The two of us first met 26 years ago on a blind “friendship date” at Starbucks. Since then, we’ve continued to meet up for coffee and our friendship has grown over discussions about everything from our children, our families, fashion, business venture ideas, and philanthropy. In fact, it was our involvement with CJP’s Women’s Philanthropy (WP) that truly bonded us. We connected over our commitment to CJP’s mission to make a bigger difference. We spent countless hours together in coffee shops planning and creating WP programs and events, along with many other inspiring women.

This past year we have missed those casual meetups with old friends, as well as opportunities to strike up new friendships. Then we had an idea of one way to fill this void: we could create bite-sized, Facebook Live interviews—sort of a virtual coffee date—with fascinating local women who share their stories and their journeys. We all know the feeling of being on endless Zoom events where we were muted. We wanted to create an experience where we can unmute and have a conversation. The “Unmuted Interview Series” was born!

To put our idea in action, we set up a task force through WP that attracted more than 60 incredible volunteers who unmuted themselves and helped shape the content for the series. We’re excited to announce that the three women we’ll hear from in our interview series are Carol Fishman Cohen, Marissa Goldstein and Reyna Simnegar. They’ve found adventure and self-discovery by traveling the world, launching new businesses, writing books, raising kids and, along the way, developing strong Jewish identities.

Our goal is to gather a community of women to be inspired by these conversations and, through this shared experience, feel more connected to one another and to CJP as we learn about the joys and challenges that we all face as women and as a community.

Through CJP and Women’s Philanthropy, we hope to empower our friends and family to change the world through acts of service and through philanthropic gifts. Together, we can help the most vulnerable, strengthen our Jewish community and inspire the next generation to lead with compassion and generosity.

Curious to hear their stories? Take a 15-minute coffee break with us on Facebook Live: