Board of Trustees

Dr. Anna (Chanie) Steinberg is a medical director with Aetna. Prior to this, she worked as a primary care internist in Atlanta for 20 years, most recently for Emory Healthcare. She is an alumna of AJA (then called Hebrew Academy of Atlanta,) class of 1984, and Yeshiva Atlanta, class of 1989. She and her husband Scott have three children who all have attended AJA throughout their primary and high school education. Chanie has served on the AJA Board of Trustees since 2021 and on the AJA Medical Committee since 2021. She also served on the Board of Trustees at Yeshiva Atlanta during the merger of Yeshiva with Greenfield Hebrew Academy to become AJA. She has served on the board of her synagogue, Ohr HaTorah (then called Young Israel of Toco Hills). Chanie has volunteered for many years for the AJA PTSA in various capacities and as a mentor for Young Women in STEM at AJA. She sees patients at Physicians Care Clinic, a free clinic for low-income and uninsured adults living in Dekalb County, GA. Her husband Scott has chaired the AJA Golf Tournament for the past several years, which has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars towards tuition assistance for the school. 

Daniel Cohen is an Atlanta native, and an alumnus of both the Greenfield Hebrew Academy and Yeshiva Atlanta. Before moving back to Atlanta after college, Daniel worked in Brand Strategy in New York. He currently works in Marketing at Mayson Foods. He chaired the 2021-2022 Annual Fund Campaign for AJA, and will be leading it again this upcoming year. Daniel and his wife Diana have 2 boys at AJA, as well as a son at Beth Jacob Preschool.

Ben Flusberg and his wife Keren Fisher (AJA/Yeshiva Atlanta alum) are the proud parents of one AJA graduate (class of 2022) and four current AJA students. Ben has served on AJA's Board of Trustees and Finance Committee since 2020, and he and his family are members of Congregation Ohr HaTorah in Toco Hills. Professionally, Ben has spent the past 20 years delivering technology and business innovation across a variety of industries. He is currently the Senior Vice President of Data Solutions at Cox Automotive in Atlanta, and he previously worked at The Boston Consulting Group in Atlanta and at a biotechnology startup in Silicon Valley. Before that, Ben earned a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Stanford University and a B.A. in Physics from Harvard University.

Mandy Kaiser-Blueth is Associate Vice President of National Women’s Philanthropy at the Jewish Federations of North America. Since 2019, Mandy was Director of Professional and Community Outreach for National Women’s Philanthropy and worked to empower and provide professional development and leadership opportunities for women’s philanthropy professionals across the Federation system, creating a community where learning and sharing of best practices is widespread. In her new role, Mandy leads the National Women’s Philanthropy team, is building upon the legacy of Women’s Philanthropy, including working to advance efforts with the NWP Board, the Lion of Judah Conference, and the more than 18,000 Lions of Judah across the globe and over 4,500 Lion of Judah Endowments, representing an annual campaign of over $200 Million a year and pledged endowed assets in excess of $700 Million.

Mandy has worked in the Jewish communal field for twenty years, and remains committed to building a vibrant, welcoming, and philanthropic Jewish community where women are at the forefront of leading. Prior to her time at The Jewish Federations of North America, Mandy was the Director of Women’s Philanthropy and Director of Philanthropic Leadership at the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, where she transformed Women’s Philanthropy, reinvigorated the leadership, created a path for succession, and cultivated a community of committed and educated philanthropists. Mandy’s Federation career began in 2001 when she received her MSW from the Wurzweiler School at Yeshiva University and received the Federation Executive Recruitment & Education Program Fellowship (FEREP), more specifically the Lowenstein Fellowship with The Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest, New Jersey. Mandy and her husband Yoni have three children at AJA – Zoe in 11th, Shai in 9th and Liel in 4th.

Mandy served on the HOS Search Committee and helped design the new AJA leadership program, LEADS. She has also served on AJA’s PTSA as a class representative. The Kaiser-Blueth family moved to the Atlanta area almost four years ago and currently lives in Sandy Springs.

Barry Berkowitz is a Certified Public Accountant and works for Google in the Finance organization as a Technical Accountant. He has been an active volunteer and member of non-profit organizations, most recently serving as Board President of South Peninsula Hebrew Day School in Sunnyvale, California, and previously served as Treasurer, as well as Treasurer for Congregation Emek Beracha in Palo Alto, California. Barry recently joined the AJA Finance Committee and is happy to serve and help the school improve its strong financial and governance foundation for our community. He was also a member of the first AJA LEADS cohort. Barry, his wife Erica, and their three children, Jason, Sara, and Aaron moved to Atlanta from Palo Alto, California in 2022.

My name is Dinah (Afrah) Farazmand, and I am an Atlanta native. I grew up in Toco Hills attending Congregation Netzach Israel, an Orthodox, Sefardic Shul, and attended Yeshiva Atlanta (class of 2005) for high school. I continued on to complete a gap year in Israel, and then graduated from Stern College For Women. I moved back to Atlanta to complete my doctorate in Physical Therapy at Georgia State University, and currently work as a physical therapist at Emory Rehabilitation Hospital. I am married to Jonathan Farazmand (GHA ‘02, YA ‘06), and we have 3 children. Our 2 boys, Liav and Itai are current AJA students, and our daughter, Eden will be starting AJA this Fall. My family and I continue to attend Netzach Israel, and I am an active member of the Sisterhood Committee at the shul.

I feel passionately about the growth, sustainability, and future of AJA. I have enjoyed being involved with the Annual Fund Committee as well as the Community Engagement Committee over the last couple years. I would love to see AJA thrive in their commitment to being a Modern Orthodox school that excels in both Judaic and Secular studies, while ensuring students and families feel connected, supported and engaged. I believe I can help AJA hold true to their mission statement to ensure a school guided by Torah values and Halacha, building a culture of community, and creating an environment of respect and kindness.

Jodi Fleisig is 5x Emmy-award winning journalist who loves encores. This will be her second time serving as an AJA Board Member and she recently joined the Board of Hillels of Georgia. A native New Yorker, Jodi is married to Moti Gabay and their two boys, Kody and Ari, both attended AJA from pre-K to 10th grade (and played baseball for David).

They are members of Congregation Beth Tefillah and Chabad Israeli Center, and spend a lot of time in Israel. Jodi graduated from Northwestern University with a BA and Masters in Journalism, moved to Atlanta to work for WSB-TV and CNN and is now Director of Content Innovation at NetApp, a San Jose tech company.  She's also a member of Leadership Atlanta Class of 2018.

David Frankel was born in 1962 in Ottawa, Canada. At the time, his father, Dr Ephraim Frankel was the Head of the Hillel Day School in Ottawa. In 1967, Dr Frankel was hired by the Hebrew Academy to become the Head of School and the Frankel family moved to Atlanta. David’s mother, Vivian, was a first grade teacher at the Hebrew Academy for 22 years. David is an alumnus of the Hebrew Academy, Yeshiva High School of Atlanta, University of Texas and the Medical College of Georgia (Dental School). David resides in Sandy Springs (after spending 20 years in Toco Hills) with his wife, Jody (a former GHA Middle School teacher). David has 4 children (Adam, Shana, Ariel and Micah) who all attended GHA and Yeshiva Atlanta, Miriam Leah (Adam’s wife) and 4 grandchildren (Nechama Zissel, Ephraim, Sarah and Eliezer).

David served for many years on the Board of Trustees at Greenfield Hebrew Academy culminating with a term as President from 2011-2013. David was instrumental in driving the discussions with Yeshiva Atlanta which ultimately resulted in the formation of  Atlanta Jewish Academy. For David, the most challenging part of the formation of that partnership was developing consensus for the Judaic Practices that would define the mission of Atlanta Jewish Academy. When not working as a general dentist in the Decatur area, David enjoys teaching Bar/Bat Mitzvah students and coaching the Maccabi Atlanta baseball program.

Dr. Guttman was born and raised in Montreal, Canada. He completed medical school and residency in Emergency Medicine at McGill University in Montreal where he was chief resident. He then moved to New York City to complete a fellowship in emergency medicine ultrasound at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan. In 2018, Dr. Guttman and his family decided to move to Atlanta due to the warm and welcoming atmosphere of the Atlanta Jewish community and settled in Toco Hills. Dr. Guttman is currently an associate professor of emergency medicine at Emory University and as an Attending Emergency Physician at Grady Memorial Hospital. 

Dr. Guttman and his wife Rebecca have been proud AJA parents since arriving in Atlanta. They have 3 children. Yonah is in 4th grade, Dov is in 1st grade and Abby is 2 years old and a future AJA student. In July 2020, Dr. Guttman began serving on the medical committee, creating Covid protocols and policies to have a successful school re-opening, where he continues to serve today as the chair of the medical committee. Along with the rest of the medical committee, he was the 2022 volunteer of the year for AJA. Rebecca has been a parent volunteer since moving to Atlanta and is the current PTA co-president. Dr. Guttman also serves as the medical representative to the Ohr HaTorah Congregation Security Committee. With his free time, Dr. Guttman enjoys running, his peloton, kiddush club and cheering for his beloved Montreal Canadiens.

Davi Kutner and his wife Renee (AJA/Yeshiva Atlanta alum) are the proud parents of one AJA graduate (class of 2023) and two current AJA students. Davi has served on AJA's Board of Trustees and Finance Committee since 2020, is a past chair of the Development Committee, and was co-chair of the recent Head of School Search Committee. Davi and his family are members of Congregation Ohr HaTorah in Toco Hills (where he was a past President), and he is on active committees for Hillels of Georgia as well as Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. Professionally, Davi has spent the past 20+ years in the Wealth Management industry advising High Net Worth clients on all matters of Financial Planning and Investment Management. He is a Partner of Aprio LLP, and the Managing Director of Aprio Wealth Management. Davi attended day school at the San Diego Jewish Academy, and graduated from Emory University.

Erin is an Atlanta native. She grew up in Sandy Springs, graduated from Riverwood High School and now lives in Dunwoody with her husband, Eric Mermelstein.  Eric and Erin are the proud parents of two AJA graduates, Josh (class of 2018) and Kira (class of 2021).

Erin attended University of Texas at Austin, where she earned her B.S. in Mathematics, and met her husband, Eric, who followed her home to Georgia.  Erin attended law school at University of Georgia School of Law.  Go Dawgs!

Erin and Eric are active members at Congregation Ariel.  Over the years, Erin has served on many boards including being a founding member of JWCAtlanta, a board member at Torah Day School of Atlanta, and President of Professional Women’s Information Network (ProWIN).  

In her professional life, Erin is an experienced family law attorney and handles cases in all areas of family law including divorce, child custody, child support, alimony, division of property/debt and contempt. Erin is a partner at the law firm of Bovis, Kyle, Burch & Medlin, LLC.

Sarah Ossey is an advanced doctoral candidate in Education and Jewish Studies at New York University. Her research focuses on social justice education in Jewish day school. She has served as a curriculum writer/consultant and teacher supervisor in a variety of Jewish educational settings, including day schools, synagogues, and day and residential camps. She worked as the interim assistant director at Camp Ramah Darom. She holds an MA in Jewish Education from the William Davidson School of Jewish Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where she was a Wexner Graduate Fellow/Davidson Scholar and a BA from Brandeis University. Sarah and her family joined the AJA community three years ago. She and her spouse, Jason, are the parents of three children, two of whom are students at AJA (in kindergarten and second grade). She served on the most recent head of school search committee and is a member of the current cohort of the Leadership,  Education, Action, Development, Sustainability (LEADS) program.

Sarah excitedly anticipates the opportunity to join a team that is committed to working alongside Rabbi Levitt to strengthen the AJA experience, ensuring that the learning extends to a broad population of students and families and that all those who enter into the community feel embraced and enriched by it.

Edan Shapiro, a St. Louis native, moved to Atlanta with his family in 2015. He attended day school and spent two gap years in Israel prior to starting college. Edan and his wife Miriam have three kids, all of whom attend AJA (5th, 8th, 11th grades).  He has been involved in numerous volunteer activities at AJA, including being an active member of the development committee and chaired the 2023-2024 Annual Fund Campaign. Edan is a urologist with Georgia Urology, where he serves on the executive board.

Anita Stein is a 1972 graduate of the Hebrew Academy of Atlanta. Her five children all attended AJA/Yeshiva from Kindergarten through Grade 12. Anita has served on the AJA and Yeshiva boards in the past. She taught Middle School Art there for 15 years and is currently a volunteer art teacher in the High School. She is a practicing artist in Atlanta and a member of Congregation Beth Tefillah and is currently the grandmother of AJA students.

Dr. David Westerman has been a dedicated leader and active participant in the Atlanta Jewish community for many years. He has served on the Board of the Hebrew Academy and as a Board Member and Vice President of Yeshiva Atlanta, demonstrating his commitment to supporting Jewish education and community growth. Dr. Westerman also served as President at Congregation Beth Tefillah, further contributing to his legacy of service and leadership.

Dr. Westerman and his wife Sharon, raised four children, all of whom attended the Hebrew Academy and Yeshiva Atlanta, reflecting their strong belief in the value of Jewish education. Today, Dr. Westerman enjoys his well-deserved retirement while proudly watching the next generation continue in his footsteps, with three grandsons currently attending Atlanta Jewish Academy.