Before founding The backStorygroup, Wendy Revel, a lawyer, was the Executive Director of CINE, which was a  Washington, DC- based film and television competitions non-profit group. At CINE, she conceived and implemented a film scoring competition, and obtained as guest judges well-known film composers and producers, including two Oscar™ winners.  She was previously the staff director for a congressman from Georgia, and has written articles for the Jerusalem Post and The New Republic, as well as a script for National Geographic Television's Explorer series.  Prior to her stint in politics, Wendy, a graduate of the University of Georgia Law School, was a trial lawyer in Atlanta. She lives in the DC area and has two adult sons.

Johanna Chanin recently retired as Senior Vice President and Government Affairs Counsel for a global financial services company; earlier in her career, she was a litigator in private practice with a Washington, DC law firm.  Johanna has been involved in several nonprofit organizations, including the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center, the Financial Services Roundtable, Camp Judaea, and Adas Israel Congregation, where she is a past President. A native of Macon, Georgia, Johanna holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston College and a Juris Doctor degree from George Washington University. She and her husband, Randall Levitt, live in the Washington, DC area.

Harriet Tritell serves as secretary/treasurer of the backStorygroup. She was an ESOL teacher at the Washington English Center in Washington, DC until 2020. She was also a hospice volunteer and served on the board of Temple Micah, where was secretary and  chaired the communications committee. She currently chairs the community caring committee at the temple. Harriet served on the board of the Jewish Social Service Agency of Greater Washington for nine years and now chairs the Ambassadors Council of that organization. She holds an MBA in finance from Pace University and a BA in English from the University of Pennsylvania. She resides in Bethesda, MD with her husband, Randy Tritell and has 2 adult sons.

Alan Makovsky is a Senior Fellow for National Security and International Policy at The Center for American Progress. From 2001 to 2013, he served as a senior professional staff member on the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he covered the Middle East, Turkey, and other related issues.

At the Washington Institute for Near East Policy—a private think tank where he worked from 1994 to 2001—Makovsky wrote widely on various Middle Eastern and Turkish topics. He also founded and directed the Washington Institute’s Turkey Research Program.

At the State Department where he worked from 1983 to 1994—Makovsky variously covered southern European affairs and Middle Eastern affairs for the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. He also served as the political advisor to Operation Provide Comfort in 1992 and as the special advisor to the special Middle East coordinator from 1993 to 1994.

Tamara Dunietz runs her family's real estate business in Germany and Israel. She earned a BA, MA in economics/statistics from Hebrew University, Jerusalem. After working at the World Bank, Washington, DC, pursued her MBA at The Wharton Business School. She takes part in the family philanthropic efforts in Israel such as in education focusing on Ethiopian Jewry, need-based scholarships to immigrants at higher learning institutions, as well as hospitals and other causes. 

Rhonda Shore is a senior editor and communications professional with experience in the public and private sectors. Rhonda led the production of 12 editions of the U.S. Department of State's annual report, Country Reports on Terrorism, shaped media reaction on sensitive issues, handled crisis communications, and launched social media sites. She has written and edited speeches, congressional testimony, op-eds, blogs, press releases, and fact sheets; and has edited grant proposals, magazine articles, think tank papers, a self-help book, memoir, and historical fiction. In addition to communications, Rhonda designed international exchange programs for nine years at the United States Information Agency.

In the private sector, Rhonda was Director of Publicity for two record companies, Chrysalis and Island. In this incarnation, she developed campaigns that included print, television, and video for various artists, such as Robert Palmer, Billy Idol, and Huey Lewis and the News. She also led corporate communications.

Rhonda holds a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University) and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Music from SUNY Purchase. She lives in the metro Washington, DC area.

Sindy Udell is the CEO and Founder of Growth Partners USA, where she advises nonprofits and small businesses on strategic planning, growth management, and board governance. She also empowers executives and individuals to navigate growth and change in their careers, life transitions, and personal development.

Sindy began her career practicing securities litigation in both New York City and Washington, DC. After transitioning from law, she became the Director of Admission at the Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation’s Capital, where she grew the school’s enrollment by more than 200%.

Sindy is deeply committed to her community and serves on the boards of the Brem Foundation to Defeat Breast Cancer and Friends of the IDF. She and her husband, Ken Josovitz, live in Bethesda, MD, and have two adult children.

Susan Frank is an accomplished strategist and marketing executive with over 35 years of experience in the entertainment industry. She spent 21 years at Showtime Networks in New York as the Vice President of Brand Program Marketing and Consumer Advertising. While at Showtime, she launched and led award-winning 360º campaigns for some of the most iconic series in the network's history. Additionally, Susan was the architect of the network's documentary rebranding and played an integral role in launching its streaming service.

Before Showtime, Susan worked at Turner Broadcasting in Atlanta, where she developed consumer marketing campaigns for TBS Network's original programming and sports franchises. She has regularly been recognized for excellence in Marketing and Creative.

A proud native New Yorker and avid sports fan, Susan and her husband, Danny, recently relocated to his hometown of Potomac, MD with their daughter, Rachel.