Vivian G. Bass joined the CaringMatters Board of Directors in 2018 and started her term as Vice Chair in 2019. Vivian has dedicated her career to improving the quality of life and community inclusion for individuals with disabilities on a non-sectarian basis throughout the Washington, DC area, nationally and internationally. She became CEO Emeritus of The Jewish Foundation for Group Homes (JFGH) subsequent to serving for 30 years at the helm of the organization which ultimately grew to 77 residential locations, two innovative transition youth programs and 260 fulltime staff. As JFGH continued to become a model for more than 25 communities over five continents, she travelled extensively, mentoring these communities wishing to emulate the JFGH Program.   

 

Vivian is the Immediate Past Board Chair of Jewish Women International/JWI, (formerly B'nai B'rith Women International).  She is a graduate of Leadership Montgomery and served on its Board as Chair of the Governance & Ethics Committee.  She has been engaged with volunteer roles at RespectAbility, Save a Child's Heart US, Potomac Community Resources and The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. Vivian is a frequent speaker at conferences and has been deeply immersed in consortiums and legislative/consumer advocacy efforts globally. She is a former `Washingtonian of the Year', a recipient of Save a Child's Heart's Lifetime Achievement Award and JWI's `Women to Watch' Award and has been bestowed numerous other distinctions.   

 

She remains loyally engaged with The University of Michigan, where she pursued both her undergraduate and graduate studies in Special Education.

 

Vivian, her husband Dr. Raymond Bass and their three sons hold dear the blessed memory of their young daughter/sister who had complex cardiac defects.