Leaders Assembly 2014
 
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Presenter Bios


LOU BERGHOLZ
Founder of Edgework Consulting

Lou Bergholz brings a rare blend of design expertise, professional consulting presence, and engaging facilitation to his work. His passion for learning stems from years of work on the front lines of education and organizational development, across the USA and in Israel, South Africa, Malawi, Thailand, Ireland, and beyond. Lou has worked in the classroom as well as in non-traditional educational settings, with populations ranging from executives of major corporations to young adults with life threatening illnesses.  What truly distinguishes Lou from other similarly skilled consultants is his unwavering ability to place the end client at the center of his design.  He is committed to creating learning and change-environments that are dynamic, vibrant and results-focused.
Session: Walking the Walk: Building a Mission-Driven Culture



ALINA BITEL
Program Director of Engagement Initiatives at Foundation for Jewish Camp

In her work at FJC, Alina Bitel designs a holistic approach to camper and staff engagement from less-involved demographic groups through community partnerships, targeted marketing, consultations, and staff training. She directs the Cornerstone Fellowship, promoting Jewish cultural change at camp through educational training for counselors and leadership development for supervisory staff. Previously, she was worked with children, teens, and young adults at the Marks JCH. Alina earned her BA in Psychology and Russian and Slavic Studies at New York University and her MSW at Columbia University. She is a graduate of the JCC Association Merrin Fellowship and holds a certificate of Executive Education from the Muehlstein Institute for Jewish Professional Leadership.
Session: Building an Intentional Community



TRACEY BRITTON
Director of Business Development at Edgework Consulting

Tracey Britton has more than 10 years of experience in training, program design, team management, and diversity and inclusion work. She has an extensive background in facilitation and community engagement, and in recent years, she has entered the youth development and higher education arenas, focusing on sustainability, partnerships, staff development, and cultural competency. Tracey is a graduate of the executive leadership program, Lead Boston, carries a Certification in Civil Mediation, and is pursuing a Certificate in Diversity Management from Cornell University. A graduate of University of Buffalo with a dual degree in Psychology and Health and Human Services, she also holds a Masters of Science from Ithaca College.
Session: Recruitment & Retention of LGBTQ & Racially Diverse Groups



ALAN B. COOPER
General Counsel & Claims Director at AMSkier

Alan B. Cooper is an honors graduate of Georgetown University Law School where he also served as an instructor before entering private practice in 1983, representing camps throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania. In 1999, he was elected to the position of Magisterial District Judge, where he continues to serve. He joined AMSkier in 2000 as general counsel and claims director.  He advises camps in legal, ethical, and insurance matters. He has taught American Constitutional Law and American Legal Systems at the college level and is currently an adjunct professor at Touro University where he teaches Law and Ethics for its Masters Degree program in Camping Management. Alan attended summer camp for 15 years as a camper and counselor.
Session: Values Guided Crisis Communication



DORIS FEINBERG, CFRE
President & Founder of The Prospero Group

Doris Feinberg counsels nonprofit boards of directors, executive leaders, and fundraising staff at numerous organizations working to strengthen the philanthropic investments of Jewish communal life. Her approach to philanthropy reflects a “donor-centered” philosophy that engages individuals in the fabric of the organization. During her recent tenure as president of the Jewish Federation of RI Board of Directors, Doris successfully orchestrated the merger of three agencies now called the Jewish Alliance of Greater RI, on whose board she now serves. She is the chair of the Jewish Federation Foundation, overseeing a $52 million endowment. Her family is proud to be a two-generation Jewish camp family; both she and her husband, and their children, attended Jewish camps.
Sessions: Building a Better Board
               
Donor Focused Fundraising
   

ELIZABETH FISHER
Managing Director at NEXT: A Division of Birthright Israel Foundation

Elizabeth (Liz) Fisher is Managing Director at NEXT: A Division of Birthright Israel Foundation. Liz comes to NEXT from The Jewish Education Project, where she served as director of development and institutional advancement. Prior to that, she spent eight years in the Federation system, first at the Jewish Federation of St. Louis and then at UJA-Federation of New York. For much of her time at UJA-Federation, Liz focused on team-building, strategy, and operations with the Emerging Leaders and Philanthropists department, which re-envisioned outreach to donors in their 20's and 30's. Liz has an MSW from Washington University. She's a fan of Brooklyn (where she lives with her husband and two children), an amateur runner, and an avid reader of periodicals.
Session: Creating Successful Partnerships



RENEE FLAX
Director of Camper Placement for the American Camp Association, New York & New Jersey

Renee Flax has been assisting families find the right camp experience for their children since 1998. She has extensive knowledge of camp programs and philosophies. Each summer, Renee travels to dozens of ACA accredited camps where she knows the camp directors and senior staff personally and has a keen understanding of each camp's philosophy, program, and facilities. She is recognized as an authority on camping and has been featured in The Associated Press, The New York Times, The New York Post, Newsday, The Journal News, Parent Guide, and New York Family. Renee graduated Syracuse University with a degree in Early Childhood Education. She attended summer camp for 15 years and has two daughters who were also long-time campers.
Session: Making the Case for Jewish Camp



ALAN FRIEDMAN
Director of URJ 6 Points Sports Academy

Alan Friedman has been in camping since he was 12 years old. His career began at Camp Mah-Kee-Nac, a private boys’ sports camp in the Berkshire Mountains.  After years as a camper and staff member, Alan became assistant director and later director. In 2006, he took his passion for informal Jewish education and camping and became the executive director of Camp Mountain Chai in Southern California. Under Alan's leadership, the camp grew from only 125 campers to 550 campers. Alan is now the director of the URJ 6 Points Sports Academy, part of the first cohort of FJC's Specialty Camps Incubator program. In addition to camping, he has had a prosperous advertising career, having earned a BA in Communications and Business Management at Ithaca College.
Session: Making the Case for Jewish Camp



ALIZA GOODMAN
Director of Professional Development and Experiential Education at The iCenter

Aliza Goodman is the director of professional development and experiential education at The iCenter.  She has shared her passion for Israel while leading numerous trips to Israel and working for three years at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Hillel. Aliza previously served as communications director for Genesis and BIMA at Brandeis University. Most recently, she created and directed a year-long internship program for teens returning from summer trips to Israel aimed at developing them as leaders and peer Israel educators. Aliza holds an MBA in Social Policy and Management and an MA in Jewish Professional Leadership from Brandeis University, as well as a BA in Psychology from the University of Western Ontario.
Session: Bringing Experiential Israel Education into the Classroom




JAKE GOODMAN
Program Manager at Auburn Media

Jake Goodman is Jewish educator, community organizer, and storyteller.  He earned his MA in Experiential Jewish Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) and his BFA in Acting from Emerson College.  Jake has taught at seminaries, synagogues, churches, JCC’s, camps, and retreat centers across the US and in Israel and consults for Foundation for Jewish Camp and JTS.  Jake is the former Associate Director of Storahtelling, currently manages the media department at Auburn Seminary, and is an active organizer in New York’s LGBTQ community. He is currently performing Kaddish, a stage adaptation of Hungarian Nobel-prize winning author Imre Kertész’s book, “Kaddish for an Unborn Child.” 
Session: Recruitment & Retention of LGBTQ & Racially Diverse Groups



ARON HALL
Director of Programs at the National Inclusion Project

Aron Hall coordinates the National Inclusion Project’s Let’s ALL Play partnership programs and training sessions.  Let’s ALL Play is the National Inclusion Project’s program model for recreational programs that are currently serving children with disabilities and wish to do it better or programs seeking to open doors currently shut to children with disabilities in their community.  As summer camp director for North Raleigh Christian Academy, he was responsible for creating and implementing its full-summer day camp program.  He also directed a local chapter of Royal Family Kids’ Camp, a nonprofit overnight camp for children in foster care.  Aron is a member of the Advisory Board for the National Alliance for Accessible Golf.
Session: Welcoming Children with Special Needs & Disabilities




ANDREW HAZEN
Founder & CEO of Angel Dough Ventures, Co-Founder of LaunchPad LI 

Andrew Hazen is a successful entrepreneur, marketing expert, angel investor, attorney, and admitted domain name addict. The full service digital marketing agency he founded and bootstrapped in 1998 twice made the Inc List of Fastest Growing Companies in 2007 and 2008. He sold the business in 2007 to private equity investors and continued as CEO until the company was sold again in 2011 to a publicly traded company. Andrew is currently the founder & CEO of Angel Dough Ventures, co-founder of LaunchPad LI and of counsel at Ruskin Moscou Faltischek. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Long Island Angel Network, the Digital Advisory Board at St. Jude Hospital, and the Eric Trump Foundation.
Session: Fireside Chat with a Digital Marketing Expert



KENNY KAHN
Co-Director of Camp Be’Chol Lashon

Kenny Kahn has worked with campers from ethnically and culturally diverse backgrounds at Be’Chol Lashon, a Jewish overnight summer camp located in California, since its founding in the late 1990s. He grew up in Richmond, CA, the son of a Jewish mother and African-American father. Throughout the school year, Kenny works as an English teacher, dean of students, and head football coach at his alma mater, El Cerrito High School, in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2012, Kenny received the ‘Golden Bagel’ award from the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame of Northern California for his contribution to athletics in his community, and in 2013 he earned the Helen Diller award for informal Jewish education.
Session: Recruitment & Retention of LGBTQ & Racially Diverse Groups



TRACY LEVINE
Manager of One Happy Camper NJ at The Partnership for Jewish Learning and Life

As one of the first full-time community Jewish camp professionals in North America, Tracy Levine leads one of the most comprehensive programs in the nation to promote Jewish overnight camp, achieving a 26% increase of campers in her community in her first three years. Tracy came to her position with extensive marketing experience in nonprofit and corporate organizations, including 20 years in marketing and business leadership roles at Citigroup. She has served in key leadership roles in Jewish community organizations, for which she was named one of “Forty under Forty”. Tracy is a graduate of Binghamton University and has an MBA in Marketing from Columbia Business School. She is the mother of two very happy campers.
Session: Making the Case for Jewish Camp



GEOFF MENKOWITZ
Director of Camp Ramah Darom

Geoffrey Menkowitz is passionate about Jewish education and community building. He is entering his seventh season as director of Camp Ramah Darom where he formerly served as the assistant director. Born in Philadelphia, Geoff grew up attending Camp Ramah in the Poconos. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania where he received his BA and MA in education and he has completed advanced coursework in Jewish education at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Previously, Geoff has held positions on college campuses working with Hillel at Rutgers and the University of Pennsylvania. He also directed the Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning at Hillel’s International Headquarters in Washington, DC. 
Session: Values Guided Crisis Communication


JOSH MILLER
Senior Program Officer at the Jim Joseph Foundation
 
Josh Miller's portfolio as a senior program officer at the Jim Joseph Foundation includes monitoring grants to national and community-based education initiatives including: FJC, Hillel, Moishe House, Jewish Student Connection, Birthright Israel NEXT, the Jewish New Teachers Project, and Pardes. He also oversees strategy development for new projects in teen education and new media. Josh brings field expertise to his work from 15 years as an experiential Jewish educator and community builder. His most recent work involved launching and directing Jconnect Seattle, a vibrant community for Jewish young adults in their twenties. Josh holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and BAs in Jewish Studies and Computer Science from Brown University.
Session: Retaining Our Teens



REUBEN POSNER
Director of Youth Engagement at Combined Jewish Philanthropies

Along with managing CJP’s camping initiative, Reuben Posner serves as lead professional in developing and implementing new youth engagement initiatives in concert with local and national partners.  Previously, Reuben was the Jewish Education Fellow and Associate at Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life; spent a year in Mumbai with his wife serving as Jewish Service Corps Volunteers with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee; was the Development Associate and Project Manager at The Jewish Education Project; and taught at the Atrium School. Reuben received his M.Ed. in Learning and Teaching from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a BA in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and Psychology from Brandeis University. 
Session: Retaining Our Teens



KATIE QUINN
Assistant Camp Director at Camp Tawonga

A graduate from the Hornstein Program at Brandeis University, Katie Quinn holds an MA in Jewish Professional Leadership and an MA in Near Eastern Judaic Studies with a concentration in Jewish Residential Camping. Prior to working at Camp Tawonga, Katie was the teen leadership director at B’nai Brith Beber Camp and program director at JCC Maccabi Camp Kingswood. She previously worked as the program director for the Vancouver Hillel Foundation, engaging college students in Jewish life on campus. Katie feels blessed to work in a field where she can combine her passion for youth engagement with her love of Jewish experiential learning. Katie is a graduate of the Foundation for Jewish Camp’s Yitro Leadership Program.
Session: Retaining Our Teens



TERRY ROSENBERG
Executive Coach & Consultant to Nonprofits

Terry Rosenberg has worked in various commercial industries and Jewish nonprofit organizations. In the for-profit arena, she has led courses, seminars, and workshops in leadership, management, interpersonal communications, and customer satisfaction.  Terry has served on numerous boards and governance committees in the Boston Jewish community and nationally. Since 2006, she has provided strategic consulting and executive coaching to boards of synagogues, Jewish camps, and various Jewish communal organizations both independently and as an associate of CJP’s Leadership Development Institute. In 2007, Terry joined FJC’s Executive Leadership Institute as an executive coach, and now serves on its faculty.
Sessions: Building a Better Board
                    Visionary Board Governance



SETH ROSENZWEIG
Vice President for Development at The Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston (CJP)

As part of the senior development team, Seth Rosenzweig sets fundraising goals and strategies and provides oversight for all of the development efforts of CJP. He also manages a portfolio of the community's highest capacity donors and prospects. Since Seth’s return to CJP in 2009, the organization has achieved record-breaking fundraising success. Under his leadership, CJP has focused on growing the Annual Campaign through designated giving towards key community priorities, doubling the endowment by 2020, and prioritizing planned giving. Previously, Seth was the executive director of development at The George Washington University, where he created a new team focused on the priorities of the president and prepared the University to embark on a $1 billion campaign.
Session: 
Donor Focused Fundraising



AYA SHECHTER
Director of the Israeli Center at the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades, Vice Chair of Moatza Mekomit NY

Aya Shechter was born and raised in Israel and has lived in New Jersey for the last six years.  She is the director of the Israeli Center at the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades and the vice chair of Moatza Mekomit NY, an organization representing Israelis in the New York Tri-State area. Previously, she was executive director of Dor Chadash in NYC, then the largest organization for young Israeli and American Jews looking to create and maintain meaningful connections to Israel through culture, education, and social action.  Aya completed her degree in Biotechnology at Bar Ilan University and studied law at Ono-Academic College and Cardozo School of Law.  She is the mother of a three year old and one and a half year old and wife of Israeli-American Jonathan Shechter.
Session: Building an Intentional Community



ALAN SILVERMAN
Director of Camp Moshava Indian Orchard

Alan Silverman has been camp director for 25 years. He has degrees in Education and Science Education and was the assistant principal at SAR Academy in Riverdale before making Aliyah. Alan was also the Educational Director of Bnei Akiva of North America and has taught math and science. Alan and his wife, Rachel, live in Alon Shvut and have five children.
Session: Beyond the Gate: Security at Camp
   

AMY SMYLER MCFARLAND
President of McFarland Coaching & Consulting Services

Amy Smyler McFarland holds an MS in Conflict Analysis and Resolution with a focus on Organizational Design. She has been a Florida Supreme Court certified mediator and is a sought out workshop facilitator for national conferences. Amy's connection to Jewish camping began in the early 90's when she worked as a counselor for several years at URJ Camp Coleman.  She returned in 2002 as the senior assistant director and remained in that role through the summer of 2008.  Over the last four years, she has served on faculty for the Foundation for Jewish Camp’s Cornerstone and Launch Pad Fellowships, providing coaching and consulting work for FJC, over 40 non-profit residential camps and their leadership teams, JCCs, and Kass Shuler among others.
Session: The Value Proposition of Working at Camp



ADAM STEWART
Director of the Goodman Camping Initiative at The iCenter

Adam Stewart serves as the director of the Goodman Camping Initiative at the iCenter, engaging independent Jewish camps in North America in the development of an Israel education curriculum.  He has worked in the field of Israel education and teen travel experiences for fifteen years.  Adam previously held the role of executive director of Shorashim and has taught at the Newberry Library Center for Public Programs as well as Loyola University Chicago lecturing on topics in Jewish history and culture. He additionally serves as an educational consultant to a variety of Jewish organizations. 
Session: Bringing Experiential Israel Education into the Classroom




VICTOR VITKIN
Executive Director of the Brandeis-Genesis Institute for Russian Jewry

In his role of the executive director of the Brandeis-Genesis Institute for Russian Jewry, Victor Vitkin leads efforts to inspire Russian-speaking teens and young adults to become effective community leaders fortified by Jewish knowledge and a commitment to the future of the Jewish people. Previously, he served as an emissary of the Jewish Agency for Israel to North America, developing and implementing educational initiatives, international missions and leadership development programs. He also served as the executive director of One Plus One, a nonprofit organization serving new immigrants in Israel. He holds an MBA with a focus in strategic management from Georgetown University and an MA in communications from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Session: Building an Intentional Community 



ADAM WEISS
Chief Executive Officer of Ramapo for Children

Adam Weiss is the chief executive officer of Ramapo for Children, which works with children who face obstacles to learning, enabling them to succeed in the classroom, at home, and in life.  He has a consulting background in strategic planning, program design, and project management to nonprofit organizations that work with youth. Adam was instrumental in the launch of FJC's Specialty Camps Incubator program and serves on faculty.  He founded Oasis Children's Services and Oasis Community Corporation, operating academic and recreational summer and after-school programs. Adam was executive director of the American Camping Association and has a BA from Wesleyan University and an MA in Public and Private Management from the Yale School of Management.
Sessions: Budgets for Beginners: Maximizing Your Financial Potential
                
Quantifying Impact: Using Financial Information to Make Strategic Decisions