SYDNEY ALDERMAN PERRY
Sydney A. Perry is the Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven and the Jewish Community Center of New Haven. She recently managed the merger between the Federation and the Jewish Community Center, which houses the Federation offices. Previous to the merger she was the Executive Director of the Federation for 6 years. Nationally, she has been called upon to give workshops in various settings including the General Assembly and has served as scholar-in-residence for several communities, including the 2010 conference for PJ Library and the Intermediate Executive Director’s Conference in New Orleans, LA.
Sydney Perry was the Director of the Department of Jewish Education, the educational arm of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven, for 17 years. During her tenure, she worked to improve the synagogue supplementary schools, served as consultant to the community on educational endeavors, including the Anne Frank project and “Sepharad ‘92”, Jerusalem 3000 and the Israel 50th celebration, and now the 350th anniversary of the settlement of Jews in America. Under her guidance the DJE has offered extensive adult educational opportunities and developed the new adult institute, Midrasha, initiated “A TASTE OF HONEY” which attracts more than 700 adults, and its offshoots, “A Taste of Milk & Honey” and “A Taste of Apples & Honey”, provided Israel programming for teens, spearheaded TIES, the Israel Experience Savings Program, a special education program, Talmud Torah Meyuchad, and developed the successful community Hebrew High School, MAKOM, serving 350 teens in our community.
For many years she was the Associate Executive Director of the Federation. In that capacity, Sydney served on Long Range Planning, helped staff the Community Relations Council and leadership development, supervised the Holocaust Education-Prejudice Reduction Project, Stepping Stones and the library at the JCC as well as advocates for issues of Jewish continuity.
An honors graduate of SmithCollege, Ms. Perry pursued graduate work at Hartford Theological Seminary in Islamics. She has taught Rabbinics and Bible at EzraAcademy for many years and has designed a unit on Beyn Adam L’Chavero (Interpersonal Relations) for 7th grade students. As leader of the largest New England contingent to “March of the Living”, she has taught the preparatory course and participated in the pastMarches (1996, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008) and participated six times in this transformational experience.
She has been nominated for national awards for educational initiatives and serves on committees of the Jewish Educational Society of North America and Bureau Directors Fellowship. The winner of the Eisner Educators’ Award for community service, the Gan School’s Pillar of the Community Award, Ezra Academy’s Distinguished Leader Award, Brandeis University Award, BBYO’s Eitz Chaim Award for her commitment to teens and recognition from the public school systems of New Haven and Hamden for her work in Holocaust Education and Prejudice Reduction. Last year she was honored by the New Haven Jewish Historical Society Ms. Perry has served on the Board of her synagogue and was the President of the Mikvah Society. She recently was honored with invitations to join both the Board of Directors of the Forward Association as well as the Hartford Seminary.
Sydney is the mother of 6 children, grandmother of fourteen,with five living in Raanana, Israel. Sydney lives in New Haven with her husband, Professor Theodore Perry. She has been described as indefatigable and meshuga l’davar. She feels fortunate that her personal, professional, spiritual and intellectual lives are in harmony.