In 2021 Renata Singer stepped down as President of the Kadimah and is delighted to continue her engagement with Yiddish and Jewish culture as Chair of Kadimah’s Cultural Committee, and as a member of the Kadimah Yiddish Theatre Sub-Committee. Kadimah has given Renata the opportunity to blend her expertise in the not-for-profit sector with her love of the Yiddish language and culture.

“Being on the Board of Kadimah has confirmed my belief in the centrality of language and culture to human wellbeing. It’s a joy and honour to contribute to the strengthening and spread of mameloshn, and the creation of Jewish culture for the 21st century.”

Among her past achievements is co-founding Fitted for Work in 2005 – the first service of its kind in Australia. Fitted for Work provides interview and work-appropriate clothing, presentation advice, life skills and interview coaching to disadvantaged unemployed women. Renata was Secretary of The Women’s Alliance (2010 – 2015), a national U.S. umbrella organisation for services like Fitted for Work.

Renata’s books include: Older & Bolder: Life after Sixty, about how to make the most of the last third of your life; the novel The Front of the Family; as well as True Stories from the Land of Divorce; Goodbye and Hello; and (with Peter Singer) The Moral of the Story: Ethics Through Literature.

In earlier lives, Renata was Publications Manager at Oxfam Australia, a Senior Member of the Workcare Appeals Board, Equal Opportunity Officer at Monash University, ran her own social research and training company, managed a Clearing House on Migration Issues, and was a community educator in multiculturalism, refugee advocacy and ethnic affairs.

Renata has worked with the Melbourne Writers’ Festival and is on the Program Committee of Melbourne Jewish Book Week.