By Tova Cohen
Chana Holzer Shields, AMIT’s chair of the Board of Directors, may reside in Bergen County, New Jersey, but her heart lives in Israel. That truth is reflected in her unwavering dedication to AMIT, the time and resources she invests in its mission, and, more recently, her eldest child making aliyah. Together, she and her husband, Dan, steadfastly support AMIT and all it represents.
It’s a commitment that was shaped when Chana was a young girl. Among her earliest childhood memories are her grandmother, Shirley Halpern, z”l, hosting shiurim in her Brooklyn home, running a thrift shop, and toting around a tzedakah box, all in service of Mizrachi Women. Chana’s mother, Marcia Holzer, z”l, was a chapter president for AMIT in Rockland County and a national board member for many years. Chana’s aunt, Norma Holzer, was the AMIT national president from 1991-1995 and is still active in the organization; she was honored at the 2025 national event.
“I remember distinctly from my childhood how important it was to take care of children in Israel,” said Chana. “I’ve been a Mother-in-Israel [one of AMIT’s enduring campaigns] probably since before I could speak.”
When Chana married Dan and moved to Philadelphia, it was only natural for her to find ways to incorporate AMIT into their new life. From being the only one to show up to an early community meeting to building a thriving young leadership chapter with that meeting’s hostess, Chana successfully grew AMIT’s Philadelphia presence. When she moved her young family to Teaneck, New Jersey, she was approached to work her magic in her new hometown. Today, AMIT’s Bergen County chapter is thriving.
“We really build up children, and, in that way, we build their futures and the collective future of Israel,” explained Chana. “We do it through empowering these kids from disadvantaged backgrounds with a cutting-edge education, and through the nurturing and care that go along with it. With AMIT, it’s always been about the whole child.”
Chana shared a powerful example from her time in Israel in October 2023. She was in awe that on October 8, the AMIT Network, headed by Dr. Amnon Eldar, had already established a war room to discuss how to properly care for the thousands of AMIT students from Sderot and other communities. It was urgent to safeguard their well-being in this unprecedented time of upheaval and displacement.
“Watching our administrators and teachers step up in such a profound way to ensure that every child was truly OK — even while their own family members were called up to serve and they were navigating personal challenges in their own lives — was incredibly powerful,” said Chana.
Of course, that kind of response didn’t emerge in a vacuum. Well before October 7, Chana saw AMIT’s impact in a more subtle, yet incredibly impactful way: AMIT students consistently produce outstanding bagrut test scores — the entryway to future opportunities in Israel. And 98% of AMIT graduates go on to serve in the IDF or Sherut Leumi (National Service), a statistic she is hard-pressed to credit to any other Israeli organization.
“You can give someone who starts out with very little a sandwich for a day, but when you give them an education, you give them the foundation for a job, a future, and the ability to give back to their society,” said Chana. “That level of impact is transformative.”
Making Every Moment Count
Chana and Dan see a natural symmetry with AMIT’s values and those they strive to instill in their own children. “We’ve tried to model for them to give back to community, be active participants in society, and be passionately Zionistic,” said Chana. “I’m proud that my eldest daughter, Sarina, made aliyah in 2024, and I’m grateful to my husband, Dan, for being a genuine team player who’s all in.”
Chana continued, “I give a lot of my time, and Dan definitely picks up any of my slack. We view marriage as a partnership, and I would not be able to do any of this without him.”
In addition to serving as board chair, Chana is a member of the Executive Committee and AMIT’s representative to the American Zionist Movement as part of the Mizrachi Coalition. And somehow, alongside her deep commitment to AMIT, she continues to say yes to her community in countless other ways: serving as treasurer of a local food pantry, leading an annual clothing drive, and founding and managing a local Jewish political action group in Bergen County. All of this is in addition to her professional role as vice president and chief operating officer of a boutique real estate private equity firm.
“I try to make every moment count in life, and I try to do good, meaningful things with those moments,” said Chana. “They say if you want something done, give it to a busy person. I guess I’m one of those people. At the end of the day, however, AMIT is closest to my heart. I believe Israel is where we’re all supposed to be, and working to build the country is something we should all participate in.”
That’s especially true now, when Israel is navigating a complex post-October 7 landscape that brings new challenges and opportunities, and when an investment in Israel’s future has perhaps never been more important.
“Chana has the leadership characteristic of our very best lay leaders. She is always willing to roll up her sleeves and do whatever it takes to get the job done,” said Andy Goldsmith, AMIT’s executive vice president. “No task is beneath or above her and I have seen her demonstrate this quality time and time again.”
Returning to the theme of AMIT’s focus on the whole child, Chana highlighted some of the ways AMIT is helping children process their trauma and the emotional and mental toll of more than two years of war and loss.
“AMIT has put real support in place for students and staff alike, assigning a mentor to work with small groups — one mentor for every 15 children — and ensuring there is always someone to turn to and talk to so no one feels alone,” explained Chana.
This kind of programming gives kids a way to process what they’re feeling, face their fears, work through their anxieties, and begin to heal from the trauma they’ve experienced.
She and Dan recently made a transformative gift to AMIT’s new Kfar Batya campus, which will serve as a hub for continual innovation to create, test, refine, and expand educational models that will increase AMIT’s impact exponentially.
It’s that strong sense of continuity that fuels Chana’s work on behalf of AMIT and the greater Jewish community — a living bridge between her grandmother and the next generation, rooted in an enduring commitment to Israel and its children.
