Local historian Chuck Langerman has highlighted the current professional statuses of three Cheltenham alumni:
Abbey Krain (above left)
Krain, a 1985 graduate, has been the senior associate regional director at the Anti-Defamation League of Philadelphia since July 2023. Her role includes speaking at synagogues and other organizations, advocacy in the state capital of Harrisburg and talking to the media.
At Cheltenham High, Krain was active in the choir, ensemble, and track and field. In 1985, she was honored as the Cheltenham High recipient of the first annual “Human Relations Award.” The service award, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, cited Krain for her tireless work in the community and at synagogue Adath Jeshurun in Elkins Park in helping to eliminate discrimination against individuals or groups because of their race, color, religion, creed, ancestry, disability, age, sex, or national origin.
A summa cum laude, phi beta kappa graduate of Brandeis University with a Bachelor of Arts in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Krain also spent three years as a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania, focusing on Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Literature before fulfilling her desire to work with people on a regular basis by earning a Masters of Social Work degree at Washington University in St. Louis.
From there, she was able to transition into Jewish communal service with synagogues for much of the next three decades.
Virginia “Ginny” Suss (above middle)
Suss, a 1995 graduate is best known as the co-founder and producer of one of the biggest protests of all-time, the “Women’s March on Washington” in January 2017.
She is the former Vice President of Okayplayer and the co-founder of OkayAfrica, two music and culture-based media companies. She also created and manages an all-women’s chorus, the Resistance Revival Chorus, which performed with singer Kesha at the 2018 Grammys.
Suss has also worked for the Philadelphia hip-hop group “The Roots” (the house band for the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon) in various capacities, including tour management and production for the past 15 years.
Suss graduated from Williams College in 1999 with a B.A. in Political Science and Art History.
Dr. Yorell Manon-Matos (above right)
Dr. Manon-Matos, a 1996 graduate, is a medical educator and a hand and upper extremity surgery specialist practicing in South Dakota.
He established The Scholarship for Healthcare Students, a groundbreaking academic grant program designed to nurture emerging talent in healthcare education.
Dr. Manon-Matos was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and raised in Cheltenham Township. He graduated with a degree in molecular biology in 2000 from Princeton University. In 2004, he received his medical degree from Dartmouth Medical School.
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