Founder & Director
Sara Oppenheim
Sara Oppenheim moved to Charlotte 13 years ago with her husband, Rabbi Chanoch Oppenheim and family, to run the Charlotte Torah Center. She is a mom to 5 children, as well as some adorable grandchildren. As Rebbetzin of the CTC, she partners with her husband as assistant director of outreach, education, and programming.
One of the programs that started in 2012, in partnership with Momentum (formerly JWRP) WOW & CTC, is the Momentum Israel Trips. To date, Sara has taken over 60 Charlotte Jewish women, who have experienced a trip of a lifetime.
Sara is a relationship coach at the Charlotte Relationship Institute and is very passionate about sharing Jewish wisdom and Torah values with others. One of the ways she does this is through weekly Tuesday night classes called Sara@7, in which many Jewish topics are discussed and learned. One of Sara’s favorite things to do is share Shabbat and Jewish Holidays with others by hosting Shabbat and Holiday meals, and empowering Jewish women to be their best selves.
President Elect (2020)
Andrea Gamlin
Andrea Gamlin, 2020 W.O.W president elect, her husband Dave, and their newborn son Daniel moved to Charlotte from Orlando in 1966. Son ZJ (1997) and daughter Jenna (2001) are native Charlotteans. The Gamlins are members of Temple Israel and Congregation Ohr HaTorah. Andrea is the Technology Instructor at CJDS. She volunteers with Jewish organizations throughout Charlotte and is a Hadassah Life Member. Her Momentum trip to Israel in 2018 brought her closer to W.O.W, where she is an active member.
She is the 2019-20 Educational Co-Chair and 2020-21 President.
Speaker Series Chair & Past President (2018-2020)
Bonnie Bornstein
Bonnie Bornstein and her husband David, moved to Charlotte 19 years ago from Boston when pregnant with their now 18 year old son Josh. Josh is a senior at Manus Academy. She also is mom to 14 year old Myers Park High School freshman, Justin. Bonnie has served on the W.O.W. board for 3 years in different capacities and went on the Momentum Israel trip in summer of 2017. She is a lifetime member of Hadassah, a member of Temple Israel, and a board member of The Friendship Circle.
Educational Co-Chair
Suzy Catenazzo
Suzy Catenazzo is a native of New York and has been living in Charlotte for 23 years. She is married to David and is the mother of Alex (22), Gabriella (19) and Joshua (16). After a long break from her legal career as a stay-at-home mom, she recently returned to work.
Suzy is a current board member, educational co-chair, and past president of W.O.W. and volunteers in Jewish and secular organizations in Charlotte
Treasurer
Ellyn Swerdlow
Ellyn is the mother of two beautiful girls, a wonderful husband, and two dogs. She worked on Wall Street for approximately 12 years and moved back to her hometown in Palo Alto, California. Ellyn relocated to Charlotte in 2002, and has worked at the Charlotte Jewish Preschool from 2003 until present.
Secretary
Patti Brown
Patti moved to Charlotte in 1979 to work for IBM. After 30 years with IBM, she retired to SCCL in Indian Land, SC. Patti searched for Jewish connections and found that through CTC and W.O.W. Patti brings her meticulous, organized skill set to W.O.W. and has raised the bar for how we operate.
Volunteer Coordinator
Ilana Levin
Ilana was born and raised in London, UK. She lived in Israel and moved back to the US 30 years ago with her Charlottean husband. Ilana has 3 grown children and 5 grandchildren KE’H.
She has worked as a teacher for many years and ultimately branched out to teaching Special Ed. Ilana moved to Charlotte 10 years ago and worked at the Oasis program at the JCC, running programs for seniors. After a few years at Oasis, Ilana transitioned to working with a professional matchmaker as a Client Service Specialist. Ilana enjoys learning Torah online, yoga, preparing for Shabbat, and most of all FaceTime with her grandchildren.
Website Creator and Director
Jessica Jensen
Jessica grew up in Salisbury, NC and moved with her family to the Charlotte area in 2018. She became WOW’s website designer in 2019. Jessica is currently a college student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business organization. She loves making challah (and eating, yum!), playing the guitar, and learning Torah with friends.