As vice president of the Partnership Development Group, Inc., a Glen Burnie organization that helps this population, the Columbia resident is in charge of psychiatric rehabilitation services and case management. Tranen is also responsible for overseeing mental health, trauma treatment and case management services for Anne Arundel county detention centers. The only PDG program that she does not oversee is RISE ‹ Reach Independence Through Self-Employment, which helps adults with mental disabilities start their own businesses. Her husband, Morris, the president of PDG, is in charge of that initiative.

In addition, Sondra Tranen, 49, is the executive director of PDG Rehabilitation Services, a not-for-profit organization, where she is in charge of vocational rehabilitation programs and employment services.

Originally from Maine, Tranen, a self-described social activist, knew in high school that she wanted to work with individuals with disabilities.

"There was no real one thing [that convinced me]," she said. "What I got the most fulfillment out of was helping people."

After attending Ohio Wesleyan University, she enrolled at Boston University School of Theology, where she was studying to be a Methodist minister in the hope of fulfilling her dream of helping others. While studying, she continued to assist the disenfranchised, as a prison chaplain and through work with runaway teens.

At B.U., Tranen met and studied with Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize winner Elie Weisel, who made it a point to visit seminary students as part of his mission of preserving the memory of the Holocaust. It was Weisel's influence, as well as discovering through her studies that she connected more to the Hebrew Bible than to its Christian counterpart, that led Tranen to convert to Judaism in 1982, she said.

"[The Hebrew Bible] seemed to fit more with my personal beliefs," she said.

Becoming a minister was obviously no longer in the cards, but Tranen continued her focus on social causes.

"I sought a career that would allow me to continue working with disadvantaged populations in a different context," she said.

When Tranen and her husband moved to Maryland in 1983 so that they could be closer to his family, she took a job with the Maryland Division of Corrections, focusing on substance abuse treatment. From there, she began working with individuals who were homeless and mentally ill. While completing a master's degree in pastoral counseling from Loyola College, Tranen worked for programs in the public mental health sector, and, after completing her degree, started a psychiatric rehabilitation program with a colleague. Four years ago, she left that company and went to work with her husband, where she helped expand PDG to include rehabilitation and case management.

"I like looking at community problems or challenges facing people with mental illnesses and coming up with new ways of solving those problems," said Tranen, who enjoys working out, swimming, music and cooking.

And, PDG has become a family business: One of Tranen's two adult daughters recently began working there. ‹ Sarah Freishtat

Suggestions for profiles may be sent to infocus@washingtonjewishweek.com.

Name: Sondra Tranen

Hebrew Name: Sarah

Lives In: Columbia

Birthday: Jan. 10, 1959

Favorite Jewish Holiday: Rosh Hashanah

Favorite Jewish Food: brisket

Favorite Jewish Celebrity: Mel Brooks