(Courtesy of JEP) The Jewish Education Project announced the addition of nine new board members to its robust lay leadership team.
“We’re excited to welcome these new board members who will undoubtedly help The Jewish Education Project continue to innovate and advance Jewish education,” said David Bryfman, CEO of The Jewish Education Project. “As a New York-based agency with an increasingly national footprint, our diversified board reflects both our local roots and our expanded constituency. Our resources, virtual events and other professional development opportunities are utilized by educators around the country. I know our leadership will accomplish great things to help our community thrive.”
The Jewish Education Project now has 29 board members. The new board members include:
Carol Auerbach (Jupiter, Florida) is a retired psychologist. She serves on the board of advisors of the College of Computing and Informatics at Drexel University and FOUNDATIONS, Inc., a national organization that improves the quality of education for children by strengthening the skills of educators. She is a past co-chair of the Jewish Funders Network, a founding partner of the Partnership for Effective Learning and Innovative Education (PELIE), a board member of the Atlantic Theater in New York and the Association of Israel’s Decorative Arts (AIDA).
Steven Fasman (White Plains) is senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of Catalent, Inc., a NYSE-listed provider of contract development and manufacturing services for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. He is the company’s chief compliance officer and is a member of their governing executive leadership team.
Emily Caslow Gindi (Manhattan) is a fourth-generation family member and owner at Acme Smoked Fish Corporation. She rejoined work at Acme in 2016, and currently oversees the customer service department. She is also on the board of trustees of the Abraham Joshua Heschel School and The Jewish Women’s Foundation of New York.
Scott Harris (Manhattan) is the founder of the Harris Residential Team at 125-year-old firm Brown Harris Stevens. There, he helps his clients define what home really means to them, through a proprietary process he calls Visionary Brokerage.
Previously, Scott was involved in booking touring musical acts across the United States, as well as performing professionally with Boston-based vocal group Ball in the House as a singer. He is involved in a number of philanthropic startups, including Jewish Star, a music and leadership initiative in collaboration with Jewish Rock Radio.
Scott serves as the chair of the building committee of Congregation Ansche Chesed, and is involved with UJA-Federation of New York’s REX committee and board of directors.
Dammara Kovnats Hall (Israel and New York) is originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba. She taught at Rodeph Sholom School in Manhattan as the head Jewish studies teacher for grades 2-4 and at Congregation Rodeph Sholom’s religious school, where she created classroom communities that celebrate diversity and inclusion.
Dammara is a recipient of The Jewish Education Project’s 2021 Robert M. Sherman Young Pioneers Award, is a fellow in The Jewish Education Project’s B’Yachad fellowship for Jewish Educators of Colour, and is an alumna of several other notable fellowships. She trained with The National SEED Project (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) at Wellesley College and is a facilitator and mentor in the field, with programs such as At the Well. She also sits also on UJAs-Federation of New York’s Jewish Life Shared Society Committee.
She is the founder of Jewish Cocktails and graduated from the Institute of Culinary Education. She then worked at Eleven Madison Parks Rethink team and ABCv.
Chesky Holtzberg (New Haven) is an entrepreneur and the president of ABS Xerox, the largest Xerox sales agency in New England. He is the co-founder of Suretys Inc., an insurtech startup that offers virtual cosigner services for first-time car buyers. He is the founder of OfficeHero.net, an e-commerce B2B, and he runs the family investment office. Chesky is an alumnus of the Wexner Heritage Program, and he serves on the executive board of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven. He co-chairs the planning and allocations committee, is chair of the marketing committee and chairs the editorial board of the Shalom New Haven newspaper. Chesky is coordinating the New Haven chapter of Hatzalah, a volunteer-based group of first-responders of EMTs and paramedics.
Samara Minkin (Atlanta, Georgia) is a managing director in the Mayor’s Office of the City of Atlanta. She is responsible for advancing the mayor’s vision through broad community projects and cultural arts initiatives. She also manages operations for the City of Atlanta’s COVID-19 Vaccine Equity Outreach Campaign.
Samara has held positions at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C.; the Israel Museum in Jerusalem; the Tel Aviv Museum; and the Studio Museum and Paley Center in New York City. She has consulted corporate clients on acquisitions and collections and has developed acquisitions programs that utilize art to highlight values and build community. Samara has served on a variety of boards and is currently active with the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta; the Breman Museum; the Paideia School; and Forge, the organization responsible for the Overwatch Project.
She is a past board member at B’nai Jeshurun in New York City and the New Israel Fund New Generations. Samara is also a Wexner Heritage Fellow. Educated at Brandeis University (B.A.) and American University (M.A.), Samara returned to Atlanta in 2015, inspired by Dr. King’s vision of Beloved Community and the opportunity to make a difference in her hometown.
Jami Moore (Manhattan) is a kindergarten teacher at Avenues: The World School. She has always had a strong connection to her Jewish identity, synagogue and Israel, and she’s passionate about remaining connected to those aspects of her life and helping others do the same.
Jami and her family are deeply connected to UJA-Federation of New York where she is co-vice chair of UJA’s Young Leader Collective Board and was previously co-chair of UJA’s Leadership Labs and chair of UJA’s Generosity Signature Event. Previously an observer on the board of The Jewish Education Project, she is now a full member, including being a member of the Advancement committee.
Gary M. Wingens (Livingston) is chair and managing partner of Lowenstein Sandler LLP, a 350-lawyer firm with offices in New York, Palo Alto, New Jersey, Utah and Washington, D.C. His legal practice spans the areas of structured finance and commercial real estate.
Gary is passionate about public interest and pro bono work. His vision inspired the creation of the Lowenstein Center for the Public Interest to strategically channel Lowenstein Sandler’s pro bono and public interest efforts. He serves on the board of directors of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice; the board of trustees of the Victoria Foundation, a Newark, New Jersey place-based foundation that funds programs to break the cycle of poverty, reform education and revitalize families and neighborhoods; and the board of directors of Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), providing pro bono representation to unaccompanied immigrant and refugee children in their deportation proceedings.
Gary formerly served as allocations chair, strategic planning chair and on the Executive Committee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Metrowest (NJ). He is former board chair of Golda Och Academy in West Orange. He is also an alum of the Wexner Heritage Program.
