Elkins Park Resident Named President of National Jewish Women’s Organization

Andrew Guckes | Staff Writer

For Susan Miller, who will begin a three-year tenure as president of NA’AMAT USA on March 30, Israel has always represented a core tenet of her life. It’s so important to her that you could say that leading an Israeli women’s advocacy group is what she was meant to do.
In fact, she joined as a life member of the organization at the first meeting she ever attended.

“I was raised a Zionist, and it was to the extent that my mother wouldn’t let me go to Israel when I was a teenager because she was afraid I wouldn’t come back,” Miller said.
NA’AMAT was founded 100 years ago, but Miller only joined the organization less than a decade ago. Her rapid ascent can be attributed to hard work and, again, her deep love for the world’s only Jewish state.

“Seven or eight years ago, two members of the community were introducing NA’AMAT in Elkins Park, and I was invited to join them at the first meeting. What appealed to me was hearing that the money raised in the U.S., Canada and [elsewhere] goes directly to projects in Israel for underserved Jews, Arabs and Christians,” she said.

The organization provides for social services, legal services, domestic violence prevention, educational services, scholarships for women who want to extend their education beyond what is provided for and more. Miller is a former family therapist, so these causes spoke to her.

“Because [of my past career] I know how important it is to have healthy families and their impact on a healthy society,” she said.

From there, Miller dove in headfirst. She became involved first with the local chapter, then the national organization. Then she was invited to be part of a leadership group in Israel in 2019. She was subsequently elevated to vice president of fundraising.

In that role, she helped raise more than $3 million for NA’AMAT’s causes over the three years she was in charge. Some of that can certainly be chalked up to the war, but Miller’s leadership was key, too.

Now, she is president.

“I see myself as in a transition presidency,” the longtime member of Beth Sholom Congregation said. “We are beefing up our staff and our national office, and there is nothing but opportunity.”

Miller also made sure to credit NA’AMAT USA National Executive Director Kim Marks. She said that Marks has been instrumental in helping aid Israelis.

“Her enthusiasm and efforts on the ground in Israel have really identified some unique opportunities this past year. We raised enough money to purchase eight safe rooms [for schools],” Miller said.

She added that this was essential to keeping a number of schools up and running because of Israeli rules about schools needing safehouses big enough to fit all students in order to operate.

“Some of our day care centers are less than two miles from the Gaza border and very close to Lebanon. Having those safe rooms built was very important, because what’s the job of children? The job of children is to play,” she said.

While Miller’s tenure doesn’t start until the end of the month, she has a good idea of what she wants to bring to the table upon beginning her tenure.

“I’m implementing a hybrid model of organization that will include chapters and members at large, [because] we have found that members at large are most interested in Zoom programs and less interested in individually attending events outside of their home,” she said. “My goal is to beef up our national events and partner with like-minded organizations to amplify our message.”

While the scope of Miller’s role is national, being based in Philadelphia will help NA’AMAT increase its presence with those like-minded organizations. Philly is home to a host of Jewish philanthropy and communal organizations of all sizes and types.

NA’AMAT’s attempt to scale up will be aided by the hiring of a development director, Macey Markowitz, who Miller said is enthusiastic and has helped put the organization on a more clearly defined track.

“She’s worked for several other organizations in the past and is very competent with the fundraising aspect of a nonprofit organization,” Miller said. “It’s been a challenge, because our organization was known as ‘Pioneer Women’ until 1965, and then it aligned with the name that Israel uses.”

The name, NA’AMAT, is an israeli acronym that stands for “Working and Volunteering Women.”

It’s a simple title, but it says it all. Miller is just proud to be able to continue the legacy of the ranks before her.

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