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LESLIE BORNSTEIN STACKS COMBINES LOVE OF LEARNING WITH LEADERSHIP Inspecting the site from beneath a pink hard hat as building committee co-chair, she monitored the construction of Hebrew College's Newton Centre campus from start to finish. Then, as chair of the College's first arts committee, she guided plans for adorning the interior walls of the campus's modern brick Friedman Building with inspiring and captivating works of art. Now, since her installation on July 1 as Chair of the Board of Trustees, she aims to ensure that Hebrew College's new home continues to serve as a beacon of innovation and influence in Jewish education.
During her nearly two decades as a trustee, Stacks not only helped develop the new campus but also served as chair of the budget committee and, most recently, as vice chair of the board. "I'm probably the only person involved in the College who meets as regularly with the custodial staff as with the president," she maintains. "Most important of all, I am still a student here." A self-described lifelong learner, she has taken courses at the College since she was a teen in Prozdor. "As a solid, informed and involved group of leaders," says Stacks, "we will work together to make the decisions that will enable us to go from strength to strength in the future." As she assumes her new post, Stacks, ever the builder, seeks to continuously improve the College's leadership, fundraising and recruitment infrastructures. Toward that end, her first order of business is to develop strong boards of trustees and overseers. "As a solid, informed and involved group of leaders," she says, "we will work together to make the decisions that will enable us to go from strength to strength in the future." Engaging the unique and varied talents of her fellow board members, Stacks will also strive to expand the community of financial support for Hebrew College. "This is as much about dollars and cents as it is about increasing the number of supporters to help us build," she stresses. "We need a network to have a net worth." Stacks views increased financial support as a key ingredient in ongoing efforts to grow the College's community of learners. "When we first moved to the Newton campus, I asked our beloved professor, Dr. Gila Ramras-Rauch z'l, how she liked the new classrooms," she recalls. "She replied that the work was only half done; now we need to fill them with students." Enrollments have grown steadily since that time. As chair of the board, Stacks hopes to further enhance recruitment efforts and looks forward to the day when commencement will be a standing-room-only affair. To accomplish her leadership, fundraising and recruitment goals, Stacks brings a host of entrepreneurial, design and communications skills to the boardroom table. Equipped with a BA in business administration from UMass Amherst and training from the New England School of Art and Design, she is president of L. Bornstein & Co., a flooring distribution company located in Somerville, and a trustee at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital and Temple Emanuel in Newton. Her family, with husband Dr. Robert Stacks, includes four children, their spouses and three grandchildren—all of whom she keeps in mind as she takes on her new responsibilities. "When I attended Prozdor with Margie Berkowitz, Sharlene Finkel and others, it was the center of our lives, not just the center of our Jewish lives," she says. "I'd hope that when the day comes that my grandchildren attend Prozdor or any other program at Hebrew College, they will feel that way." |
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"I worked on creating and beautifying the building and welcome this opportunity to help realize its ultimate purpose," says Leslie Bornstein Stacks P'62, the first woman to chair the board in the College's 84-year history.