Executive Leadership

Eric joined Hillel International in the summer of 2013 and is responsible for setting Hillel’s vision and directing the movement to enrich the lives of Jewish students globally. Eric works to build relationships with all of Hillel’s various stakeholders to inspire a common effort of fulfilling Hillel’s mission. Read Eric’s full biography.

Adam serves as Hillel International’s COO and day-to-day organizational director. In this capacity, he manages Hillel International’s staff, finances and programs in order to deliver on the ambitious goals of Hillel's Drive to Excellence strategic plan. Adam previously served as president and COO of the venture-backed software and data analytics company Lotame Solutions; senior vice president and group COO at AOL; founder of early stage investment company Rock Ridge Ventures; president and COO of crowdsourced creative platform GeniusRocket; and entrepreneur-in-residence at the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business. Adam graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. from Dartmouth College and cum laude with a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He was also a Harry S. Truman Scholar. Adam is a former board member of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, Beth Sholom Congregation and Fair Chance D.C. He has also been active in the Jewish arts scene, as the author of a series of plays inspired by the Jewish holidays, and as a founding member of the D.C.-based Jewish a cappella group JewKvox.

Tim joined Hillel in 2005 as vice president of development. He is currently responsible for developing strategic and philanthropic relationships with key community, business and university leaders to sustain and enhance Hillel’s mission. This includes identifying and cultivating prospective members for Hillel’s International Board of Governors. 

As the vice president of finance, Sam leads the fiscal unit of Hillel. This includes accounting, financial planning and analysis, reporting and financial compliance. He also serves as a resource for local Hillels. He came to this role after serving 12 years with Johns Hopkins University in varying financial and accounting capacities. Sam has an MBA in finance from the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School and a bachelor's degree in finance and marketing from Syracuse University. 

Mimi is Hillel International’s inaugural chief talent officer. She’s responsible for creating new strategies for Hillel and the Jewish nonprofit sector to invest in the most important asset — its professionals. Mimi came to this role after more than six years as a Google executive in the Marketing and People Operations. She brings a passion for building great workplaces, empowering employees, creating products and projects from deep user insights and driving innovation. While at Google, Mimi worked in Google.org, spearheading passion projects including educating nonprofits on Google tools through Google for Nonprofits, partnering with The Israel Museum to make the Dead Sea Scrolls accessible online and with Yad Vashem to bring its photo collections to the web. Mimi began her career as a Jewish nonprofit professional at Stanford Hillel and, after over a decade in the business world at American Express and Google, rejoined Hillel in 2015. Mimi has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.A. from Tufts University, graduating summa cum laude with majors in international relations and Judaic studies. Mimi resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and their two young children, Alec and Chloe.

Rabbi Benjamin Berger oversees the Center for Jewish and Israel Education, one of the three pillars of Hillel U. The CJIE is focused on providing the tools for every Hillel professional to be capable and confident Jewish educators so they can create meaningful Jewish experiences for the students whom they engage. Ben was formerly the director of the Wexner Heritage Program, whose mission is to expand the vision, deepen the knowledge and build the confidence of Jewish volunteer leaders throughout the North American Jewish Community. Prior to his work at The Wexner Foundation, Ben was the senior Jewish educator at The Ohio State University Hillel. Additionally, he was Berman fellow and program director at University of Michigan and JCSC fellow at Cornell University. Ben was ordained by Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School. He, his wife Rachel, also a Hillel professional, and their four daughters will be relocating to Washington, D.C. in the summer of 2019.

Rachel implements fundraising strategies and processes that maximize development effectiveness, efficiencies and overall workflow at the SIC and in the field. She leads Hillel’s Global Leadership’s Campaign Services team, overseeing all aspects of development-focused operations and prospect development, including data analysis and revenue forecasting, donor and gift-related data processing, fundraising research, and varied internal and external reporting activities.

After a long hiatus, Rachel returned to Hillel with more than 17 years of experience in the fundraising field. She has worked at top academic fundraising institutions, including University of Michigan, specializing in stewardship and donor relations, and Columbia University, focusing on training and gift planning. She most recently worked at The Ohio State University, creating the fundraising infrastructure for the Wexner Medical Center and then serving as senior strategic adviser for development, where she enabled senior leadership to make strategic data driven decisions across their 31 fundraising units. 

Rachel was the first director of the Global Day of Jewish Learning, a day to engage Jewish communities throughout the world in Jewish learning. She began her career at the Schusterman International Center as a Tzedek Fellow. Rachel lives in Columbus, Ohio and will relocate to the D.C. over the summer with her husband Rabbi Benjamin Berger and their four daughters, Tovah, Avital, Eliana and Nili.

Rabbi Daniel is Hillel International's inaugural chief innovation officer. He runs the Office of Innovation, a think and do tank that develops new ideas, projects and initiatives for Hillel and the Jewish people. Some of the most recent projects include Base Hillel, The Fellowship for Rabbinic Entrepreneurs and the Jewish Learning Fellowship. Dan graduated cum laude from Yale University and was ordained by Zalman Nechemia Goldberg of Jerusalem's highest court. He has been a Bronfman, Dorot and Wexner Fellow. Dan received a Ph.D in education and Jewish studies from New York University. He lives in New York with his wife Erin Leib Smokler and their two kids, Shalev and Nadiv.

Jennifer joined Hillel in 2004 and is responsible for planning and implementing key initiatives to advance Hillel’s strategic priorities and to develop a model for excellence in service delivery. She is currently supporting the development of Hillel’s Strategic Implementation Plan, leading the Measuring Excellence Pilot and the Comprehensive Excellence initiative, and manages relationships with many Hillel partners. Among her achievements is leading Hillel’s five-year senior Jewish educator and peer engagement pilot, which pioneered innovative methods to engage more Jewish students. 

Matthew manages all aspects of Hillel’s communications and media strategy, including overseeing the organization’s media relations, social media, field communications and publications. He also serves as Hillel’s chief spokesman and as a senior adviser to the Israel Action Program, helping Hillels respond to anti-Semitic incidents, anti-Israel activities and divestment campaigns. Before joining Hillel International, he spent five years with a crisis communications firm, working with clients in the corporate world, non-profit sector and in the Jewish community facing negative media exposure due to lawsuits, government investigations or product recalls. He advised clients on a wide range of media strategy, provided litigation support and trained corporate executives and spokespeople for media appearances, including on “60 Minutes.” He was a reporter for NBC News and National Journal during the 2008 presidential campaign cycle, traveling with several candidates on their planes and buses, shooting video, reporting for blogs and appearing on NBC News and MSNBC. He is a former correspondent for Congressional Quarterly and spent more than five years as the national political correspondent for JTA. He is a lifetime member and former board member of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association.

Andrew oversees the digital strategy and information technology teams in support of Hillel professionals across the movement. Previously, he served 10 years as managing director of digital strategy at Forum One, a digital agency in Washington D.C., where he provided technical strategy, digital design and online community consulting to major nonprofit organizations. His clients included American Red Cross, Consumer Reports, Energy Star, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, Population Services International, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Equally adept in technology platforms and design thinking approaches, he has nearly 20 years of experience balancing business considerations with user needs.

Adina came to Hillel International in 2015, where she works to operationalize our vision for making Hillel a great place to work and to support the success of campus professionals at every stage of their tenure. Adina led Hillel at Stanford for 10 years, including serving as executive director, during which time Stanford Hillel received a "Great Place to Work Award." Adina has served as a consultant to numerous Bay Area Hillels, providing services in executive coaching, board development and program evaluation. Adina was a co-founder of New York University’s dual master’s program in non-profit management and Judaic studies and is a Wexner Graduate Fellow. She is based in the San Francisco WeWork Office. 

Sarah overseas movement wide fundraising efforts for key initiatives across the organization, working closely with institutional donors to align interests with areas of need. Before joining Hillel, she was most recently the vice president for leadership giving at The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, where she oversaw leadership giving for the annual campaign and lead efforts in resource development. Previous roles include development director at Krieger Schechter Day School and Johns Hopkins Hillel in Baltimore. Sarah received a M.S.W. from The University of Pennsylvania and a master’s in Jewish communal service from Gratz College.

Etan oversees all aspects of Hillel’s email and direct mail marketing campaigns, including strategy, execution and evaluation. He is also responsible for Hillel’s advertising across paid, earned and owned digital and social media platforms, and for the development of new business and membership programs. Before joining Hillel International, he was the director of marketing for PJ Library, helping to provide free Jewish children’s books to more than 500,000 children around the world. Prior to his work with Jewish non-profit organizations, he spent 10 years at ESPN, working as an Emmy-nominated television producer on studio shows such as SportsCenter and First Take, and covering three Super Bowls. In 2012, he co-founded ESPN’s branded content division, negotiating cross-platform sponsorship integrations with clients such as Jaguar, Under Armour and Gatorade. He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northwestern University, and an MBA from the University of Connecticut. Etan resides in Maryland with his wife, Erica, and their son Elijah.

Shira oversees Hillel’s new Global Leadership Pillar, which includes Hillel’s development department, as well as Hillel’s movement-wide efforts to engage volunteer leaders and donors of local, national and global Hillel affiliates. Shira also staffs Hillel International’s Board of Directors and oversees its committees and task forces. Before joining Hillel International, Shira spent eight years at the Birthright Israel Foundation and served as the vice president for institutional giving and strategic partners, where she oversaw the organization’s relationships with its institutional givers and strategic partners, including foundations and Jewish federations. She represented the Birthright Israel Foundation on Birthright Israel’s education committee and worked to align funder interests with programmatic offerings. She previously spent 10 years with the Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life, where she served as the senior program officer. Shira started her career as the Arline and David L. Bittker Fellow at the Schusterman International Center. Shira graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a bachelor’s in history, and she holds an MPA in public and non-profit management from New York University. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children.

Jamie Schiffman has been on the Schusterman International Center team for the past 10 years. Her current role as vice president and managing director of the Schusterman International Center includes oversight of three core administrative teams: Building Operations and Administration, Meetings, Conferences and Events and Schusterman International Center Human Resources. Prior to this role, she focused on creating and implementing all aspects of professional development to support campus professionals around the world. Prior to her tenure at the Schusterman International Center, she spent seven years as a campus professional at the Hillels at the University of Wisconsin Madison, the University of Pennsylvania and Rutgers University. Jamie lives in Northern Virginia with her husband Andrew and their daughters Madeline and Naomi.

Mark oversees all components of Hillel's Israel Engagement department, building on the success of current programs and strengthening Hillel’s commitment to Israel engagement for all Jewish students. Mark has spent most of his professional career on university campuses, serving for many years as the general counsel at the University of Minnesota and at Johns Hopkins University.  In those positions, he provided strategic counsel and policy advice to university boards, presidents, chancellors and other senior officers. A seasoned university educator, Mark taught at the University of Minnesota for over 20 years and was a visiting professor of law at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Mark also was special counsel at WilmerHale in Washington, working on higher education issues including free speech, campus protests and academic boycotts. Mark has long been passionately engaged with the Jewish and pro-Israel communities, serving in leadership roles for AIPAC, Camp Ramah, Jewish day schools and synagogues, and lived in and visited Israel on numerous occasions. Mark received his B.A., magna cum laude, from Brandeis University, and J.D., M. Phil. and M.A. from Columbia Law School and the Columbia University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. 

Ali oversees recruitment, marketing, training and administration for programs that sends thousands of students to Israel, including Birthright Israel, Onward Israel and Masa programming. Previously, Ali worked on the development team at The Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington. Ali is a proud alumna of Florida State University and a Florida native. She currently lives in Bethesda, Maryland with her husband and their poodle-mix rescue, Stewie.

Anna is the associate vice president of Hillel International’s Israel Action Program, which incorporates Israel into the core of Hillel’s campus offerings and combats Israel’s delegitimization. Anna began at Hillel International as the assistant director of Ask Big Questions. She began her career as an Israel educator in Tel Aviv, spending three years teaching and designing curricula. Anna has an M.A. from University of Chicago and a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College. Anna has a background in the arts and professional theater, with previous employment at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and The Old Globe Theater Company. A native of San Diego, Calif., Anna currently lives in Washington, D.C.

Jeremy oversees Hillel International’s support for all of its work outside of North America, including in the Former Soviet Union, Europe, Latin America and Israel. Jeremy and his team focus on delivering the best resources from Hillel International to more than 150 professionals around the world and ensuring that their expertise enriches the entire professional movement. The international department helps every Hillel abroad achieve excellence by working with professionals, lay leaders, community partners and international donors in 15 different countries, outside of Canada and the U.S. Before leading the international department, Jeremy served in various roles at the Schusterman International Center, from the Bronfman Fellow to chief of staff in the Office of the President. Jeremy is a proud alumnus of Duke University and a Boston native, who currently lives in New York City with his wife Jane and their Golden Retriever, Josie.

Esther began her Hillel career at the University of Maryland, then at Hillels in Philadelphia before moving to Israel. She has spent the past 23 years in a variety of roles for Hillel in Israel, including as a program professional for the overseas students studying at Hebrew University; mentor and coach for Israeli Hillel professionals; staffing trips to Poland and Eastern Europe, and as a representative of Hillel International in Israel. She has worked with Birthright Israel from its inception. Esther currently works with colleagues, students and educators from all over the Hillel world. She loves to host friends and visitors in her apartment in Jerusalem.

Phillip became executive director of The David Project in July of 2014 after serving four years as The David Project's campus director. As campus director, Phil oversaw the development and implementation of The David Project's new Israel advocacy strategy of relational advocacy. Since that time, The David Project has grown its work from 12 campuses to 50 schools across the country and is now working with hundreds of Israel advocates who are reaching thousands of non-Jewish campus leaders. Phil believes that every student has the potential to make a difference for Israel and the world. A cornerstone of the programs and trainings that he has designed is teaching participants leadership and community building skills to be successful now and in the future. Phil joined The David Project in June 2010 after earning his MBA and master's in Jewish professional leadership from the Hornstein/Heller Graduate Program at Brandeis University.

Michelle is the central shlicha to Hillel International and director of the Israel Fellows Program. In this role, she directs the 76 Jewish Agency Israel Fellows who serve at Hillels on more than 100 campuses. She also plays a key role in the overall Israel education and engagement strategy at Hillel International. Growing up, Michelle, the daughter of a Jewish mother and a Hispanic father, had very little connection to the Jewish world. After the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, she felt a greater need to understand Israel and began devoting her life to Israel and the Jewish people. Michelle previously worked for StandWithUs, serving as the community outreach liaison for two years before becoming the diaspora education director on the organization’s international team. While there, she established the department for diaspora education and traveled to numerous countries, including Switzerland and Hong Kong, to speak at conferences and forums. In 2013, Michelle was featured as part of The Jerusalem Post's List of Influential Jews, being included as part of the 6 "Women to Watch" in the Jewish world. She is also a proud member of the Schusterman Foundation’s ROI community for global Jewish leaders. Michelle lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and two daughters.

Michael Rabkin is campus support director for Hillel International. He has had a long career at Hillel – most recently as the executive director of San Diego Hillel. He formerly served as the director of Emory Hillel and helped lead the campaign and development of the Marcus Hillel Center at Emory University. Michael began his career as a Steinhardt JCSC Fellow at UC San Diego, where he later served as program director and was recognized as a Hillel Exemplar of Excellence. He also worked at Hillel’s Schusterman International Center as a campus strategic services associate. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from CU Boulder and his master's degree in public administration from New York University. He spent a year volunteering with Project OTZMA in Israel and a summer studying at Pardes in Jerusalem. He was also a participant in the Hillel Fellowship at the Shalom Hartman Institute.

A Cleveland native, Jen received a bachelor of science in advertising from Syracuse University with a minor in Jewish studies. She earned a master of nonprofit organizations from Case Western Reserve University’s Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations. Prior to joining Hillel International, she spent 16 years as the executive director of Kent State Hillel. Jen lives in Ohio with her husband and children.

Jay is one of Hillel International’s campus support directors. He partners with local Hillels to help them achieve excellence in all facets of their work and serves as a liaison between them and Hillel’s Schusterman International Center. Prior to this role, he spent 15 years as the executive director at Kansas University Hillel. Under his leadership, KU Hillel emerged as one of the most successful Jewish campus organizations in the country and KU became a destination school for Jewish students. Jay is a recipient of Hillel International’s prestigious Richard M. Joel Exemplar of Excellence Award. A lifelong Jewish educator and leader, he has a bachelor’s degree in political science from KU and a master’s degree in Jewish communal service from the Hornstein Program at Brandeis University. Jay is passionate about basketball, golf, the Royals and the Jayhawks and owns and performs at Comedy City, an improvisational comedy club in Kansas City, Missouri.

Aviva is one of Hillel International’s campus support directors, helping a portfolio of 15 campuses in the Northeast and New England drive excellence on campus. Aviva began her career at Hillel in 2002, serving her alma mater, University of Albany, first as its Jewish student life coordinator, and eventually executive director. During her tenure there, she grew the Hillel from a small program to engagement of approximately 2,000 students and a new board of directors. In 2009, she became the director for talent acquisition at Hillel International, where she has guided Hillel directors, local boards and universities through the process of selection and placement of senior leaders. She has been instrumental in revamping the recruitment strategy and process with new tools, resources and training for hiring managers. She has served as faculty for New Professionals Institute as a field professional and served as team leader for New Directors Institute to train professionals for the field. In addition to her degree in Jewish studies and archeology, Aviva spent a year in Israel as part of Young Judea Year Course. She lives in New York’s Hudson Valley, where you will catch her running marathons, half marathons and chasing after her daughter, Noa.

Rebecca is one of Hillel International’s campus support directors. She works in partnerships with Hillels across the U.S. to help them maximize their impact and achieve excellence in their work. Rebecca brings with her 15 years of Hillel campus experience, most recently serving as the director for Jewish life at Duke University. While at Duke, she worked collaboratively to raise the profile of the university in the Jewish community, increase the Jewish student population and grow the endowment in support of Jewish life on campus.

Rebecca has previously served as a member of Hillel International’s Board of Directors and the Field Advisory Committee for Hillel U as well as the chair of the Directors’ Cabinet. She earned a bachelor of arts in biology and Jewish and near eastern studies and a master of science in physical therapy from Washington University in St Louis.

After working as a pediatric physical therapist, she continued her education by receiving her masters in Jewish education from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. She is currently a member of the North Carolina State University Professional Coaching Certificate program. Rebecca lives in Durham, North Carolina with her husband Jason, son Jake and dog Sophie.

Susannah Sagan began her career at Ohio State University Hillel 18 years ago as the director of development and marketing. Over the years, she has expanded her fundraising and external relations portfolio to include staff supervision, day-to-day operations, programming and student engagement as the assistant director.  She has served as the associate executive director for the past two years.
 
Susannah is a Hillel Exemplar of Excellence who has mentored and coached scores of Hillel professionals, and is a frequent trainer at Hillel conferences. Over the past several years, Susannah has also taken on a variety of consulting roles at Hillel International, supporting Hillels in the arenas of student engagement, Israel education and advocacy and fundraising.  

Susannah has a BA from Brandeis University and has spent her career working for a wide range of non-profit organizations. Susannah and her husband live in Columbus, Ohio along with their two adult sons.
 

Rabbi Dan is a seasoned leader in the Jewish non-profit landscape. After serving as president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College from 2002 to 2013, he spent the past five years leading three Hillels (Wellesley, Muhlenberg and Brown) during important periods of transition. 

At Wellesley, he clarified the leadership role of the Hillel advisory board, including rewriting the board’s bylaws. At Muhlenberg, Dan secured three years of funding for a new position, and at Brown, Dan was instrumental in the creation of a new quasi-endowment fund. 

Dan has also consulted for a variety of non-profit organizations in the areas of fundraising growth, strategic planning and leadership coaching.

At RRC, Dan directed a strategic restructuring that brought together the Reconstructionist movement’s seminary and congregational services into one unique organization. Prior to his tenure at RRC, Dan doubled the size of his Montclair, N.J. congregation during 14 years as its spiritual leader. Dan was named one of the 50 most-influential American rabbis by Newsweek magazine for six consecutive years.

Dan graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University with a bachelor's degree in religion and received both rabbinical ordination and a master's degree in Hebrew letters from RRC. He lives in New Hope, Pa. with his wife Kay. They have two grown children.

Rabbi Danielle joined the Campus Support Directors team after a dual role at Hillel International, serving as a senior educator for the Ezra Fellowship and as a consultant to solo professionals and small campuses in the Hillel network.

Danielle served as executive director for Hillel at Ohio University in Athens from 2002-2016, where she transformed Jewish life on campus by piloting the first campus engagement internship team on a solo professional campus, developing a joint Hillel/study abroad program at Tel Aviv University and reconstituting the Board of Directors to include national representation.

Danielle has a keen understanding of how to successfully lead and build a small Hillel, and over the past year of working with the solo professional cohort, has strengthened this unique network of practitioners, and Hillel’s relationships with university chaplains and rabbis.

Danielle also writes Torah commentary and Jewish fiction. She is the recipient of the 2012 and 2014 Ohio Arts Council Prize for Fiction, the leading state grant for writers, and is a Pushcart Prize nominee. She graduated from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2002. A recent transplant to Pittsburgh, she lives in Squirrel Hill with her two children, Zev and Ruthie.

Rabbi Debbie is returning to Hillel after two years as the vice president of strategic philanthropy at the Associated, Baltimore’s community Federation. Debbie served as executive director of Hopkins Hillel from 2009-2017 and New Orleans Hillel from 2006-2008.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Debbie initiated a capital campaign and a strong partnership with Tulane, leading the university to accept gifts on Hillel's behalf while financially supporting a new facility. Debbie was recognized as a Richard M. Joel Exemplar of Excellence and known for her mentorship and empowerment of staff.

Under Debbie's leadership, Hopkins Hillel received the Philip H. and Susan Rudd Cohen Campus of Excellence Award for dedication to student engagement and Jewish learning in 2012 and achieved the threshold of Excellence as a part of Hillel International’s Measuring Excellence program in both depth and impact in 2016 and 2017. Debbie has led many Birthright Israel trips and served as staff and faculty at several Reform-affiliated camps.

Before Hillel, Debbie served congregations as a pulpit rabbi and director of education.

Debbie was ordained from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati in 1992. She graduated from Oberlin College in 1987 and lives in Baltimore with her husband Rabbi Andrew Busch. They have three grown children.