Our Staff

Kathy Golderman is the Executive Director of Congregation Beth Emeth. She is a lifelong Albany resident who has a strong passion for our Jewish Community. Kathy has served on the Board of Trustees of Congregation Ohav Shalom. As Co-Chair of the Ohav Board of Education, she was instrumental in the 2010 creation of B'Yachad, the Collaborative Conservative Religious School.

Kathy received a BS in Mathematics from the University of Vermont and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Buffalo. Kathy has a diverse background having worked in planning for the Capital Region's elderly at The Eddy and Co-Owner of KiDoodles, a personalized gift business. Prior to starting at Beth Emeth, Kathy worked at First Rate Funding as a NYS licensed Mortgage Originator.

Kathy is always happy to help Beth Emeth members and those interested in Congregation Beth Emeth. Kathy is married to Billy Golderman. They are the proud parents of Alyssa, Danny and Haley.

Kathy can be reached by phone at 518.436.9761 x225

Rabbi Shara is the Director of Lifelong Learning, which includes the oversight of our magnificent school, the Einhorn Center for Jewish Education. She has been an inspiring force here at Beth Emeth since May 2013. A Jewish educator with many years of experience teaching in various local Jewish institutions, she is both knowledgeable and passionate about Judaism and brings great enthusiasm to her position. For 15 years prior to starting at Beth Emeth, she taught middle school Judaics, implemented new curriculum, and mentored teaching staff at the Bet Shraga Hebrew Academy, Jewish Day School, where she joined the faculty while still in college. She taught 4th grade at Congregation Ohav Shalom and Temple Israel, where she was the Director of the Midrasha High School Program, as well as taught high school Hebrew, local Jewish history and a preparatory course for Hebrew SAT 2 exams. During the summer of 2012, she was the Director of the Hebrew Immersion Cafe at Camp Ramah New England. From the summer of 2013 until Covid struck, Shara spent summers as the Director of Education at Camp Ramah.

Shara holds a B.A. in Jewish Philosophy from the University at Albany, an Executive Masters in Jewish Educational Leadership with a concentration in Israel Education from the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion, a Masters Certificate in Israel Education from The George Washington University, and Rabbinic Ordination from the Pluralistic Rabbinical Seminary.

A native of the Albany community, Shara is the daughter of Mel and Jane Waldman. She and her husband, David, reside in Loudonville and are the parents of four children and an incredibly loving dog, Ellie.

You can reach Rabbi Shara by phone at 518.436.9761 x231

Andrea comes to us from Los Angeles, where she was the Director of Jewish Learning Community at Temple Beth Am. Andrea has a Master of Arts in Jewish Nonprofit Management and Master of Arts in Jewish Education, both from HUC. She is responsible for developing, implementing, facilitating programming and other initiatives for current and prospective CBE members.  

Andrea collaborates with the Director of Lifelong Learning, Clergy and CBEYG advisors to implement and execute fun and educational programming to engage students in grades 7 - 12. Andrea is also the staff liaison to selected committees.

She can be reached by phone at 518.436.9761 x236

Debbie began working at Congregation Beth Emeth as a Religious School teacher in 2008. A few years later she added Bulletin Editor to her responsibilities. In 2019 Debbie began working in the office as the Administrative Assistant to Kathy, our Executive Director.

She enjoyed being around the Beth Emeth family so much that she grew in her role and is now responsible for the design, production and distribution of all Congregation Beth Emeth printed materials. She will also oversee our social media accounts and congregational emails.

Debbie is married to Adam and they have raised their three daughters from Consecration to Confirmation at Congregation Beth Emeth.

Debbie can be reached by phone at 518.436.9761 x222.

Teresa Lounsbury is the Beth Emeth bookkeeper. She works in the office on Mondays and Thursdays from 9:00 am - 4:00 pm.

If you have any questions about your account billing or payment processing, she will be happy to help you. 

Teresa can be reached at BookKeeper@CBEAlbany.org or call 518.436.9761 x223

Lita is the Executive Assistant to the Clergy. She may be a familiar face to our religious school families as she served as an Educational Administrative Assistant at the Einhorn Center for Jewish Education in 2019-2020 before working in Online Learning Services at The College of Saint Rose. Lita and her husband, Theo, are members of REYUT and help deliver bereavement bags for loved ones. When not involved in activities at CBE, Lita participates in local theater productions and is a company member of Will Kempe's Players, a local Shakespeare cooperative that tours the Capital Region.

Lita can be reached by phone or call 518.436.9761 x224. 

Manya serves as the Educational Administrative Assistant, providing support to our Director of Lifelong Learning and all educational programming from Infant through Adult Education. Our Religious School has classes from Kindergarten through grade 10; Sunday School, Wednesday Hebrew School, and Confirmation (grade 10). Manya can be reached at School@CBEAlbany.org or call 518.432.1392.

Debbie Cohen is the Administrative Assistant to the Executive Director.

She spent the last 5 years working  for the Capital District Educational Opportunity Center. Debbie will be the first face that you see in the front office. She will be responsible for greeting visitors, sending thank you and acknowledgment notes and answering questions from congregants and visitors.

She can be reached at x221.

Steve is our Director of Maintenance. His e-mail is Steve@CBEAlbany.org.

In an emergency, Steve can be reached at 518.229.1284.