Ellen Shindelman Kowitt is President of the JGS of Colorado. She is responsible for representing the group and conducting meetings of the Society. Ellen also serves as webmaster and teaches the Jewish Family Tree Initiative: Workshop and Mentoring Series. Ellen was editor of the Society newsletter, Chai From Colorado, and she has participated in Society indexing projects.
Ms. Kowitt joined JGS of Colorado in 2002, having previously been a member and president of the JGS of Greater Washington, DC. She led group trips to shtetls in Ukraine, organized the translation of two Yizkor memorial books, created JewishGen Shtetlinks websites for Lyubar and Polonnoye, published articles in Avotaynu: The International Journal on Jewish Genealogy, served three years on the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies Board of Directors, and held leadership roles in many of the annual international conferences on Jewish genealogy. Currently, she is contracted to write nine chapters of a reference book on Jewish genealogical resources in North America including material about records in Colorado.
Ms. Kowitt received her B.A. in political science, with a minor in business administration, from Alfred University. Raised in New York, she worked professionally in marketing management on the east coast for 12 years and now operates as a freelance contractor. Married with two daughters, Ellen also enjoys outdoor activities, interior design and spin class. Her roots were grown in Ukraine, East Prussia, the Carpathian Mountains of Hungary, Poland, England and other parts of Western Europe.
Joe Cahn is Secretary for the JGS of Colorado. He is responsible for recording and distributing board meeting minutes, as well as corresponding on behalf of the Society.
Joe is a native of New Brunswick, New Jersey. He's been an amateur genealogist for over twenty years. He works as a librarian in the Reference Services Department of the Central Denver Public Library. His U.S. research focuses on New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. He has investigated Jewish genealogical resources in London's East End and various parts of Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, and southern Russia, as well as Mandate Palestine. He has also researched his partner's roots in Hesse, Bavaria, and Bohemia. He enjoys mentoring new and returning family history researchers.
