Forward 50 2017

Kathy Manning

By Forward Staff November 1, 2017

Jewish Educational Trailblazer

At a time when many Jewish organizations insist on going it alone, even though they struggle for money and members, what happened last year in the day school community defied the norm: Five well-established, distinct organizations representing diverse religious streams and approaches actually decided to meld into one. Key to this development was Kathy E. Manning, a veteran communal leader who became the founding chair of Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools.

Manning, 60, was the first woman to chair the board of the Jewish Federations of North America. She initially turned down a request to join Prizmah; after serving, twice, as the chair of her children’s day school in Greensboro, North Carolina, Manning thought she had had enough.

But then, she wrote, “I realized that what was envisioned was something much bigger than I had imagined: an organization that can strengthen and enhance day schools across the country and across the spectrum.”

Prizmah hosted more than 1,000 people at a three-day conference in February and is expanding the programs and resources offered to its members.

Manning is an immigration lawyer and is active in the Greensboro arts community. As a college student, she was one of the founders of Harvard College’s first women’s a cappella group, an experience that resonates with her communal work today. As she once said: “Many of us love to sing solos, but there is something powerful about being part of a large group working together for a common purpose.”

The Forward’s staff contributors are listed in our masthead.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO