Jane Eisner, a pioneer in journalism and the first woman to serve as editor-in-chief of the Forward, addressed, Where Are the Women in Jewish Professional Life?  when she served as guest speaker for this year's Celebration of Jewish Professional Life & Leadership.

"This is an issue for professionals, volunteers, and donors, regardless of gender," said Dr. Hal M. Lewis, President and CEO of Spertus. "At Spertus, where we believe that strong leaders build and sustain strong Jewish communities, we feel a special responsibility to bring this issue to the forefront. And Jane Eisner is the perfect person to foster the conversation."

Jane Eisner has been addressing this issue for many years. In a recent Forward editorial, she said, "I'm grateful for the incremental changes in workplace policies
and individual attitudes that I've witnessed...I'd like to believe the Forward's editorials championing women's leadership and the need for family-friendly policies in Jewish organizations have contributed to some modest successes and will encourage more. But we're nibbling around the edges."

Since joining the Forward in 2008, Ms. Eisner has led the publication to win numerous regional and national awards for its original journalism. Over the course of her career, Ms. Eisner held executive editorial and news positions at the Philadelphia Inquirer and has written for the Washington Post, Newsday, Brookings Review, Columbia Journalism Review, Ma'ayan, and the Reconstructionist. She hosts The Salon, the first women's program produced by The Jewish Channel. She also has deep roots in academe, serving as the first Koeppel Fellow in Journalism at Wesleyan University, where she teaches journalism and non-fiction writing and is the first women recipient of Wesleyan's McConaughy Award for contributions to journalism and public life.