2025-2026 PTBE Trustee Nominations (Proposed Slate)

Martha Adler – Treasurer, corresponding to years 2 & 3 of her first Trustee term (2025-2027)

Martha and her husband, Michael, live in Half Moon Bay and have been PTBE members since 1999.  Their daughters, Sarah and Hannah, grew up at PTBE, attending Ganon, religious school, and proudly celebrating their bat mitzvahs - all as a part of the vibrant and supportive PTBE community. While their daughters both now live on the East Coast, PTBE continues to feel like home for them. Martha previously served as Treasurer, then Co-President of Beth El Women, and subsequently as a member of the PTBE Education Committee. More recently, Martha served on the Board of Trustees of Jewish LearningWorks from 2017 - 2023, including as a member of the board’s Executive Committee from 2019 – 2023, and as Treasurer from 2020- 2023.  

 Martha is an independent financial consultant with over 30 years of corporate finance experience, primarily in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and high-technology industries, specializing in SEC reporting and Sarbanes Oxley compliance.  She received her BA from the University of Oregon and her MBA from Golden Gate University. When she isn’t sitting in front of the computer, she enjoys traveling with Michael (often to the East Coast to visit their daughters), hiking, biking, and she hopes, after a few more lessons, to be able to add pickleball to the list.

Eliot Alfi – At-Large, 1st Term (2025-2028)

Eliot has lived in California his entire life. He and his wife Kara joined PTBE after moving to the Peninsula in 1994. Their two children became a B-Mitzvah at PTBE and attended classes through Confirmation. In Eliot’s free time he enjoys traveling, spending time with his kids, family, and friends, and making and teaching others how to braid challah.

Eliot received his undergraduate degree in Economics from UCLA, an MBA from San Francisco State University, and has a Certified Treasury Professional certification. Eliot has worked at Stanford University for over 23 years and is currently the Asst. Treasurer for Debt Management. Prior to working at Stanford, he worked in accounting and finance for a major retailer, a large real estate developer, and URJ (formerly UAHC) Camp Swig for 12 summers including three years as the full-time Asst. Director. More recently, Eliot has been a member of the PTBE Finance Committee and represents that committee at the Temple Leadership Coordinating Council (LCC) meetings.

Laurie Hepler – Secretary, 2nd Term (2025-2028)

Laurie joined PTBE with her daughter Marina in 2012, through connections made at Wornick Jewish Day School. From 2016 through 2022, she led PTBE’s Sunday Sandwich Hevre (SSH), making it more environmentally friendly, continuing offsite throughout PTBE’s 2019 remodel, and developing a successful “At Home” approach during the pandemic. She served on the Search Committee for our Assistant Rabbis, the Interim Senior Rabbi Transition Task Force in 2021, and the Leadership Coordinating Council (LCC) since its inception, serving as the LCC Chair from fall 2022-June 2024.

Laurie grew up in Maryland and moved to California to attend UCLA School of Law in 1989. She handles appeals in state and federal courts, and advises clients throughout the U.S. on west-coast appellate litigation. Laurie is the immediate Past President of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, and serves as the Contributing Editor for the leading treatise in her field, California Civil Appeals and Writs.

Jessica Rosenberg – Engagement Committee Co-Chair, 2nd Term (2025-2028)

Jessica grew up in the East Bay and became bat mitzvah at Temple Isaiah in Lafayette. She was active in Hillel and UJA during college and was a staff member at Camp JCA Shalom in Malibu. Jessica and her husband Jamie joined PTBE in 2010, and their two daughters have grown up in the Ed Program from Gesher and Rishonim to becoming bat mitzvah and Madrichim. Jessica has served on the Search Committee for our newest Rabbis, and she is part of the Rodfei Tzedek (social justice) leadership team. As the co-chair of the Engagement Committee, she has helped launch the PTBE Circles (small groups) initiative.

Jessica is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner caring for kids and families on the Peninsula. She earned her BS in Nursing from the University of Washington in Seattle and her Masters in Nursing from the University of California, San Francisco. She serves on the board of Health Connected (a health education non-profit) and holds a guest clinical faculty role at the UCSF School of Nursing. She has been a community health educator for the Peninsula Jewish Community Center, a volunteer healthcare provider at Samaritan House & Ravenswood Health Center, and a sexual health educator to middle school students. In her spare time, Jessica can be found enjoying the outdoors with her family..