Liz was born and raised in the Washington DC area in a conservative Jewish family and had a bat mitzvah, although she did not have as full a Jewish education as her hearing peers. Liz was a member of Temple Beth Solomon of the Deaf in Arleta, California while attending California State University at Northridge. She graduated with B.S. Degree in Health Education worked as health educator to the deaf community in Los Angeles.
She and her husband, Ric Hernandez then moved to Hartford, Connecticut where she obtained her Masters of Social Work degree from University of Connecticut Her family was a member of Temple Sinai where her two deaf children received Jewish education with an interpreter.
Liz’s family moved back to her roots in Maryland to be closer to her extended family in the DC area. Over the years, Liz had led Jewish Education and coordinated day care programs for children at 3 past Jewish Deaf Congress conferences. She was a licensed social worker at Jewish Social Service Agency for 20 years, now retired. With this agency’s motto of using “Tikkum Olam”, she had the privilege of working with deaf clients and their families.
At present, she is vice president of Washington Society of Jewish Deaf serving on the Caring committee and the Inclusion Access for synagogues with the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.
