Nancy Cohen: Loving the Jewish Community

by Nurit Kohl

For Nancy Cohen, Chair of Women's Philanthropy at the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven and Chair of the Women of Vision Society at the Jewish Foundation of Greater New Haven, supporting the Jewish people is a mitzvah, never a question. “We have to take care of our own people,” she says. Known to many in the Greater New Haven community, Cohen is a mother of two daughters and a grandmother of four. She grew up in Hamden, CT.

Cohen has been involved with many Jewish organizations in the Greater New Haven community, including Women's American Nancy Cohen ORT and Temple Emanuel of Greater New Haven. “New Haven is a good stomping ground and we need to help anyone we can,” she says. “There is so much to do still in this community. The work is never done.” Cohen sees a great value on the work of the Jewish Federation, especially because it casts a large safety net and supports everything that matters for the Jewish community and for the continuity of Jewish life. "From babies and elderly in Greater New Haven, to Israel and everything that's in between, there is no gift that goes further in the Jewish world than a gift to the Annual Campaign of the Jewish Federation.”

Cohen was gracious enough to speak with Shalom New Haven on her 80th birthday, which was celebrated with a brunch with her two daughters. Her biggest birthday wish is for our community to come together and to take care of one another. To that end, for her birthday, she requested that her friends and family make a donation in her honor to the Covid-19 Maimonides Relief Fund and, to date, over $1500 has been donated.

Please join Nancy Cohen at the International Lion of Judah conference (ILOJ) on January 24-25. LOJ is a giving society at Jewish Federations all over the world for women who are making an annual gift of $5,000 or more in their own name to the Annual Campaign. This year, the conference will be conducted virtually, making it possible for even more women to participate. It promises to be “the premier gathering of dynamic, philanthropic Jewish women.”

Learn more at jewishnewhaven.org.