“It was a perfect evening, and everyone came away with a strong sense of appreciation, community, and gratitude for being there and the important work that JEWISHcolorado does.”
“Mazel tov to the team on elevating CHOICES to best in class.”
JEWISHcolorado’s CHOICES 2026 was an event by women, for women, honoring women leaders, and showcasing the talents of women including Golda Award recipient Lisa Mintz and Juju Chang, an Emmy Award-winning journalist.
JEWISHcolorado Board Chair Ben Lusher and President & CEO Renée Rockford
More than 550 attendees gathered in the stunning Seawell Ballroom at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts for the biennial event. The last CHOICES took place more than two years ago, just a few days after October 7th. This dinner came full circle, taking place just one day after the remains of the final hostage were returned to Israel, and on the same day 80 years ago that Auschwitz and Birkenau were liberated.
“That day brought an end to the Nazi machinery of murder that claimed six million Jewish lives,” JEWISHcolorado Board Chair Ben Lusher told the audience. “Today, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we remember them—and we recommit ourselves to Jewish continuity, courage, and moral clarity.”
As Nelly Ben Tal, JEWISHcolorado’s Senior Israeli Emissary and the teen Israeli Emissaries lit memorial candles, Senior Rabbi Elizabeth Sacks from Temple Emanuel sang “Eli, Eli—My God, My God” the poem by WWII martyred freedom fighter Hannah Senesh.
A standing ovation for women who lead
“Just wanted to wish you a hearty mazel tov on a beautiful event last night! I thought it was so lovely to honor and elevate the other women executives in our Jewish community.”
JEWISHcolorado President & CEO Renée Rockford, joined by National Women’s Philanthropy leaders Julie Schlafer and Tiffany Appel, honored five women who demonstrated extraordinary community leadership in the dark days after October 7th.
“These women shape institutions, mentor future leaders, and guide our community through uncertainty and change,” Rockford said. “They do so with resolve and humility—balancing strategy with heart and responsibility with grace.”
From left: Elyana Funk, Melanie Pearlman, Lindy Eichenbaum Lent, Susan Rona, Linda Foster
Included among the honorees were:
Linda Foster, President and CEO of Jewish Family Service, who, over the past two years, led JFS in meeting unprecedented levels of need across 30 programs, providing 340,000 services to more than 48,000 individuals
Elyana Funk, Executive Director of CU Boulder Hillel who, over the past two years, expanded the reach of CU Boulder Hillel by nearly 50 percent, engaging more than 1,000 students during an exceptionally complex time in Jewish life on campus.
Lindy Eichenbaum Lent, President and CEO of Rose Community Foundation, who, over the past two years has led in the Foundation in strengthening the local Jewish nonprofit ecosystem, elevating conversations around antisemitism, and responding to urgent community and public health needs.
Melanie Pearlman, President and CEO of the Mizel Institute and CELL, the Counter Terrorism Education Learning Lab, who, over the past two years, has strengthened partnerships across government, law enforcement, and the private sector to help protect all communities, enhance preparedness, and build resilience.
Susan Rona, Regional Director, ADL Mountain States, who stepped into her role in January 2025 and has led with courage and clarity—expanding education, strengthening law enforcement partnerships, and empowering students and communities to confront hate, even as antisemitic incidents in Colorado rose by 48 percent.
As Rockford finished the honors, the audience rose to their feet to applaud the accomplishments of these women. “Your leadership reflects our deepest Jewish values—arevut, responsibility for one another, chesed, lovingkindness in action, and Tzedek, the pursuit of justice,” Rockford said. “Because of you, our community is stronger, more resilient, and more hopeful.”
Golda Award
“Lisa Mintz is a true gem—and so deserving.”
Diana Zeff Anderson, the 2023 Golda Award winner, introduced this year’s recipient of the Golda Award—Lisa Mintz—describing her as a “cornerstone of JEWISHcolorado” for her work as Annual Campaign Chair and Women’s Philanthropy Chair. Mintz has also represented Colorado nationally through Jewish Federations of North America National Women’s Philanthropy Board.
Lisa Mintz and Diana Zeff Anderson
As she looked out at other Golda winners in the room who had been her mentors and teachers, Mintz accepted the Golda Award, calling the experience “humbling and surreal.” She told her personal story, growing up in a small town with very few Jews, finding “my Jewish soul” at summer camp, making a life and family together with her husband Rob, finding purpose in Women’s Philanthropy. Then, when her husband died unexpectedly, she became a single parent to two teenagers.
“I thought I would have to do that alone,” Mintz told the audience. “But my family—and my Jewish sisterhood—stepped in. They stayed the night. They brought meals. They held my hand and held me up when I could not stand on my own. They knew what to do.
“In Rob’s final conversation with our daughter, he told her that living a Jewish life mattered above all else. So I asked myself: How do I honor his love of life? How do I make my life meaningful?
“JEWISHcolorado became where I healed, led, and grew. Community saved me, and I then became community for others.
“JEWISHcolorado isn’t just about philanthropy. It’s about relationships. It’s about showing up and getting involved. It’s about teaching our children generosity by example. Jewish community means knowing that when life happens—whether it’s global tragedy, violence close to home, or one person in need—we don’t face it alone. It means being the people who know what to do.”
Women’s Philanthropy Leadership
“The positive energy was palpable. I am excited for the future!”
Former Golda Award and Lifetime Achievement honoree Judy Robins—who referred to herself as “an OG—original gangster”—stepped to the podium to thank Carol Mizel—the woman who founded CHOICES as a woman-driven event—and to introduce Adriane Greenberg and Carly Schlafer, Co-Chairs of the evening.
Judy Robins
The two women recounted their experiences growing up Jewish in Colorado (in Greenberg’s case) and moving to Colorado at the age of 25 and having to Google “Jewish” and “Colorado” to find JEWISHcolorado (in Schlafer’s case).
“That feeling when I walk into a room and feel that sense of belonging and pride in being Jewish — that is what so many of us are longing for right now,” said Greenberg. “And that is what I feel when I am at an event that has been impacted or supported by JEWISHcolorado.”
“We are living in a different world than when we last gathered for CHOICES on October 10, 2023,” added Schlafer. “Over the past two years, the global and security landscape has changed, but at the same time, the strength of the Jewish people has grown.”
Carly Schlafer and Adraine Greenberg
The Co-Chairs pointed out the many ways that JEWISHcolorado supports a robust and thriving Jewish community—through its Safety & Security initiative, through its programs like PJ Library, Jewish Explorers, Jewish Student Connection, Joyce Zeff Israel Study Tour, Israeli emissaries, Staenberg Anything Grants™, early childhood education and camp grants, and representation at Colorado’s State Capitol.
“We have heard this evening about leadership in moments of uncertainty, about courage in the face of challenge, and about women who stepped forward when our community needed them most,” Schlafer said. “But none of this happens by accident.”
“Everything we’ve celebrated tonight—safety and security, education, leadership development, and connection to Israel—exists because people in this room choose to show up and choose to give,” added Greenberg.
Juju Chang
“The speaker JuJu Chang was one of the best we have heard. Her story and insight were powerful and inspirational.”
Michelle Striker
JEWISHcolorado Women’s Philanthropy Chair Michelle Striker introduced the evening’s featured speaker, Juju Chang, co-anchor of “Nightline” and a regular contributor to “Good Morning America” and “20/20.”
Chang was born in South Korea, immigrated with her family as a child to the United States, and is a Jew by choice and a mother of three sons, whom she described as “50 percent Korean and 100 percent Jewish.” She brought an authentic, down-to-earth presence to the podium, and it quickly became obvious that she had spent the evening enjoying the experience of CHOICES, mingling with many women, finding commonalities in their lived experience, and making new friends.
In her opening remarks, she made it clear that she understood JEWISHcolorado’s mission—to convene, connect, invest, and protect.
Juju Chang
“Convening power is a superpower,” she said. “That is what tonight represents in so many ways.”
Chang also referred frequently to the word CHOICES, tying the acting of choosing to the name of the event. Referring to International Holocaust Remembrance Day, she said, “We made a choice to remember, we choose to bear witness, we choose to carry our values forward, loudly and, in this room, collectively in the Colorado Jewish community.”
Chang talked about following a path to become a journalist because of her upbringing as an immigrant child in California who “felt like an outsider and sought belonging.”
“This is why I have spent years reporting on antisemitism, the alt-right, and neo-Nazis, and the rise of online hate,” she said. “Because journalism at its best is giving a voice to the voiceless.”
She described her path to Judaism, after she married a “nice Jewish boy” from New York and had her first child. “I didn’t choose Judaism for my kids,” she said. “I honestly chose it for myself. I chose Judaism because of the values, the questions, but also because being Jewish demanded engagement because it insists on moral and social responsibility.”
Chang asked her audience to consider how antisemitism is different from other forms of hate. “It is not different,” she said. “It is rooted in dehumanizing people, “othering” people in one way or another. You can scapegoat really easily when there is fear, when there is uncertainty, when there is chaos. In many ways that is what we are seeing with the Jewish community now.”
Finally, Chang turned her attention to what actions her audience could choose in the face of what often seems to be a despairing world. “We choose community, and we choose education,” Chang said. “Resilience is about searching for joy. That is what we are doing tonight. This is the work of JEWISHcolorado. As I was reading your mission statement, I couldn’t help but think, ‘This is the antidote to despair.’”