Career
Lois Levin was a native of Fayetteville, Texas, and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. Roisman was the first executive director of the Jewish Funds for Justice, the first national Jewish grant-making organization focused on supporting non-Jewish causes in the United States. Roisman was previously executive director of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation.
Roisman spent over 20 years in the field of philanthropy.
The American Jewish Committee in 1986 reported that Roisman believed that "political and religious developments were causing Jews to reassess their position in American life. "The Moral Majority"s call for the Christianization of America underlines the importance of a more active Jewish participation in efforts to create a just society", she said.
Initial grants made by the fund were to Navajos in Arizona, homeless African-Americans in Boston, and low-income Mexican-Americans in Colorado." The group was also an early funder of a young community organizer in Chicago named Barack Obama. According to Roisman"s June 13, 2008 obituary in The Washington Post, Silent Partners purchased supplies and provided unrestricted funds to use throughout the school year to pay for field trips and other activities.
In 1993 she was quoted in the Washingtonian magazine that the "silent" aspect also taught a lesson to the children of the more-affluent donors, that "the highest form of philanthropy is anonymous".
She died in Lyme, New Hampshire from congestive heart disease in 2008, aged 70.