The Lesser Family Endowment Fund, held by the federation’s Jewish Community Foundation, provides scholarship funds to the winners to attend national federation forums. Salomon will attend the Council of Jewish Federation’s general assembly in Jerusalem in the fall, while Felson will go on a campaign mission to Israel and Moscow in June 1999.
Felson, 41, has spent six years on the federation’s Women’s Division Board and will be its next president; this year she served as women’s major gift chair.
Raised in the East Bay, where her family owned Markus Hardware, Felson is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor and has long been active in Jewish causes. She met husband Rick through BBYO, and the two became active in Temple Beth Sholom in San Leandro after settling in Castro Valley.
A turning point in her life came last year when she chose to become a bat mitzvah. “I needed to feel more connected,” she said. “Not knowing Hebrew made be feel like an outsider. So I studied my pants off — just like the kids — and did the entire service. It was very hard, but being up there on the bimah was one of the proudest moments of my life.”
Felson is the owner of Confetti, a party planning business, and has contributed her skills to a number of federation events. She is also on the board of Eden Hospital Foundation. She and her husband have two sons, Adam, 17, and Blake, 15.
Salomon, 39, has served on federation’s board, has chaired its Choices campaign event and now chairs its South County Jewish Community Council. Next year she will co-chair the Business and Professional Women’s Division.
“I believe in the work we do,” she said. “Tzedakah is an obligation for the Jewish people and umbrella-giving is a good concept.”
Raised in Illinois, she is the daughter of immigrant parents with strong ties to the Jewish state. Her mother was raised in pre-state Israel and her father, who survived the labor camps, served in the air force during Israel’s War of Independence.
A graduate of Harvard and the University of Chicago Law School, Salomon took a year off from her studies to live in Israel and work for an Israeli law firm.
Moving to Pleasanton in 1992, she joined Congregation Beth Emek in Livermore and has served on its board.
Salomon’s law practice, called Law Tech, specializes in legal services to the technology sector. She and husband Scott Feterson have three children, Alexandra, 6, and twins Ellen and Joseph, 2.