Jane is a leadership coach who works primarily with leaders in Jewish day schools to leverage their unique talents and skills. Whether working with heads of school, board chairs, principals, or teachers, Jane believes that each successful leader has his or her own authentic style that is often tied to the culture and beauty of the school. Leadership to Jane involves commitment to reflective practice, focus on values, care and nurturing of a strong team, and clear sense of vision. Previously, Jane was a Vice President at Prizmah, the executive director at YU School Partnership, and before that, she served as head of school at the South Area Solomon Schechter in Stoughton and Norwood for 22 years. Jane is a mentor and senior faculty member of YOU Lead, and the senior mentor for the Day School Leadership Training Institute (DSLTI).

 

At SASSDS, Jane, with the support of staff and volunteers, created the L’Chaim Project, a program designed to allow the students at the school to learn the life lessons of Holocaust Survivors, including how they rebuilt their lives after the horrors they had endured.   As a child of a survivor, Jane is deeply committed to both Holocaust education and the role the survivor community has played in a thriving Jewish community.   The L’Chaim Project was the foundation for deep friendships with Izzy Arbeiter, Stephan Ross, and the many South Area Survivors including Sam and Sidi Natahnson, and Marion Katz.   All of these survivors, and Jane’s father, Naftali (Nathan) Taubenfeld have all died leaving a legacy of deep lessons, deep memories, and deep love…and a pledge from Jane to use their lessons to teach the next generations.

 

In 2019, Jane and her husband were privileged to attend the March of the Living.   For Jane, it was an opportunity to connect her teaching, her family history, and her commitment to the future of the Jewish people together.   The experience was a life changing one, not only because of what they saw with their own eyes but because of watching the teenagers throughout their experience become more and more connected as Jews, as Zionists, and as members of the Jewish community.  The trip was reinforced Jane’s lifelong dedication to the critical importance of Holocaust education.

 

Like Steve Ross, Jane Taubenfeld Cohen’s commitment to empowering young minds to never forget has been nothing short of steadfast and impactful. Because of her devotion, New England Friends of March of the Living is honored to present Jane with the Stephan Ross Excellence in Holocaust Education Award. 

 

“We have a moral obligation to connect the teenagers to our past. What we are carrying with us is the spark and it’s on us to light something new.”

 

Jane Taubenfeld Cohen

About the Stephan Ross Excellence
in Holocaust Education Award


The Stephan Ross Excellence in Holocaust Education Award honors the legacy and lifetime achievements of Holocaust Survivor, Stephan Ross, and founder of the New England Holocaust Memorial.
 
Stephan survived 10 different concentration camps and was liberated from Dachau by American troops at age 14. He had one dream, one vision and one mission. He wanted to remember, with a memorial, his lost family members and all other innocent people who lost their lives in the Holocaust, those soldiers who liberated the concentration camps; and all the soldiers who helped end the war. He wanted this memorial to serve as a lesson to future generations. 
 
The New England Holocaust Memorial was dedicated on October 22, 1995 in a public ceremony on the steps of Boston City Hall Plaza.