Schwebel Epstein is New President of Jewish Federation

YOUNGSTOWN – Susan Schwebel Epstein is the new president of the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation board of directors.

Schwebel Epstein has been involved with the federation and its agencies for 53 years. Her first role was at the age of 13 as the very first “volunteer” for Heritage Manor, an agency of the federation.

Schwebel Epstein has served on the Jewish Family and Children’s Services (now Jewish Family Services) Board, the Human Services Board, the steering committee for the creation of Levy Gardens Assisted Living, the Russian Resettlement Committee, the Federation’s Young Leadership Committee, the Holocaust Commemoration and Education Task Force Committee, and the Jewish Community Relations Council Board. She has been president of the JCRC board since 2017. She’s the third woman to be president of the federation board in its 85 year history.

“I was humbled and honored to be considered to serve as the Federation’s president,” Schwebel Epstein says. “I feel that my over 30 years of experience garnered while serving on various boards for the non-Jewish and Jewish communities has been beneficial in preparing and developing me for this position. Having served on three of the four federation agencies’ boards should also prove useful.”

Among other positions, she has served as president of the Youngstown Symphony Guild, the Junior League of Youngstown (now known as the Junior League of the Mahoning Valley), Youngstown Hearing and Speech Center, Ohio Council on Holocaust and Genocide Education, and the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry & Labor.

She was one of five women initially inducted into the League of Women Voters of Greater Youngstown’s Hall of Fame. She serves on the Youngstown State University Judaic & Holocaust Studies Program advisory committee and has been a docent for 28 years at the Butler Institute of American Art.

Schwebel Epstein received the Zionist Organization of America volunteer award, the federation’s Esther Marks award for outstanding volunteerism, the Aaron Grossman Lodge 339 of B’nai B’rith Guardian of the Menorah recognition award, and the Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals for National Philanthropy Day.

She worked as an assistant art gallery director, office manager, and endoscopic technician before devoting herself to volunteering full time. She is an avid golfer and dancer, likes theater, and enjoys cooking and baking for her husband Bruce Epstein, their friends, and extended family.

The Youngstown Area Jewish Federation is the umbrella organization for several agencies, including Heritage Manor Rehabilitation and Retirement Community, the Jewish Community Center, the Jewish Community Relations Council, Jewish Family Services, and Levy Gardens Assisted Living. The Federation works to promote the welfare of the Jewish people, locally, nationally and overseas. F

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