Get to know our 2025 Board Members!
The CBH Board of Directors is an engaged group of dedicated members. Our interest is to help guide and support our congregation. If you would like to know more about the CBH Board, please contact our president, Peter Isbister.
Julie Fishman, President I have been a member of CBH since 2000 and part of the CBH Chorus since 2004. We are an interfaith family, and our children became B'nai Mitzvah at CBH in 2016 and 2023. I have been on the CBH Board twice prior to my current Board service. I have been involved with various CBH projects and volunteer efforts over the years, including most recently co-chairing the 2023 L'Chaim fundraiser, serving on the Music Director Search Task Force, and helping to spearhead CBH's involvement with the Daffodil Project. I am honored to serve as CBH's First Vice President to deepen my involvement with and stewardship of this special community. My husband and I both work in the field of public health. I have lived in Atlanta since 1993, and our family currently lives in Ormewood Park.
Dan Arnold, First Vice President: I am a native Atlantan and a proud graduate of Oak Grove Elementary and Lakeside High School. After a 27-year career at Jewish Family & Career Services, I transitioned into a full-time private psychotherapy practice about two years ago. I am loving the work I do and feel deeply fulfilled.
My family and I have been proud members of CBH for the past 19 years. Debbie and I began our search for a synagogue community when it was time to begin our oldest daughter’s formal Jewish education. Our daughters Emily and Lila became britot mitzvot at CBH, then served as madrichot for several years before assuming responsibility for their own classrooms for a year. I taught for a few years at the school and also served as the Chair of the Education Vaad, which then included Board membership.
The Chorus has tolerated me in the Bass section for more years than I can remember. My participation with this amazing group of musicians has been more meaningful to me than I can express. They accompanied my family at both girls' britot mitzvot and, most recently, at my father’s funeral. The way the entirety of CBH showed up for me and my family when we lost my parents earlier this year simply blew me away and filled my heart with love.
Most recently, I have participated in both the Plan to Plan and SLED initiatives. I am committed to supporting our community as we evolve.
Eric Gilbert, Secretary: I am originally from Berkeley, CA and have lived in Decatur more than 20 years. I am a faculty member in the Department of Biology at Georgia State University, where my laboratory research is focused on applied and environmental microbiology. My wife Cindy and I joined CBH because we wanted a synagogue that shared our progressive values. Most of our first experiences with CBH were with the community school, which our kids Abby and Coby attended from third grade until they had their b’nai mitzvah in 2019. I love the activism, the music, the spirituality, the thoughtfulness, the warmth, the inclusiveness - and the humor! - of the CBH community.
Ken Alpern, Treasurer: I’ve lived in Atlanta almost my entire life. My wife Alison and I felt immediately at home at CBH and joined in 2003. Our son Grant became bar mitzvah at CBH in 2017. I am a mechanical engineer by degree and after several years in the field, strayed into software and worked as an IT project manager for many years. We’ve enjoyed two stints living overseas for Alison’s career (public health). I’ve since learned to cook and have been a stay-at-home dad most recently. Our son is graduating college soon, and I’m ready to direct my energies towards helping serve CBH as treasurer.
Lynn Sokler, VP for Communications: I’ve been a member of CBH for about 15 years, and this past year have been volunteering with the Membership Recruitment Task Force, working to communicate with and grow our membership (thanks to Scot Safon and Wendy Pruitt for their excellent leadership!) Many of you may know me as a choir booster, more specifically as schlepper of tambourines for my husband - Henry Farber - who is in the chorus and band! I recently retired from almost 20 years at the CDC as the senior communication advisor in the Office of the Director. I have a four-decades career providing communication advice and delivering creative actions to produce results across every form of media. I am excited to bring my communications know-how to help CBH continue its ongoing connections to congregants and the larger community.
Valerie Singer, Member at Large: Dr. Valerie Singer has been a member of CBH since 2007. She is a single mom with two children, Jonah (21) and Rafi (14), both of whom went through the CBH Community School and Brit Mitzvah processes. Valerie has been a member of the CBH Chorus for most of the years since 2010.
Professionally, Valerie has been a residential Realtor for over 12 years. She has helped many CBH members and their families buy or sell throughout the Atlanta metro area. In her prior career, Valerie taught Anthropology for many years, including 7 years at Oxford College of Emory. She has a PhD in Cultural Anthropology, and did her dissertation research in Brazil. Her research interests centered on the connection between religious values and activism. Her main research was on an environmental organization run by poor Afro-Brazilians in the Chapada Diamantina region of Bahia, Brazil. Issues of social justice, environmentalism, and spirituality have always been close to her heart.
Valerie is also an ardent animal lover and currently shares her home with four cats and one dog, as well as her two legged children.
PC Ganger, Member at Large: I am a teacher of the visually impaired for Gwinnett County Public Schools and a parent to an amazing five-year-old, Ada (who tries to dance at every CBH function). I serve as the faculty sponsor for the pride club at the high school where I teach. I am non-binary and legally blind. I have previously served as president and vice-president of the East Georgia Chapter of the Georgia Council of the Blind. My wife Lauren and I grew up in the Atlanta area, and moved back here after living near DC for four years, where we converted to Judaism in 2019. We began attending CBH events virtually in 2020 and became members the very next year. I cherish the spiritual home we have found here at CBH and I am honored to dedicate my time and energy to serving on the board!
Liza Marks, Member at Large: I have been a member of CBH since about 2017. I am a clinical social worker focusing on trauma healing and navigating the polycrisis. I am passionate about working with others to create a world that is better than the one we were born into. I am a committed environmentalist and believer in the connectedness of all living things, which is an important part of both my clinical work and my faith practice. I have been married to my amazing husband, Max, for 15 years. We have two children -- Elijah, 11, and Ruth, 9. I belong to CBH because my family appreciates the warm, informal, inclusive vibe, and I wanted to give myself and my children a community that could help sustain us through hard times -- which CBH has done. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to serve on the Board and learn more about how best to support and grow our community. In my free time, I enjoy reading sci fi and fantasy, spending time outdoors, and doing arts and crafts.
Peter Isbister, Immediate Past President: I am honored to continue to serve on the CBH Board as Immediate Past President for two years starting this year. I look forward to supporting President Fishman and all of CBH as we move from strength to strength. My family and I joined CBH in 2009, shortly after we arrived in Atlanta because we were moved by the CBH mission of inclusivity, social justice and (for us) allyship with the LGBTQ+ community. I was born in Santa Cruz, California. At CBH I have served as a Representative at Large on the Board, a member of the ritual committee, the Envisioning Committee and the Settled Rabbi Search Task Force. I also teach at our CBH Community School. My wife, Robyn Painter, is also a civil rights attorney. We have three children, ages 16 and 12 (twins). We are an interfaith family (Lutheran), deeply interested in modeling the richness of the interfaith path to our kids and exploring all that journey entails with other parents. I am an immigration attorney at the law firm of Diaz Gaeta Law, LLC. I also founded Metro Atlanta TransParent, the GA chapter of TransParent USA.