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Skills Tasting Shuk Biographies
Deborah Grayson Riegel 
Deborah Grayson Riegel, MSW, ACC, is a certified coach, trainer and speaker who helps Jewish organizations and individuals achieve personal and professional “Success without the Tsuris” through her company, MyJewishCoach.com. Deborah’s energetic workshops and speaking programs are in high demand with North American Jewish organizations, Fortune 500 companies, national and local government agencies, and small start-ups, and her one-on-one coaching has propelled Jewish professionals across industries and interests to get farther, faster. Deborah was the Director of Education and Training for the Mandel Center for Leadership Excellence at United Jewish Communities (UJC), where she developed innovative training programs for Federation professionals and lay-leaders, and co-authored an award-winning interactive solicitation training website.
Sarah Gershman 
Sarah Gershman is president of Green Room Speakers, a speaker training company based in Washington, DC that specializes in working with mission-oriented nonprofits.
Sarah has trained executives and staff at a variety of national organizations and agencies. She combines more than 10 years of classroom teaching experience with a strong background in theater. Sarah has a Masters in Social Work from Columbia University and a Masters in Judaic Studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary and is a Wexner Graduate Alumni Fellow.
Steven J. Rod 
Steven J. Rod has held the position of vice-president of professional development services for JCC Association since July 1995. Previously, he was the director of executive development and director of training for the JCC Association from 1988 through 1995. Steven has served as the executive director of the Omaha JCC and assistant executive director of the Minneapolis JCC. He also held program positions at the Rochester, NY and Metrowest, NJ JCCs. From 1986 to 1988 he served as Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Omaha, prior to joining the JCC Association staff.
In his current capacity, he is concerned with all matters dealing with professional personnel in the Jewish Community Center field. This includes recruitment and placement of quality professionals; methods of staff retention; changes in personnel practice; study and publication of trends, educational requirements, and staff development and training. He serves as an executive coach and mentor, and works closely with many JCC Presidents and Executive Directors. He is the Director of JCC Association’s annual Executive Seminars, a five-day learning experience for JCC executives.
Jennifer Rudick Zunikoff
When storyteller Jennifer Rudick Zunikoff performs, biblical figures speak, rabbinic Midrash leaps off the pages of the Talmud, and Judaism’s rich folklore dances to life. Jennifer’s contemporary stories challenge her listeners to respond to the issues confronting the Jewish community today. She uses storytelling as an educational tool to inspire children and adults to explore Judaism and their spirituality. Jennifer is a performer, teacher and coach.
For the past five years she has co-taught the “Oral History of the Holocaust” course at Goucher College in Towson, Maryland, facilitating weekly storytelling workshops and individually coaching each of her students.
She is presently working on a program with the Jewish Museum of Maryland and Patterson Park High School in Baltimore, teaching and coaching immigrant teenagers to perform stories about their lives.
Jennifer works as a storyteller at Beth Am Synagogue, Chizuk Amuno Congregation and Beth Israel Congregation in Baltimore. She serves as a storyteller for the religious school at Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, D.C.
Alison Mershon
Alison Mershon is the Director of Human Resources at the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, where she has been making a difference since 2003. With over 15 years of HR experience around the Country in both for-profit and non-profit sectors, Alison believes that the secret to professional success is to do what you love, and love what you do.
Ricki F. Wasserman 
Ricki F. Wasserman is the Senior Executive Recruiter at UJC Mandel Center for Leadership Excellence. Ricki Wasserman joined the UJC Mandel Center staff in 2004, bringing over 25 years of experience in the field of human resources, non-profit management and organization development. Her primary assignments include consulting with federations of all sizes in the areas of executive and senior level talent acquisition. She also offers career planning and guidance to federation professionals. Ricki worked previously with the boutique search firm, DRG, and for nearly 20 years with the Queens Borough Public Library. There, her last position entailed managing an international recruitment and employment initiative for the 5th largest public library in the US.
Ricki has served on the boards of her JCC and synagogues. She holds a BA and MA in Musicology from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College and an MLS also from Queens College.
Ricki resides in Long Beach, NY with her husband Howard, who has served as an executive in the Federation, JCC, Hillel and camping arenas. They have three children, all of whom work on behalf of the Jewish community, and four grandchildren.
Lonny Friedman 
Lonny Friedman directs the scholarship and recruitment efforts at JCC Association as well as coordinating art programming for JCC Maccabi ArtsFest(r). Having received his Master's degree in Jewish Communal Service from Baltimore Hebrew University, Lonny spent time in the JCC movement as a youth, teen, and camping director before taking on his position at JCC Association.
While he misses the opportunity to work with Jewish youth and teens on a daily basis, Lonny loves what he does every day, as his passion lies in making connections with, learning with, and helping people. He is eager to work with JCSA, and to have the opportunity to help people take their job searches to the next level by exploring ways to improve their resume and cover letter. Please come up and introduce yourself if you get the chance.
Allyson Fisher
Allyson Fisher is THE ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore’s lead recruiter and retirement plans administrator. During her two years at THE ASSOCIATED she has completed the Darrel Friedman Institute’s Star Program, Co-Chaired the Annual United Way Staff Campaign and is currently a member of THE ASSOCIATED’s Employee Committee.
Ms. Fisher holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Roanoke College where she studied abroad in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania. She has appeared on Public Television as a panelist for Social Security public policy and is a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School.
Prior to joining THE ASSOCIATED Ms. Fisher worked professionally in Medical Sales and Corporate Recruiting.
Pamela B. Jacob
Pamela B. Jacob, a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University, has been working with the helpinghands program and JEVS Human Services Career Strategies Department, based in Philadelphia, PA for nearly 2.5 years. The helpinghands program has been identified as one of the funding priorities of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia as it offers a holistic approach to clients by providing free career counseling, vocational rehabilitation services, job placement, and resources from other local agencies. Now, as the Resource Coordinator and Care Manager for the JEVS Career Strategies department, Pamela works with clients on their overall goals of achieving self-sufficiency while they are searching for and once they obtain new employment. She often assists clients with accessing community resources, applying for public entitlements/government programs, and creating a plan of action to help each client achieve overall success. Pamela also leads the weekly Job Search Strategies Group in conjunction with one of JEVS Career Strategies’ Job Developers. This 8-week rotating workshop includes discussions on the following topics: Networking, Interview Preparation, Salary Negotiation, Goal Setting, Identifying Strengths and Accomplishments, Using the Internet as a Networking Tool, and much more.
Prior to working in the Social Services arena, Pamela worked for nearly four years as the Director of Operations for the Center for Dispute Resolution, a mediation and hearing appeals firm based out of Conshohocken, PA. In her role as the Director of Operations, Pamela administered compensation of staff and assisted with the hire of new employees, contract Hearing Officers, and lawyers. Pamela supervised a staff of attorneys and acted as a liaison between the company president and various clients. Pamela was involved in all aspects of the business including managing finances for business continuity, assisting in the negotiation of contracts for business, and marketing strategies for new business.
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