Rachel Shankman is the daughter of Holocaust survivors and was born in a displaced persons camp in Munich, Germany. In 1991, Rachel joined the Facing History and Ourselves staff and is now the Memphis Regional Director. Facing History and Ourselves is a national educational organization whose mission is to engage students of diverse backgrounds in civic education that encourages the skills, promotes the values, and fosters the ideals needed to sustain a democratic society. They offer interdisciplinary programs, resources and speakers for middle and high school educators that relate the past to the world today. Working with the Memphis Advisory Board, Rachel provides leadership on implementing educational and community programming for the region. She also plans, organizes, and participates in Facing History workshops and other professional development activities for educators. Visit Facing History and Ourselves, www.facinghistory.org.

Prior to coming to Facing History, Rachel served as the first woman President of Beth Sholom Synagogue, has served on numerous boards and was a graduate of Leadership Memphis, Class of 1994. She is listed in Who's Who for the year 2000 and is the recipient of the Women of Achievement Award in the category of initiative. She was also received the Bishop Carroll T. Dozier Award for Peace and Justice from Christian Brothers University.