Our People

Sheryl has been actively involved in the Jewish community for more than 25 years, for a wide range of non-profit organizations, based in Canada and Israel.

Together with Lori Palatnik, she was responsible for the coordination of North American women’s missions to Israel for 10 years, prior to the launch of the JWRP.

She has extensive business experience, primarily related to corporate and incentive travel.

For a number of years, Sheryl managed the UJA’s Lebovic Campus in Toronto and was responsible for facility operations and community and tenant relations.

In 2015, while on the March of the Living trip to in Poland, Sheryl met and soon married her Besheret, Gerald Hartman. Sheryl and Gerald live in Toronto and have 4 children.

Ellen Dayan recently retired after a 30-year career practicing relationship and values-based dentistry. She is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario, BSc, and holds a Post-Graduate degree from University of Toronto school of Dentistry. She spent a large part of her career supporting and volunteering with Alpha Omega Dental Fraternity focused on fundraising and charity events.

Personally, Ellen has found passion in her Jewish community by supporting the Village Shul for many years and went on a life-changing Israel experience with Lori Palatnik in 1999. Due in large part to this experience, this allowed Ellen to focus on spiritual growth for herself and her family.

Ellen prides herself most on her successful marriage to her husband Willie and her four children. Most recently, she has become a Baba to her growing family of grandchildren. Three of their four children have made Aliyah and this gives Willie and Ellen the opportunity to spend more and more time in Israel. In 2022, she was privileged to participate in the Momentum Moms of Lone Soldiers trip, while one of her sons was in the IDF.

Together, Willie and Ellen live in Toronto and love spending their time travelling the world, exploring and giving back to their community with their time, wisdom and passions.

A Toronto native, Marla spent over fifteen years in New York, divided between two highly
successful careers- as a Principle Dancer in the world renowned company,
Alwin Nikolais Dance Theatre, and later as a leading trendsetter in the world of High
Fashion Jewelry Design, selling to over 800 stores world wide, in addition to creating
couture runway collections for Calvin Klein, Guy Laroche, Geoffrey Beene, Bill Blass,
Carolina Herrera, Anna Sui, and others. Her business acumen, vision, and barrier
breaking determination is a model of inspiration to those she now works with in her
volunteer capacities with youth-at-risk, isolated seniors, and children with physical and
emotional limitations.

Currently Marla divides her time between Toronto and Israel, creating her trademark
‘spiritual-ceramic-works’, studying Hebrew and Jewish Ethics, creating an Arts and Yoga
programme for Israeli Youth-at -Risk, and introducing philanthropic ventures in Israel,
through a lens of action and social action. After 5 years of exposing Israel’s under-thewire
organizations to groups of private donours looking to feel the impact of their
contribution, Marla created the design firm ‘Milli?-If Not Now When?’, developing a first
flagship store for Shalva, offering museum quality works and gifts from Israeli artists,
cross-promoting both the artist and the organization, incorporating pieces designed and
created by co-operative combinations of separate organizations, giving each
organization an opportunity to appreciate their limitations as being powerful teaching
tools.

Now, finally in the process of making Aliya, Marla is looking to merge her business skills
and artistic talents, to impact and contribute. In addition to a full ceramic practice, she
teaches Karate with “Kids Kicking Cancer”, does weekly food rescue and distribution
Pesia’s Kitchen in Tel Aviv, and delivers joy, distraction and life, to an isolated senior.
Her yoga instructor certification, and training in suicide and distress prevention is a tool
that she is able to draw upon in each of these arenas. Currently she is designing trips
for American parents with youth in Israel, to show them the Israel that inspired their
“kids”, so that they too build a visceral attachment to this country and our people.

When not buried under Hebrew Ulpan “homework”, you can find Marla running on the
beach or biking in the hills to keep trained for the various fundraising races that she
supports with her efforts.

Her motto “If Not Now When, and If Not me, then Who?”, not only permeates all she
knows and touches, but extends to her fierce love of family, friends as well.

Stacey (Wintre) Granovsky’s full-time job is mother to her five children, ages 16 to 9. Between drop off and pickup Stacey crams her day full of passion projects, her favourite of which is Secure Canada, (once C-CAT), whose mission is to seek innovative legal and public policy strategies and alliances to defend democracy and fight against terrorism and extremism.

Stacey sits on the Board of Momentum Canada, UJA’s Committee Countering Antisemitism and Hate and on the Israeli Consulate Advisory Board in Toronto. Stacey is involved with a wide breadth of organizations and initiatives within the Jewish Community including: CJPAC, Allied Voices for Israel, B’nai Brith and is an active member of The Village Shul. She is deeply committed to promoting Israel GAP year programs and is working on a cultural shift that will inspire all Jewish high school grads to choose a Year of Service in Israel.

Stacey holds an honours BA in Religious Studies and History, and a Batchelor of Education from York University. She attended Hebrew University’s Rothman International School on a full scholarship. Stacey also earned a Masters of Adult Education and Certificate in Leadership and Higher Education from U of T/OISE.

Stacey is a big thinker, an authentic relationship builder and carries her magnetic energy into every room she enters. She wins tennis tournaments, plays pickle ball, skis on water and snow, swims lakes and kite surfs. Stacey travels often, and in a previous life, was the lead singer in a band. Her husband thinks she’s awesome.