Documentary series on Jewish role models spotlights Spertus Institute Board Chair Dr. Sharon Silverman

Since 2017, San Francisco-based Silver Screen Studios has been making short videos that spotlight seniors with powerful stories to share. Its current series, Sign of the Times, focuses on Jewish activists, age 60+. Among those profiled is Spertus Board Chair Dr. Sharon Silverman.

Directed and produced by Silver Screen founder Tiffany Woolf, the series is funded in part by Reboot, an organization that supports the work of creators, artists, and entrepreneurs who explore the Jewish experience.

The series is national, but a number of episodes profile Chicagoans because, according to Woolf, there are “so many great and interesting people to feature in Chicago.”

Dr. Silverman said that being interviewed made her think about her own life’s path. A recent Chicago Tribune article about the project gave some highlights we can expect from her segment: “She discusses her ‘strong Jewish identity and upbringing’ in tandem with her career as an academic…teaching [and] also teaching the process of teaching.” (Silverman was an administrator at Loyola University Chicago, where she founded the university’s Learning Assistance Center and taught in the School of Education. She then began a private educational consulting practice with a colleague. Among her educational adventures, she was a Fulbright Senior Scholar working at Nelson Mandela University in South Africa and a Fulbright Senior Specialist in Almaty, Kazakhstan.)

Silverman said: “I’ve seized opportunities and grown and developed through them. By sharing my experiences, I hope it inspires others to do the same.”

Silverman has brought her considerable energy and expertise to her role as Chair of the Spertus Board of Trustees. At the same time, she has been inspired by the Institute's signature application of Jewish learning to address today's most pressing issues and to prepare those we serve for our collective future.

You can view the series at silverscreenstudios.org and on You Tube.