ERIK LUDWIG
A bit about Erik: Erik Ludwig brings to the Zelikow School and the College-Institute a broad range of expertise in the Jewish nonprofit ecosystem, philanthropy and fundraising, professional leadership development, and management and governance of Jewish organizations. He comes to HUC-JIR from UpStart Bay Area, where he served as chief accelerator officer, responsible for providing some of the region’s most entrepreneurial Jewish leaders with organizational capacity-building and technical know-how aimed at making Jewish life accessible, relevant, and transformative. His executive experience spans the Jewish nonprofit field and has focused on developing Jewish startups and spearheading innovation within traditional institutions.
Ludwig began his career at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, where he founded Club 18 as a teen program manager, and he has since held leadership positions within JCCs and Federation, from executive director to development director and program director.
His academic studies focus on education, culture, and society, examining how ethnicity and identity operate in K-12 educational settings. He is completing his doctoral dissertation at the University of Utah, exploring how the “ethic of care” is performed in Jewish Schools. Ludwig received his M.A. from Humboldt State University and his B.S. from University of Utah.
ERIK LUDWIG
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
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
Drew Kugler: Founder, The Kugler Company, LLC
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. My practice has been built over thirty five years of coaching and teaching in hundreds of for and not for profit settings. The summer of 2018 marks my tenth year of teaching in HUC’s Zelikow School.
Drew Kugler
Sarah Benor
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
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: Executive Director, Leading Edge
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
Brad Hirschfeld: President of Clal - The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership
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: Recently retired as the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston
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
Rabbi Joshua D. Garroway
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
A bit about Mandi: After falling in love with psychology in undergrad, Mandi was encouraged to pursue a degree in Jewish Nonprofit Management and Social Work by several alumni of the Zelikow School (formerly the School of Jewish Communal Service). She started grad school in the summer of 1995 and fell in love with the field of Jewish nonprofit management.
With 20 years of experience, Mandi has now worked in a variety of positions in the Jewish nonprofit field. From community relations and legislative advocacy at the AJC in Los Angeles, to grant management at the Jewish community Foundation of Los Angeles to fundraising at de Toledo High School (formerly New Community Jewish High School).
She circled her way back to HUC coming to work as the Associate Director of the Zelikow School in 2012. She was thrilled to get the opportunity to have an impact on future students and give back to her beloved alma mater, 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 assists in the general management and development of the Zelikow School. On any given day, pop your head into Mandi’s office and you’ll likely find a student or two hanging out between classes.
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 Conservdox 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
Leadership team
