Community Corner

A Mother's Day Profile: Ziona Friedlander

In honor of Mother's Day, Patch profiles one of our town's most dedicated moms.

Every small town seems to have one; a mom who's involved in every committee, every charity, and every fundraiser. Our town has Ziona Friedlander.

Friedlander, an Agoura Hills resident since 1996, is co-president of the Parent Faculty Club (PFC); co-project manager of the 2011 Program at Agoura High; co-founder of C.O.R.E. (Californians Organized to Rescue Education, a grass roots group formed to protect Prop 98 education funding when it was threatened recently); and the president of the .

She's also a member of the Agoura Hills Patch Moms Council and currently has a in Local Voices.

Find out what's happening in Agoura Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"I believe in the public school system," she said. "Right now we are in a crisis, and I believe I have to do whatever it takes to preserve our children's quality of education."

Friedlander was personally selected to head up the T.H.E. Foundation by Las Virgenes Schools Superintendent, Dr. Donald Zimring.

Find out what's happening in Agoura Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"I had been attending a series of meetings at the district office last year with a group of concerned parents who trying to figure out how to save the schools, and we came up with the idea of forming a foundation," she said. "When it came down to deciding on who would run it, Don looked right at me and said, 'Ziona, you have to do it.'"

She recalls, at first, being shocked at Zimring's blunt appeal, but after quick consideration, she agreed to take on the job. "At that moment, I thought to myself 'he's right. I can do this.,'" she said.

According to Zimring, Friedlander epitomizes what a great parent and community member should be. Her kids come first, closely followed by the other 11,299 kids in our district who will benefit for years from her dedication and leadership
in heading up T.H.E. Foundation for Las Virgenes Schools," he said.

Friedlander,the mother of Simone, 22, and Marcus, 17, began her "career" as a full-time mom and volunteer after retiring from her position as a managing partner in an educational consulting firm. She participated in various school fundraisers and drives all the while attending to her children.

"When Simone was in high school, I was asked to be a a parliamentarian on the board of the PFC. I said yes, because I thought they were really functional and doing very good work," she said.

She went on to sign up for the committee that ran "Every 15 Minutes,"an emotionally charged live-action program designed to dramatically instill teenagers with the potentially dangerous consequences of drinking alcohol.

"When someone first described the value of experiential learning and how effective it was over conventional learning, I knew I had to be part of this," she said. "It wasn't about putting a bunch of teenagers in an assembly and wagging a finger at them."

Friedlander said she is more proud of her work on this program than anything else she's ever done.

Two years ago, after Lesli Stein, currently an LVUSD board member, left her post as president of the PFC, Friedlander was asked to step in. "The position puts me in contact with so many people–administrators, teachers, students; all the way up to district-level officials," she said.

Friedlander acknowledges that the most profound experience she's had so far was her battle with breast cancer five years ago. She got the news a few days before her son's Bar Mitzvah, she said.

After going through the chemo and radiation and all of the emotional struggles, she said she came out of the experience a changed person.

I was inspired to believe that anything and everything is possible," she said. "Now I go through life choosing not to focus on the bin Laden's of the world but on the every-day heroes who make our world a better place. I'm on an inspired journey and everyone is welcome to come along with me."

Gail Fridstein, co-project manager for the 2011 "Every 15 Minutes," said she can never turn Friedlander down when it comes to volunteering. "Part of me wants to say that I should run whenever I see Ziona coming because I know that she will talk me into taking on another project that I really do not have the time to take on," said Fridstein. 'However, the reason that I can never seem to say "no" to Ziona is that she is truly a person that 'walks the walk.'  Ziona is a highly intelligent and extremely dedicated person for whom I have immense respect." 

Friedlander, who lives with husband Steve, and her two children, is still planning future goals, but said she "will never abandon [her] dedication to the community."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here