Board Members
Dr. Roslyn "Roz" Rosen
Board President
Arizona
Biography
Dr. Roslyn “Roz” Rosen was born to a Deaf family in the Bronx, NY. She attended the Lexington School for the Deaf and Gallaudet University, where she met her husband and lifelong partner, Herb Rosen. Herb and Roz have 3 kids and 9 grandkids and one great-grand.
Currently retired, her career included being director of the National Center on Deafness at CSUN; faculty, Dean and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Gallaudet University; and DC Vocational Rehabilitation counselor.
Roz has also been intensively involved in community service. She has served as a NAD board member and President, and on the boards of the World Federation of the Deaf and the West Virginia School for the Deaf. She currently is on the boards of JDC and the Deaf West Theatre, and on the LEAD-K Core Team.
She has presented and written on a number of topics, ranging from human rights and women to education and educational leadership. She authored Deaf Culture Fairy Tales and edited A Handful of Stories and the proceedings of the 1986 NAD Forum on Deaf People. In her spare time, Roz reads, beachcombs, cooks, writes and dabbles in the arts.
Marina Fanshteyn
Board Vice-President
New York
Biography
Marina Fanshteyn is Vice Chair of the Jewish Deaf Congress and a dedicated advocate for Deaf and DeafBlind inclusion, access, and community empowerment. She works daily to ensure Deaf people feel supported, respected, and proud of who they are. Marina also serves as Director of Development and Operations at United Hands Organization, where she helps expand access to communication, healthcare, education, and essential services that support healthy, independent lives. In addition, she contributes her expertise as a consultant and board member to multiple organizations.
Originally from Kiev, Ukraine, and now based in New York City, Marina brings a strong global perspective and lived experience to her work. She believes that when people can communicate freely and feel understood, they are able to thrive. Her work centers on building connections, solving complex challenges, and creating inclusive programs that foster belonging and hope.
Outside of her professional roles, Marina is a proud daughter, partner, mother, sister, grandmother, and friend. She enjoys reading, film, and time with loved ones, and brings warmth, courage, and humor into all that she does.
Amy Michner
Board Treasurer
California
Biography
Coming soon!
Roxanne Baker
Board Secretary
Maine
Biography
A Maine native, Roxanne is a graduate of the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf and Gallaudet University. She has worked for nearly thirty years as an American Sign Language and Deaf Studies instructor at the University of Southern Maine, where she promotes the beauty of ASL and Deaf culture. She is also an advocate and activist, serving on the school board of her alma mater to advance early language acquisition and improved learning environments for Deaf and hard-of-hearing children.
Roxanne is also an actress. Her recent projects include My Hands Remember, inspired by a Deaf Jewish woman’s escape from Nazi Germany, and The Promised Hands, drawn from her own experiences growing up Deaf and Jewish. She treasures her role as a mother and bubbe.
After growing up as the only Deaf Jewish student at her school, Roxanne found renewed Jewish identity, spiritual connection, and lasting relationships within the Deaf Jewish community through the Jewish Deaf Congress—a transformative turning point in her life. Through JDC, she discovered a sense of belonging that deeply shaped her personal and communal journey.
Roxanne serves as a JDC board member and secretary, as well as a dedicated volunteer. She is deeply invested in advancing JDC’s mission, supporting its strategic growth, and strengthening Deaf Jewish communities through service, leadership, and mitzvot. She also serves as a committee member of the ASL Shabbat Coalition, representing JDC and helping to sustain accessible Jewish life. In addition, she is a member of the hospitality committee for the upcoming International Jewish Deaf Festival.
Clarisse Plosk Allshever
Board Member
United Kingdom
Biography
Clarisse is delighted to join the Jewish Deaf Congress board. She recently attended the October 2025 JDC Summit, where she reconnected with dear friends she had not seen in more than twenty years and revisited many fond memories of past JDC conferences. The Summit also offered the opportunity to build meaningful new connections within the community.
Originally from Brazil, Clarisse spent six formative years in the United States, where she met her husband, who introduced her to the Jewish Deaf Congress. Together, they later moved to Israel before settling in London, United Kingdom, where they have lived for the past twenty years.
While in London, Clarisse and her husband raised their two sons with a strong Jewish education, a value she holds as deeply important as the excellent Jewish schooling she herself received growing up in Brazil. Their sons now attend a Jewish public school and are thriving both academically and culturally.
In recent years, rising antisemitism, combined with nostalgia for her time in the United States and her longstanding connection to JDC, inspired Clarisse to return and re-engage with the organization. She describes rejoining JDC as one of the best decisions she has made and is excited to support its mission of putting Jewish values into action to strengthen Jewish communities near and far.
Anne Marie Baer
Board Member
Israel
Biography
Anne Marie Baer was born and raised in the Washington, D.C. area and is a proud alumna of Gallaudet University, where she earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in ASL and Linguistics. Her academic training has supported a long and respected professional career focused on ASL assessment, signed language linguistics, and the advancement of Deaf-centered language expertise. Her work reflects a deep commitment to language access, linguistic integrity, and Deaf leadership.
Anne Marie is married to a Deaf Israeli, and together they are raising two Deaf sons. Their family has lived in Israel for the past fifteen years, where daily life, language, and culture are deeply intertwined with their Jewish and Deaf identities. Living in Israel has further enriched Anne Marie’s personal and communal connection to Judaism.
One of Anne Marie’s great joys is exploring Jewish culture through food, particularly by cooking Moroccan and Israeli dishes for family and community gatherings. She also enjoys collecting Israeli-made necklaces and dresses, which she loves wearing on Shabbat as a way of expressing cultural pride and connection. Through family, language, and tradition, Anne Marie’s life reflects a deep integration of Deaf and Jewish identity.
Dr. Janis Cole
Board Member
Massachusetts
Biography
In addition to her academic work, Janis is a longtime professional actress, translator, creative director, and arts advocate. Her career spans signed-language theatre, film, and performance, as well as leadership in developing innovative cultural, educational, and artistic initiatives that center Deaf creativity, storytelling, and expression.
Janis serves as a board member of the Jewish Deaf Congress and is deeply committed to strengthening Deaf Jewish spaces, leadership, and collaboration. She works to advance Deaf- and Jewish-led initiatives while fostering meaningful partnerships across communities. Her work is guided by values of culture, community, access, and visibility, with a focus on ensuring that Deaf Jewish presence is affirmed, sustained, and thriving.
These commitments led Janis to serve as co-chair of the International Jewish Deaf Festival (IJDF), a global gathering that brings together Deaf Jews and allies through culture, dialogue, learning, and celebration around the world globally.
Philip Rubin
Board Member
California
Biography
Philip is a second-generation American born in Chicago to a hearing Russian Jewish immigrant family. His Jewish and Deaf identities were shaped early through his older Deaf cousin, Evelyn Zola, who introduced him to Deaf schools and community spaces, including the Hebrew Association of the Deaf (HAD) in Skokie, Illinois. Growing up within HAD, Philip was surrounded by strong Jewish Deaf role models from multigenerational families whose leadership, advocacy, and sense of community deeply influenced his values.
Philip’s lifelong commitment to nonprofit leadership and community advocacy began when Rabbi Goldhammer recruited him to establish Junior HAD. This formative experience launched decades of service within Deaf nonprofit organizations at local, national, and international levels. Over the years, Philip has founded, co-founded, or served as a board member or officer for numerous Deaf-led organizations, with a particular focus on inclusion, cultural identity, LGBTQ+ advocacy, and senior community care.
Alongside his advocacy work, Philip earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Cornell University and founded an architectural practice that he led for 35 years. Now living in Palm Springs (Rancho Mirage), California, with his husband of more than 30 years, Philip remains actively engaged in nonprofit leadership. He currently serves the Jewish Deaf Congress and continues to work toward strengthening, celebrating, and sustaining the Jewish Deaf community.
Mark Stern
Board Member
New Jersey
Biography
Mark Stern was born and raised in Washington, D.C., and became Deaf as a result of spinal meningitis at age one. He grew up navigating both Deaf and hearing worlds, an experience that has deeply shaped his identity and values.
Mark was raised in a Reform Jewish family active in one of Washington, D.C.’s largest Reform congregations, where both oral and sign language interpreting were provided during High Holy Day services. Jewish life was a central part of his upbringing, rooted in community, access, and inclusion. His Jewish identity is also shaped by his family’s history of displacement and survival: his father, paternal grandparents, and uncles fled Germany for New York City in 1939 during the rise of the Nazi regime, while his maternal grandmother’s family escaped persecution in the Russian Empire and resettled in the Philadelphia area.
Now living in northern New Jersey, Mark continues to practice Judaism with his wife, Carolyn, who is hard of hearing, and their two children. He first encountered the Jewish Deaf Congress at the 1990 NCJD convention in Secaucus, New Jersey, forming connections that have lasted decades. As a first-time JDC Board member, he is honored to help strengthen and celebrate the diversity of Jewish Deaf experiences, guided by his belief that there are many ways to be both Deaf and Jewish.
Board Emeritus
Marla Berkowitz
Ohio
Martin Florsheim
Florida
Meet Our Team
Jane Jonas
JDC Program Director
Washington, DC
Biography
Jane was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and graduated from the California School for the Deaf before earning a degree in Communication Studies from Gallaudet University.
In 2007, Jane founded Eyeth Studios, a creative firm that has provided web design for twenty years. Eyeth is proud to collaborate with Deaf contractors and to center accessibility and Deaf leadership in all of its work. Jane also co-owns Lost River Vacations, a luxury tiny-house retreat in Lost River, West Virginia, with a Deaf partner.
Jane is deeply proud of her Jewish identity and carries the legacy of her Holocaust survivor grandparents close to her heart. She received Judaic education growing up and has been involved with the Washington Society of the Jewish Deaf since her college years. As Program Director of Jewish Deaf Congress, Jane supports programs and resources that strengthen Jewish Deaf life, expand access, and foster connection, while advancing JDC’s digital infrastructure and long-term growth.
In her spare time, Jane enjoys espresso, the outdoors, dogs, cats, reading, and puzzles (crossword, jigsaw, Legos, etc) of all kinds.
Rabbi Darby Leigh
Program Advisor
Concord, MA
Rabbi Rebecca Dubowe
Program Advisor
Bloomington, IL
