Board of Directors

The IAJGS Board of Directors consists of four elected officers, six elected directors, and the immediate past president. Elections are held at the general meeting, which takes place in conjunction with the annual International Conference on Jewish Genealogy.

Officers

Susan Weinberg came out of a multi-faceted career ranging from nonprofit management to finance, concluding her career as treasurer of an investment bank. She holds an MBA in Finance and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). Today she focuses her energies on genealogy consulting, presenting, writing and artwork. Susan has developed several KehilaLinks and published the book We Spoke Jewish: A Legacy in Stories, based on an oral history project with Jewish elders. She has been on the IAJGS Board since 2021. Susan was a founding member and President of the Minnesota Jewish Genealogical Society and now serves as its Immediate Past President and Treasurer. She also serves on the board of the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest.

An archaeologist by training (B.A. and M.A.), Emily Garber has been researching her Jewish family heritage since 2007 and holds a certificate from Boston UniversityÆs Genealogical Research program. She is a family history researcher, writer. and speaker and owns Extra Yad Genealogical Services. She blogs at extrayad.blogspot.com and has written two books and several articles on genealogical research. She serves as chair of the Phoenix Jewish Genealogy Group and board member of the Arizona Jewish Historical Society. Emily has spoken at eight IAJGS conferences and coordinated Introduction to Jewish Genealogy, a seminar at the 2020 Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh.

Immediate Past President

Jane Berenbeim, an independent development consultant, brings to the Board more than 30 years of experience in non-profit fundraising and management. Past professional positions included serving as Development Officer or Director for a variety of NYC social service, educational, health care and cultural organizations, among them Columbia University, Mount Sinai Medical Center, and Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services. An amateur genealogist for more than 20 years, Jane has recently served as Vice President of the IAJGS, is a longstanding member of the Executive Council of the Jewish Genealogical Society, Inc. (JGS, Inc.) (New York), and is its immediate past President. She holds an undergraduate degree from Vassar College, and graduate degrees from Harvard and Brandeis Universities.

Directors

Crista Cowan has been involved in family history research for more than 25áyears and has been a professional genealogist since 2002. She specializes in descendancy research, Jewish immigration, and sharing family history with the genealogically challenged. Crista regularly teaches at conferences and genealogy societies around the country. She has been employed at Ancestry.com since 2004 and is known as The Barefoot Genealogist. She uploads a new episode of her show to the Ancestry YouTube channel (almost) every Tuesday morning.

Risa is a professional genealogist who has been actively engaged in genealogy for thirty years. She holds a certificate from Boston University’s Genealogical Research program, has been a speaker at the IAJGS conferences from 2018 to 2024, and has published in Avotaynu and Dorot. Risa was President of the Colorado JGS from 2018 to 2019 and is a current member of the Phoenix JGS. She was co-coordinator of the Belarus SIG at its inception. In addition to the United States and Portugal, Risa has lived in Singapore and Germany. She brings a varied set of skills to the board from her previous careers in IT, corporate wellness and as a cross-cultural trainer.

Ed Donakey is a converted business technologist serving as the Vice President of Strategic Relations and Deputy Chief Genealogical Officer at FamilySearch International. He works with genealogical societies and others to identify partnerships, development opportunities, and to develop solutions to make critical genealogical data available. Currently a member of the NGS board of directors and Chair of the Audit Committee, he is the past FGS Vice President of Development and board member, responsible for fundraising and partnerships. A professional strategist and past CEO, he also provides business and technology support to genealogical societies, non-profits, and emerging businesses. Ed’s genealogical interests keep him the Deep South, Ireland, and Scotland as he researches his ancestors daily. Ed’s undergraduate and graduate studies were in philosophy and political philosophy respectively at Brigham Young University.

Jarrett Ross began researching his own family history in 2009 while finishing his undergraduate degree at the University of Pittsburgh. Since then he has built his own personal tree with more than 7000 people, successfully connecting with thousands of relatives all over the world and has helped build hundreds of trees for people of varying ancestral backgrounds. Jarrett has found multiple specialties including genetic genealogy, Sephardic Jewish research with an emphasis on the Portuguese Jewish Community of Amsterdam, the Jewish Agricultural Societies of Southern New Jersey, Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry in Ukraine, and American Jewish history. Jarrett writes a blog called Sephardic Genealogy and he also has a vlog called GeneaVlogger. Jarrett currently works as the lead forensic genealogist at DNA Labs International where he helps solve cold cases. He also volunteers as a Search Angel where he helps people find their biological family, and he volunteers as a curator on Geni.com, home of the World Family Tree. Jarrett currently serves as the vice president of the Triangle JGS in North Carolina and has been involved in the group since 2012.

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