We are excited for you to meet Shelley Rood Wernick from 3GDC, who will share her grandfather's story. In October 1939 the Germans invaded Poland and forced their way in to Shelley's grandfather's Warsaw apartment. Her grandpa's life was spared then, but this moment launched a period of forced labor, hiding, concentration camp, disease, and profound destruction and loss. This is the harrowing history of Hersch Berman - educator, zionist, and Holocaust survivor - told by his granddaughter Shelley, who listened to her grandpa's words again and again growing up in Miami.

Shelley Rood Wernick is the Managing Director of the Center for Advancing Holocaust Survivor Care at The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA). Her work bridges the gap between the fields of aging and trauma by recognizing that a history of trauma is a risk factor for poor mental, social, emotional and physical health; and by promoting person-centered, trauma-informed (PCTI) care as the normative strategy for serving all older adults. In partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Center supports PCTI services to Holocaust survivors through grants to local service providers, a national resource center, and outreach to aging service providers and government agencies.

Previously, Shelley lobbied on behalf of JFNA and the Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies, conveying policy priorities to Congress and the White House and training communities to advocate for the diverse populations they serve. On behalf of Federations, Shelley led the Congressional initiative to install the Jewish Chaplains Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. Before joining the nonprofit sector, Shelley was a foreign policy advisor on Capitol Hill. Shelley earned a BA from the University of Florida in sociology and political science and an MBA from Georgetown University. Shelley serves on the board of Hillel at the University of Florida.

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