Erik Ludwig, PhD
A bit about Erik: Erik Ludwig is Director of the Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. His primary expertise is in the areas of leading organizational change and strategic philanthropy. He regularly teaches courses in Lean Startup, organizational leadership, fundraising and resource development, and Human-centered Design. Since taking his position, he has launched a new master’s degree in organizational leadership and innovation.
Dr. Ludwig’s research interests include race in education, caring teacher-student relationships, and the effect of school structure on academic achievement. His research has centered on the promotional qualities of affective teacher practices on supporting racially diverse students’ academic engagement and sense of belonging at school. He believes that radical empathy can provide institutions with a unique opportunity to understand how organizational structures may operate as barriers to achieving their mission and vision.
Erik’s executive experience leading NGOs has focused on developing innovative startups and spearheading social change within mature organizations in response to a landscape that has become increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. As an executive leader, academic administrator, and consultant, he has in his tool-kit a diverse set of conceptual frameworks and practices that are effective in diagnosing the multifaceted challenges that confront organizations seeking to remain relevant in a time of dynamic change. On Sundays, you can find him on the ski slope or basketball court.
Erik Ludwig
Sasha Strauss
A bit about Sasha: Sasha Strauss shares from two decades of experience in brand development, building brands for corporations, philanthropies and universities while working at top advertising, PR, marketing and branding firms worldwide. His unique and proven perspective on how brands are built and communicated laid the foundation for his brand strategy consulting firm, Innovation Protocol. The 10 year old company has a team of 25, with staff in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. His team’s ability to inculcate brand truth is the reason brands like ADP, Amgen, Disney, Google, Notre Dame, PayPal, Nestle, and Korn Ferry enlist their consult and keynotes on brand strategy.
Sasha Strauss
Gali Cooks, MBA
A bit about Gali: Gali Cooks is the Founding Executive Director of Leading Edge, an organization formed in 2014 by foundations and federations to influence, inspire and enable dramatic change in attracting, developing and retaining top talent for Jewish organizations. Gali’s professional experience spans the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Gali serves on the Board of Keshet, and holds a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an M.B.A. from the NYU Stern School of Business. In 2016, she was named one of the Forward 50, an annual list of the top 50 Jews influencing American life, for her efforts to build the next generation of leaders.
Gali Cooks
Drew Kugler, MA
A bit about Drew: Drew Kugler has held management positions with Nordstrom and Marriott Corporation. He received his Master’s Degree from San Diego State University in Communication Studies, where he was recognized as an Outstanding Lecturer. He has been published in the American Lawyer and appeared on CBS, ABC, and NPR, and has been a guest lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford Law School, NYU’s Stern School of Business and the Freeman School of Business at Tulane University. His work is devoted to helping professionals and executives around the world constructively confront obstacles in their organizations and in their lives in order to create better conversations. His practice has been built over thirty-five years of coaching and teaching in hundreds of for and not for profit settings. The summer of 2019 marks his eleventh year of teaching in HUC’s Zelikow School.
Drew Kugler
Sarah Benor, PhD
A bit about Sarah: Sarah Bunin Benor (Ph.D., Stanford University, Linguistics, 2004) has written many articles about Jewish languages, Yiddish, and American Jews, and two books, Becoming Frum: How Newcomers Learn the Language and Culture of Orthodox Judaism (Rutgers University Press, 2012) and We the Resilient: Wisdom for America from Women Born Before Suffrage (Luminare Press, 2017). Dr. Benor received the Dorot Fellowship in Israel, the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, and the Sami Rohr Choice Award for Jewish Literature. She is founding co-editor of the Journal of Jewish Languages and creator of the Jewish Language Website and the Jewish English Lexicon. She has served on various Jewish communal advisory boards, including for the Pew Study of Jewish Americans, the Berman Jewish Policy Archive, and Pressman Academy, and she is on the faculty of the Mandel Institute’s Executive Leadership Program. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Mark, and their daughters, Aliza, Dalia, and Ariella.
Sarah enjoys helping students apply ideas and research to their professional practice in the Z-school classes she teaches – Applied Jewish Wisdom, Evolution and Structure of the American Jewish Community, and Jewish Social Research – and in her HUC and USC courses on language, race, identity, and Judaism.
Sarah Benor
Jay Sanderson
A bit about Jay: Jay Sanderson is president and chief executive officer of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. He has been professionally active in the Jewish community for over 25 years and offers a wealth of knowledge and experience in new and old media, as well as evolving communications technologies. Jay is recognized as one of America’s leading entrepreneurs and has 30 years of experience transforming non-profit organizations. In 2011, he was selected to the prestigious Forward 50 list recognizing the top 50 American Jews making a difference in the world.
Formerly, Jay was the CEO and executive producer of Jewish Television Network (JTN) where he created, produced and wrote over 700 hours of award-winning television programming. Under his direction, JTN substantially increased its audience and expanded its distribution with programming seen in over 95 million households across the United States on Public Broadcasting stations as well as in Canada, Israel, New Zealand, Hungary, China, and Japan.
Jay was the creator and executive producer of the PBS landmark series, The Jewish Americans, and of the epic genocide documentary, Worse Than War. In 2007, he led JTN’s broadband initiative, JewishTVNetwork.com, the only fully Jewish video website on the Internet, attracting over 1.75 million unique visitors and hosting the largest Kol Nidre service ever.
Jay lives in Encino, and is married to Laura Lampert Sanderson. They have two children.
Jay Sanderson
Mathew Curtis, PhD
A bit about Mathew: Mathew Curtis received his Ph.D. in social psychology from USC. He teaches a wide range of courses at the graduate level from research methods to persuasion and influence and has been the recipient of both teaching and mentoring awards at USC. Mathew’s primary research examines emotion and the role of comparison; how individuals and groups compare themselves to others in order to understand their role in work and social settings as well the behavioral and emotional responses to these comparisons. Mathew has also completed extensive research in relation to linguistics; most recently examining the effects of language contained in jury instructions on the jury’s deliberation and outcomes. Before teaching at USC, Mathew worked as a business consultant in England, examining the consumer decision process and how to successfully market products. Mathew also has background in teaching statistics and has served as a statistical consultant for researchers and business entrepreneurs.
Mathew Curtis
Rabbi Brad Hirschfeld
A bit about Brad: “Making Jewish a public good – helping others to access Jewish thought and practice to be their best selves, to assure Jewish communities in which there is a place for anyone who wants one, regardless of dogma, doctrine or belief, and to making genuine contributions to the larger cultures of which we are all a part.” That is both my personal mission and the mission of Clal–The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, where I serve as President. From emerging professional leaders to experienced lay leadership, from across the Jewish spectrum and beyond Jewish, from consulting to foundations to serving federations, to my work as a thought partner and resource to the Zelikow School, always with the same grounded-in-the-past-and-fearless-about-the-future methodology, that I have also come to identify with your students and leadership. I am an ordained Orthodox rabbi with graduate degrees in Ancient Jewish history, a fierce pluralist, inter-religious activist-educator, the author or editor of a number of books, including, You Don’t Have To Be Wrong For Me To Be Right, and a regular media contributor to outlets including The Washington Post, Fox News and The Catholic Channel.
Brad Hirschfield
Lee Wunsch
A bit about Lee: Lee Wunsch recently retired as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, a position he held since 1999. Prior to his appointment to this position, Mr. Wunsch was the Chief Operating Officer and was affiliated with the Jewish Federation since 1987 in growing levels of responsibility. Prior to joining the Jewish Federation, Mr. Wunsch held professional positions, both in the private and non-profit sectors, including Sachnowitz and Co., Hospital Corporation of America and the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization. Lee Wunsch has been married to Rochelle Croft for thirty-nine years and is the father of two sons, Mark (a software engineer living with his spouse in New York City) and Eric (an actor living with his spouse in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania). He is a native of Dallas, Texas and has been a resident of Houston since 1978. Mr. Wunsch and his family are members of Congregation Beth Yeshurun, where he serves on the synagogue’s Board of Trustees.
Lee Wunsch
Rabbi Joshua D. Garroway
A bit about Rabbi Garroway: Rabbi Joshua D. Garroway earned his doctorate from the Religious Studies Department at Yale University and was ordained at the Cincinnati campus of HUC-JIR. His first book, Paul’s Gentile-Jews: Neither Jew nor Gentile, but Both, explores the ways in which Paul’s epistle to the Romans constructs Jewish identity, and the role played by this construction in the ensuing emergence of Christianity. His second book, currently in progress, will offer a revisionist understanding of the origins of the Greek term euaggelion, usually translated “gospel,” in earliest Christianity. Dr. Garroway is a native of Rochester, New York. He currently lives in Pasadena, California, with his wife, Kristine Henriksen Garroway, and their three young boys.
Joshua D. Garroway
David Levy, MAJCS, MSW
A bit about David: David Levy has extensive experience in the nonprofit sector, working with a diverse range of large and grassroots social service, arts, health and community development agencies. His areas of expertise include professional/volunteer relations, financial resource development and leadership.
A passionate teacher and engaging trainer, David has worked with organizations throughout the country on fundraising, governance, organizational problem solving, capacity building and strategic planning. David is skilled at helping individuals and organizations harnessing their unique skills and talents for success.
David’s professional experience includes work at Jewish Federations, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Jewish Family Service, Jewish Free Loan and Hillel in the areas of management, leadership development and fundraising. As a volunteer, David has served on the Board of Directors for various arts and social service nonprofits and is a past President of Congregation Kol Ami.
David earned his Masters’ Degrees in Social Work and Nonprofit Management from the University of Southern California and Hebrew Union College. In recognition of his career achievements and service to the community, Hebrew Union College awarded David an honorary doctorate in Jewish Nonprofit Management. He also has been recognized by his peers with the Jewish Community Professionals of Southern California inaugural Award for Excellence in Fundraising.
David enjoys teaching at the Zelikow School, working with a diverse group of students who are truly committed to making a positive difference in their community and in the world. As an alum of the school, he appreciates the impact that his professors and classmates made on his life and he is honored to continue to be part of the Hebrew Union College community.
David Levy
MANDI RICHARDSON, MAJCS, MSW
A bit about Mandi: Shortly after graduating with her Bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1994, several alumni of the Zelikow School (formerly the School of Jewish Communal Service) encouraged Mandi to pursue a career in Jewish Nonprofit Management and Social Work. She took their advice and enrolled in the dual degree program at HUC and USC in the summer of 1995.
During the past 20 plus years, Mandi has worked in a variety of positions in the Jewish nonprofit field, including community relations and legislative advocacy at the AJC in Los Angeles, grant management at the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, and fundraising at de Toledo High School (formerly New Community Jewish High School).
Mandi circled her way back to HUC in 2012, when she was hired as the Associate Director of the Zelikow School. She was thrilled to get the opportunity to have an impact on future students and give back to the college which had profoundly transformed her life. As the Associate Director, Mandi oversees the internship program, teaches Introduction to Jewish Communal Institutions, fondly known as “Wacky Wednesday”, and field practicum classes, and assists in the general management and development of the Zschool. On any given day, pop your head into Mandi’s office and you will likely find Mandi meeting with students about their internships, their job search or to pick Mandi’s brain on a variety of other issues related to their personal and professional development.
Mandi says she considers herself extremely lucky to be surrounded by passionate students who have decided to dedicate their lives to changing the world. Their energy and enthusiasm keep her feeling positive about the future of the Jewish people.
Mandi holds a BA in Psychology from CSUN (1994), an MSW from USC (1997) and an MAJCS from the Zelikow School (1997). Mandi was raised in a Conservadox household in Cape Town, South Africa where Judaism was always a major part of her life. She and her husband are proud parents of four wonderful children and one beloved dog.
MANDI RICHARDSON
Leah Hochman, PhD
A bit about Leah: Dr. Leah Hochman directs the Louchheim School for Judaic studies at the University of Southern California and serves as associate professor of Jewish Thought at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in Los Angeles.
Raised in the Seattle area, she came to Southern California to earn her undergraduate degree at Pitzer College in Claremont before moving east for graduate work. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in religion and literature from Boston University, where she wrote her dissertation on Moses Mendelssohn’s theories of religion and language. Dr. Hochman spent a year in Berlin as a post-doctoral fellow at the Moses Mendelssohn Zentrum and has continued to return to Germany regularly to research and lead classes. Before coming to HUC in LA in 2008, she was Assistant Professor of religion and Jewish studies at the University of Florida and taught in the Great Books program at BU.
At HUC, she teaches classes in medieval and modern philosophy, American Judaism, modern history, and food ethics. At USC, she teaches classes on contemporary Jewish literature, Jewish identity and the academic study of Judaism.
Leah Hochman
Sam Mistrano, JD
A bit about Sam: Sam Mistrano teaches CS 573, Nonprofit Finance & Planning for the summer HUC program. Sam is also Clinical Associate Professor at the USC School of Social Work, first joining the faculty in 2004. At USC, Sam teaches in both the MSW and the DSW programs, focusing on policy, leadership, organizational planning, and (in the DSW) capstone development. He is the Lead Faculty for the MSW policy and advocacy course and sits on the School’s Curriculum Council. Graduating MSW students in 2016 voted him the Jane Addams Award and chose Sam to be their commencement speaker at graduation. Sam has presented at 16 peer-reviewed national social work conferences since 2014. Prior to joining academia, Sam was an ACLU legislative director, the founding executive director of a county-wide advocacy coalition, and the director of a California statewide social services agency. He created the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Workforce Housing Initiative, which resulted in the development and operation of four affordable housing developments serving 300 low-income families. Sam was named one of the 25 best “young” executive directors in the nation by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, and one of Los Angeles’ most effective advocates by the LA Weekly. He holds J.D. earned at the University of Minnesota.
Sam Mistrano
Amy Schiffman, MA
A bit about Amy: With more than 25 years of experience in the nonprofit field, Amy partners with organizations across a variety of sectors to develop effective fundraising campaigns, build strong leadership teams and empower them with the tools to visualize and achieve mission impact. She brings deep expertise in nonprofit fund development, coaching, training and executive search to every engagement. Amy is known for helping both professionals and volunteers maximize their leadership potential so they can position their organizations for a strong future. A seasoned volunteer board member and community activist, she understands the value of strong lay-professional partnerships and works with organizations to expand the circle of effective ambassadors for their cause.
Since co-founding Giving Tree Associates in 2008, Amy has helped clients raise tens of millions of dollars through individual major gifts, foundation and corporate funding. She has also served as a trusted fundraising coach to dozens of executive directors, development professionals and board presidents, enabling them to build strong ongoing relationships with their stakeholders. Prior to co-founding Giving Tree in 2008, Amy served as director of development at Ida Crown Jewish Academy and as director of development and communications at Jewish Council for Youth Services, overseeing a diverse array of capital, annual, planned giving, government relations and marketing programs. Early in her career, Amy managed the midwest leadership development effort and regional major gifts program at United Jewish Communities, and served as director of campus campaigns for The Hillels of Illinois at the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.
Amy is a frequent presenter at local and national development conferences, including the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Midwest Conference and Forefront’s Annual Conference. She facilitated the Montreal, New York, Texas and Miami Leadership Fundraising Academies and has co-designed and served as lead trainer for the PEJE/Prizmah National Endowment Legacy Institutes since 2013. Amy is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) and a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Chicago Chapter, The Association of Consultants to Nonprofits (ACN), Women in Development North and Professional Women of the North Shore; a former vice president of Chicago’s Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society; and current board member of Am Yisrael Congregation.
Amy received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a master’s degree in social work with a certificate in Jewish communal service from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work and Gratz College. She lives in Wilmette, Illinois, with her husband and two children and enjoys biking, cooking and travel.
Amy Schiffman
Lani Hart, MPA, MA
A bit about Lani: Lani brings 10 years of nonprofit experience in philanthropy, social entrepreneurship and leadership development to her work. Lani’s strong project management and communication skills, fresh perspective on organizational challenges, and commitment to her clients help her build meaningful relationships with organizational leaders and guide initiatives to success.
Prior to joining Giving Tree in 2016, Lani spent eight years working for The Jewish Federation system, most recently as the assistant director of talent acquisition and talent development for The Jewish Federations of North America. She also served as assistant director of young leadership at The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, where she managed the department’s annual campaign, coordinated events, and worked with both donors and solicitors. In addition, Lani has served as a consultant for Blue Engine, PresenTense and the Taproot Foundation.
Lani holds an M.P.A. in nonprofit management and a master’s degree in Jewish Studies from New York University, and is a recipient of the Federation Executive Recruitment and Education Program (FEREP) scholarship. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She lives in Evanston, Illinois, with her husband and son. Lani enjoys traveling, sports, and spending time outdoors.
Lani Hart
Steven F. Windmueller, PhD
A bit about Steven: From June of 2006 until June of 2010, Dr. Steven Windmueller served as the Dean of
the Los Angeles Campus of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. InMarch of 2009, he was appointed to the Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk Chair in Jewish Communal Service.
In 1995 Steven Windmueller was named the Director of the School of Jewish Communal Service (now the Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management) of Hebrew Union College. Prior to coming to HUC-LA, he has held a number of prominent positions within the Jewish community over the course of a thirty-year professional career. Most recently, he served for ten years as the Executive Director of the Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles. Dr. Windmueller had previously served for twelve years as a federation director in upstate New York. He began his professional career on the staff of the American Jewish Committee.
A specialist on political issues and American Jewish affairs, Dr. Windmueller holds a doctorate in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania and has held academic appointments at several major institutions of higher learning. He has appeared nationally syndicated media offering commentaries on Jewish public affairs matters. Dr. Windmueller has served as a consultant and program resource specialist to a wide array of institutions including the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, and the Jewish Federations
of North America.
Over the years his articles and monographs have appeared in a wide array of Jewish and general publications and books. His Pew-funded research on the major national Jewish community relations agencies appeared in Jewish Polity and American Civil Society: Communal Agencies and Religious Movements in the American Public Square (Roman and Littlefield, 2002).
Dr. Windmueller received a grant in 1999 from the John Randolph Haynes Foundation to undertake the first major study of Latino-Jewish relations in Los Angeles. Key elements of this research have appeared in various publications, including California Jews (2003). He produced a textbook on the practice of Jewish community relations and political advocacy, entitled You Shall Not Stand Idly By, published by the American Jewish Committee in 2004. Dr. Windmueller collaborated with Professor Gerald Bubis in producing the first study on the formation of the UJC (United Jewish Communities),
entitled Predictability to Chaos?? How American Jewish Leaders Reinvented their National Jewish Communal System (2005). In 2008 he wrote “A Jewish Perspective on the Global Economic Revolution” which was published by USC’s Casden Institute, Annual Review, followed this research. The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs released his study on “Jewish Communities of the West” in 2009.
Dr. Windmueller has written extensively on the Middle East, Jewish public and civic affairs, and global Jewish social trends. Currently, he is writing about Jewish political behavior, having released several studies on Jewish voting patterns, including a major study entitled “Are American Jews Becoming Republican? The Wind Report, an interactive website, www.thewindreport.com, serves as a repository of Dr. Windmueller’s extensive writing. In 2014, Dr. Windmueller completed work on two books, one entitled The Quest for Power: A Study in Jewish Political Behavior and a second publication, In this Time and Place: American Jewry 3.0 which is a collection of Dr.Windmueller’s research and writings. Both texts are available through Amazon and on Kindle.
Dr. Windmueller has served as a scholar for the Nahum Goldmann Fellowship Program and was invited to teach in 2014 and again in 2016 at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York, a nationally recognized adult education retreat center. In the fall of 2014, Dr. Windmueller was
hosted by the Glazer Center for Jewish and Israel Studies at Nanjing University, China to offer a series of five lectures at several of China’s premier universities on topics related to Israel-Diaspora Relations, Jewish Power, and the American Jewish Community.
In 1995 he received the Career Achievement Award from the Jewish Communal Professionals of Southern California. The Human Relations Commission of the County of Los Angeles recognized his service to the community at their 2000 annual meeting. In 2011 he was selected by BBYO (B’nai B’rith Youth Organization) to receive the Sam Beber Distinguished AZA Alumnus of the Year Award for his service to the Jewish people. In May of 2014, Dr. Windmueller was awarded an honorary degree from the Hebrew Union College.
Steven Windmueller is married to Dr. Michelle Pearlman Windmueller.
Steven F. Windmueller
Leadership team
