Rebuilding her life time and again after great upheaval gave Lis Kahn unique insight as she helped the Jewish community of New Orleans heal after Hurricane Katrina. Kahn grew up in Copenhagen, where she lived through the German occupation as a child. After she moved to America in 1960, she settled in Indiana, where she trained at Indiana University as an RN and worked as a nurse for years before earning a law degree from Valparaiso University. She then combined her talents, serving as an attorney for Lincoln National Life Insurance in Fort Wayne and credentialing transplant physicians for hospitals. While in Indiana, she suffered the double loss of her husband and stepdaughter. Kahn moved to New Orleans in 1991, where she became involved with the local Jewish community as campaign chair for the Jewish Federation and member of her regional branches of Hadassah and the National Council of Jewish Women while continuing to work as a pro bono attorney. In 2006, in the wake of Katrina, she became president of her synagogue, Shir Chadash, helping lead the community through the difficult task of rebuilding.