Tamara Kushnir Groman, ’97

Tamara Kushir Groman has dedicated her legal career to helping others.  Tamara started her career as a litigator and worked for legal Aid Chicago.  For the past several years, Tamara has lent her legal acumen to CJE SeniorLife, managing their Consumer Assitance Department and creating and running their Legal Help Desk.  “We offer free legal services to older adults in need,” Tamara explains.

A 1997 graduate of ICJA, Tamara credits the Academy with teaching her many of the lessons she still relies on today.  Rabbi Shmuel Kurtz taught her lessons about keeping a kosher home that Tamara still draws on today, and she remembers English teacher Charlotte Rosenwald as another seminal influence.  “She taught me critical and careful reading, how to approach a text from different perspectives.”  That lesson in thinking how other people approach a text or an issue has resonated with Tamara, and she’s incorporated the awareness that other people have differing perspectives into her professional life. Much of Tamara’s drive to help others stems from her parents.  “Growing up, my mother’s favorite phrase was ‘What’s most essential is caring for the wellbeing of others.’”  Tamara started volunteering in food banks when she was eleven years old and continues to volunteer in food banks and other community institutions today.  Giving back has become a family affair for Tamara, her husband Jeff Groman, and their three children: “Volunteering with my kids is very important to me; finding ways to volunteer as a family is a big part of our lives.”