By ELlen Goldstein
Special to THE JEWISH JOURNAL
The Buffalo Jewish Federation will honor Leslie Shuman Kramer as a 2018 Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award Winner of National Women’s Philanthropy of the Jewish Federations of North America.
This distinction, named for Lion of Judah founders Norma Kipnis-Wilson and Toby Friedland z”l, honors the most inspiring women in our North American communities and will be awarded at the International Lion of Judah Conference in Miami next January.
The Buffalo Jewish Federation will honor Leslie Shuman Kramer as a 2018 Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award Winner of National Women’s Philanthropy of the Jewish Federations of North America. This distinction, named for Lion of Judah founders Norma Kipnis-Wilson and Toby Friedland z”l, honors the most inspiring women in our North American communities and will be awarded at the International Lion of Judah Conference in Miami next January.
“I am honored to be receiving this beautiful award,” said Mrs. Kramer. “I know I share it with many other deserving women, for whom I have so much respect. I feel blessed to be able to spend much of my time involved in the Jewish world, for which I have always had a passion.”
Leslie Shuman Kramer is currently Vice President of the Buffalo Jewish Federation and is a member of Jewish Federation of North America’s National Women’s Philanthropy Board, where she holds the portfolio of Vice Chair of Community Engagement. She chaired the 2016 and 2015 Campaigns for Jewish Buffalo, the 2010 and 2009 UJF Women’s Philanthropy Campaign, and has been a longtime member of Buffalo Jewish Federation’s Campaign Cabinet, where she co-chaired a number of divisions, including Lion of Judah.
At the Buffalo Jewish Federation, in addition to serving as Vice President, she has been a member of the Board of Governors since 2006, and sits on the Federation’s Executive Committee, chaired the Federation’s recent Education Task Force and was a member of the Federation Community Strategic Planning Task Force.
Over the years, her interest in Education was expressed by serving as President of the Buffalo Bureau of Jewish Education, a volunteer for the Buffalo Jewish Coalition for Literacy, a volunteer at Buffalo’s Vive La Casa, and a member of the Amherst Central School District Board of Education from 2010-2013. She also previously served as a board member of Temple Beth Tzedek as Education Co-chair.
Having visited and lived in Israel as a youth and young adult, Leslie has continued to visit Israel frequently. Along with her husband Jim, Shira and Rob Goldberg and Ellen and Steven Weiss, she co-chaired Buffalo’s 2012 New Leadership Mission to Israel and has co-chaired the NWP Heart to Heart Mission. She participated in Buffalo’s 2008 Menorah Mission, and has visited Poland, Tbilisi Georgia, and Israel on several national missions including JFNA Campaign Chair and Directors Missions and NWP’s Machar Mission.
She is currently co-chairing the Buffalo Israel Experience which will bring a group of nearly 80 people to Israel in October. Leslie has co-chaired Federation’s Leadership Development program and the Leadership Power program for Women and has served on the Community Relations Committee. An attorney, Mrs. Kramer practiced law in Chicago and Buffalo. While in Chicago she was a member of the Chicago Federation Young Leadership Board.
Mrs. Kramer graduated from Cornell University, spending her Junior year at Tel Aviv University, and the University of Buffalo Law School. She was the 2000 Ruth and Milton Kahn Young Leadership Award winner. Mrs. Kramer and her husband Jim have three children and lives in Amherst.