Hi. I am Debbie (Moeckler) Berman ‘84. I am running for re-election to the HF school board so I wanted to tell you a little about myself.

HF has been an important part of my life and my family for a long time. We moved to Homewood more than 50 years ago. I attended Flossmoor schools and then HF, graduating in 1984. While at HF, I benefitted from all of the opportunities offered, including strong academics and amazing extracurriculars. I was on the debate team and Mathletes just to name a few. (As much opportunity as we had back then, it pales in comparison to what HF offers now.)

After HF, I attended Brandeis University, studying Economics – all due to my Econ class at HF. From there it was off to the Harvard Law School where my debate training came in handy. After graduating, I started as an associate at Jenner & Block LLP in the litigation department, where I have practiced law ever since. I currently am co-chair of Jenner’s Complex Commercial Litigation, Trade Secrets and Unfair Competition and First Amendment practice groups. I also serve on the firm’s Management Committee, Finance Committee, Women’s Forum and other committees.

In addition to my legal career, I have been deeply involved in philanthropic and civic work for almost 30 years because I believe that it is our obligation to give back to our community. That commitment led me to apply for an opening on the HF school board five years ago. At that time I had been very involved in international, national and Chicago metropolitan based organizations, but I had not yet taken an active role in our HF community. When I learned of the opening, I reflected on how much HF had given me and contributed to my success and decided it was time for me to give back. As I said in that initial application, HF is the crown jewel of our community, and I want to ensure that it continues to shine.

During my five years on the HF school board, I have served on the planning committee which focuses on academics and all aspects of students as well as anything that is not personnel or finance. For the past two years, I also have chaired the personnel committee. In addition to my service to HF, I currently am the Chair of the Budget & Finance, Overhead and Operations subcommittee for the Jewish Agency for Israel, which is the world’s largest Jewish philanthropy, and serve on numerous Chicago-based boards.

My deep connections to HF do not end there. My daughter, Melinda, is a 2017 grad who earned her IB diploma and was included in debate and other activities. She currently is studying Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at UCLA and wants to be a research meteorologist. My son, Louie, is a junior, also in IB and debate. He wants to become a cardiologist. As you can imagine with all of that debate training, we have some very interesting and intense conversations at my house!!!