texas where he majored in accounting and went on to obtain a law degree in 1984. Greg is a partner of McGinnis, Lochridge & Kilgore, LLP where he has practiced law as a real estate, banking, business and transactional lawyer for the last 26 years and has served on for several years on its management committee.   He has been a member of Congregation Agudas Achim since 1981 and has previously served on our Board of Directors for several years during the 1990s and on various committees of the synagogue over the years.   Greg was also a founding director of the Austin Jewish Academy and has served on the Board of Directors of the Jewish Community Association of Austin, which previously honored him with its annual community leadership award.  Greg has also served on the Board of Directors of the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau for the last ten years and is currently its Chairman of the Board of Directors.  He is married to Karen Chanon, the transitional kindergarten teacher at the Austin Jewish Academy and has a daughter, Jacci, who will be graduating soon from the University of Kansas and twin sons, Reid and Ryan, who will be off to college (Texas Tech and/or Texas State, they are still deciding) in the fall.

Marty Price -- My name is Marty Price and my family and I moved to Austin nearly three years ago. We left our home in Detroit, the week immediately following our second son's Bar Mitzvah. We were looking for a place to continue to meet Jewish families and to be part of worship and learning in a growing Jewish Community.

 

From the moment we arrived, we have felt Agudas Achim is our home. We have been treated wonderfully in every part of our association. I would like to serve the synagogue and the larger community and give back to those who were so wonderful and helpful to us. Thanks for this opportunity to serve.

Rob Rosenthal – has been a member for 10 years. My reasons for wanting to be on the CAA Board are numerous.  After being a member for so long I have been looking for new ways to get involved and board service seemed like the next logical step. My wife Leslie and I have four children ranging in age from 6 to 17 and I am very interested in helping to make sure CAA continues to provide dynamic meaningful experiences for families with children of all ages. We have lived in several different states and have been members of synagogues in all of them, learning what works and what doesn’t. I hope to use this experience to help our congregation to continue the positive growth we have seen over the past couple of years.

Rose Schneier -- I grew up and was educated (college, medical school, residency, and fellowship) in Pennsylvania. Beginning in 1982, my family and I have moved several times (California, Arizona, Alabama ) before moving to Austin in 2003.

 

I am a pediatric endocrinologist specializing in adolescents and young adults. I currently work at Austin Thyroid and Endocrinology near North Austin Medical Center. My husband Lawrence Weinman and I live outside Manor; our daughter Joanna lives and works as a web designer in Oakland, California.

 

During my years in California, I served two years as education chair at Temple Beth Emek (Livermore). At Etz Chayim on Huntsville, Alabama, I served as vice president, president, editor of the monthly newsletter (The Shofar), and religious school teacher.

 

Although Congregation Agudas Achim is two orders of magnitude larger than both my previous congregations, there are enough similarities that many of the skills and values I developed at my previous shuls could serve me well in future service as a Board Member at Large.

 

I am interested in CAA’s role in the larger community, and I believe that social service needs to be a cornerstone of who we are as a community. However, I am also keenly aware of the central importance of involving the younger members of the Agudas community-from post-Bar/Bat Mitzvah to the pre-parenthood 30-somethings. I have been pleased by the recent efforts of the Board to develop religious, educational, service, and social programs for these members in particular.

 

I would welcome the opportunity to serve our kaliedoscopic and haimish congregation, and I am honored to have been nominated to serve on the Board.