Lisa Loeb Handelman

Lisa has over thirty years of experience in community leadership, education, and Jewish camping. Inclusion is not merely what she does but also how she operates. Her creativity and impact are based on true wisdom gleaned from wide exposure to every type of challenge. Lisa listens before opining, explores rather than directs, and always seeks to find the core questions behind individual or group challenges. She looks at a situation with emotional intelligence and often sees things that others don’t.  She is an innovative, “out of the box” thinker. She has created and led bridge-building and team building workshops specializing in how to have civil conversations about polarizing topics.  Lisa understands group dynamics. She has a way of prioritizing individual concerns while guiding the group toward a common objective simultaneously. 

 

History

Currently – Director of Inclusion and Belonging at the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.

 

Former – Director of Capital Camps, one of the largest Jewish, pluralistic overnight camps on the East Coast, and led her camp through a pandemic-driven closing, then reopening, managing the enormous social-emotional burdens imposed on kids and young-adult staff by the pandemic’s isolation.

 

Previously – Disability Inclusion Specialist at the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, Lisa literally changed the landscape of how her local community involved individuals with disabilities. Lisa has taught youth mental health first aid to parents, clergy, and professionals who work with youth.  She has taught classes with an additional value-based and inclusive lens.  She created and helped launch SULAM, a school-based program for Jewish students with learning differences, and created the first learning support program at the Yeshiva of Greater Washington.

 

Education

• BA in Psychology – Clark University,

• Masters in Learning Consulting – New York University

• Certificate in Jewish Education Leadership – Northwestern University & Spertus Institute

• Certification in Leadership Coaching for Organizational Performance – American University and Heidrick & Struggles

 

Lisa and her husband live in the Washington DC area and have four grown children.