Meet TTS President Laurie Netter Sprayregen
A graduate of Cornell University, TTS President Laurie Netter Sprayregen is devoted to the many scholars she has nurtured over the years, often finding them professional employment opportunities and places to live. She’s an inspirational role model also for her leadership of two NY community groups. As Vice President of the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, Laurie spearheads the organization’s mission to strengthen communities by helping individuals of all backgrounds live as independently as possible, providing mental health care for over 10,000 vulnerable New Yorkers annually. As Founding Member and Co-Chair of the Advisory Board of WFUV.org, a public radio station broadcasting from Fordham University, Laurie provides on-the-job training for Fordham students, maintaining the station as a resource for music discovery. Throughout all of her service, Laurie has mentored countless individuals, helping to change their lives by advocating on their behalf.
Your father, Richard Netter, co-founded TTS in 1963 along with Danish entertainer Victor Borge. During this 58th anniversary year, what does his legacy mean to you and your family?
My father was a remarkable man – he was involved with so many worthy causes. TTS was especially meaningful to him because it kept alive a little-known but truly heroic story of ordinary people performing extraordinary acts of bravery to save their countrymen. These people did the right thing, even in the face of great personal risk, and expected nothing in return.
Over the years TTS has distributed more than 3,500 scholarships to Scandinavian and Bulgarian scholars totaling nearly $7.5 million. How would you describe the enduring relevance of TTS?
The compassion that the Scandinavians and Bulgarians demonstrated during WWII towards their Jewish countrymen is just as important now as it was then – perhaps even more so. In this time of COVID, people are desperately in need of help from their fellow countrymen – whether it be in the form of food, shelter or even the simple act of wearing a mask. We have so much to learn from those heroes of WWII.
The pandemic ruled out TTS’s traditional autumn weekend welcome for the Class of 2020-21. How did the welcome event change this year and what did you learn about the incoming class?
Each year, we normally spend a weekend NYC with our scholars, in order to welcome them into our TTS family. During this weekend, the scholars learn all about TTS, they gather for dinner at my home, and then they take a food tour of the Lower East Side with us. COVID obviously made all of this impossible, especially since so many of our scholars are not able to be in the US at this time, let alone NYC. And so we went virtual! We sent each scholar a gift basket, and then we all met for a lovely hour on Zoom, getting acquainted with one another, first as a big group, and then into breakout sessions. It was good, but we are all looking forward to actually being together in the future!
What are your hopes for TTS’s future?
TTS will march forward for a very long time! Several years ago, we streamlined our mission. We have always been a scholarship fund, and now we award much larger scholarships to a more elite group of scholars. Every year, we are more and more impressed with the new group of applicants. These are unique human beings, many of whom have already accomplished much in this world, but they know what they do not know – and so, they are seeking more education in order to become even more productive. TTS is incredibly proud to help these scholars on their journey to making our world a better place.
Interviewed conducted in January 2021.