Yamim

Tziporah (Tzipi) Altman-Shafer is the Vice President of Jewish Communal Life and Learning. She is responsible for overseeing the Israel Center. She works with lay leaders in determining all Israel and Overseas allocations for Federation. Her responsibilities include directing the Coalition for Jewish Learning, providing support to all our local Jewish schools and educators, and overseeing the Planning Department, which is responsible for all local allocations. 

Tzipi grew up in Milwaukee and has been working in Jewish Education since 1987. She has a bachelor’s degree in Jewish Studies and Women’s Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a master’s degree in Jewish Education from the Cleveland College of Jewish Studies. Before coming to MJF in 2015, she worked at summer camps, supplementary schools, and day schools (including six schools in Milwaukee). She has been a teacher, a family educator, and  director of education and worked with children of all ages. 

As Executive Director of both the Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center and JHub: An Institute for K-12 Jewish Resources, Samantha leads a dedicated team committed to empowering Wisconsin’s public and private school ecosystems to learn and teach about the Holocaust, contemporary antisemitism, and Jewish identity and history.

Samantha holds an MA in Museum Studies from the George Washington University, a BA in History with minors in Jewish Studies, Spanish, and English Literature from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, a certificate in nonprofit fiscal management from Cornell, and is a graduate of the Wexner Foundation’s Field Fellowship program. Samantha’s previous roles include the Capital Jewish Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Jewish Heritage North Carolina, and Jewish Museum Milwaukee. In her spare time, Samantha loves spending time with family and friends and is an avid walker, baker, and consumer of frozen custard (she is a Milwaukee native after all).

Noa was born in Tiberias and spent most of her childhood in Ofra, a small Orthodox-Zionist community in northern Jerusalem. After graduating from high school, she fulfilled her Civil service by tutoring at-risk youth in general studies. During these two years she began exploring secularism. After finishing her service, she spent seven summers at Camp Ramah in upstate New York as a Shlicha. She specialized as a Hebrew Teacher and oversaw the Israeli staff and programs at the camp.

She attended Kibbutzim College in Tel Aviv, graduating with both a degree in education and a teacher certificate. She went on to get her master’s degree in Jewish studies from Schechter Institute in Jerusalem. While attending college, Noa worked for Masa program in Tel Aviv, BINA (The secular Yeshiva), and “Momentum – Lahayalim BeAhava” (a nonprofit that prepares soldiers for civilian life, right before the end of their military service.) For seven years Noa worked as a high school history and citizenship studies teacher. For the past 4 years, she worked for the Ministry of Education as an Educational Coordinator, guiding educational staff working with at-risk youth.

Noa married Liran during the summer of 2014. They came to Milwaukee with their two daughters Rona and Lihi and their dog Chika. Noa enjoys reading all genres, watching Israeli films and TV, jogging and Pilates.