Jerry Silverman brings an entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to organizational excellence along with 25 years of experience in the private sector which he has infused into the Foundation for Jewish Camp. His ability to think big and bold about the opportunities in the field of Jewish camp inspires and energizes all who come into contact with him. Jerry's key responsibilities are building an outstanding team of professionals, institutional advancement and listening and learning from the camp field in order to create a clear vision for the future.

Before joining FJC, Jerry served in various executive leadership capacities at Levi Strauss and Co. and The Stride Rite Corporation. He has worked on many successful consumer brands including Levi's, Dockers, Stride Rite Children's, and Keds. Before becoming the President of the Foundation for Jewish Camp Jerry's most recent position was President of the Keds Corporation. He has run both wholesale and retail operations and was noted for his leadership, work ethic, and ability to build strong teams.

During his tenure at Levi's, he relocated often, living in Oklahoma City, New Orleans, Dallas, Los Angeles, Teaneck and San Francisco. This frequent movement helped to develop Jerry's commitment to community. He has a strong pluralistic view which is exemplified in the organizations he has been involved with. His passion as a champion of youth is well known in the communities in which he lived.

Over the years, Jerry has been on the boards of a variety of synagogues, Federations, and Jewish organizations. In 1994 he and his family moved to the Boston area. Jerry became very involved with Camp Ramah in New England and was a past president of their Board of Directors. Jerry became involved in the camp during a challenging time and used his leadership and management skills to return the camp back to the leadership position it once held. Utilizing skills developed in the private sector and applying them in public sector motivated Jerry to seek this opportunity.

Jerry is married to Erica Silverman and is the father of five children ranging in age from 14-22. Two children attend Solomon Schechter of Greater Boston, one child attends Gann Academy - The New Jewish High School, one is currently studying with the University of Maryland and the eldest attends the joint program at List College and Columbia University. Alison, Jenna, Mitchell, Miriam and Naomi's experience at Jewish camp inspired and sparked Jerry and Erica's passion for Jewish camp.

jerry@jewishcamping.org 

Maggie lived in Israel for more than three decades, most of that time as a member of Kibbutz Hulda. She has served as the Executive Director of the Carmel Institute for Social Studies and Policy, in Zichron Yaakov, overseeing applied research to inform policy making in the fields of youth development, civic service, community building, and equality between Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel.

Prior to that she founded and directed the Department of Resource Development and Special Projects of the United Kibbutz Movement. The Department worked with grassroots activists to develop and implement programs for immigrant absorption, women’s leadership, advancement of Jewish pluralism, and cooperative volunteer action between secular and religiously observant Jewish Israeli youth. During that time she also served as an organizational consultant and strategic planner for numerous Israeli not-for-profit organizations.

Maggie served for three years as an educational emissary to the Union for Reform Judaism in New York, taught at Hebrew Union College, and spent three summers as an educator at Kutz Camp. Upon her return to Israel she was appointed Executive Director of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism in Jerusalem. She has served as scholar in residence to Jewish communities in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia and Johannesburg, South Africa, as well as on college campuses in the United States.

In addition to the above activities, Maggie has translated numerous works from Hebrew into English, including Amos Oz’s works: “In the Land of Israel,” “The Slopes of Lebanon,” and “The Story Begins.”

Maggie is a graduate of Habonim Dror summer camps. She is married to Ami Bar-Tura and they are the parents of two sons.

maggie@jewishcamping.org 

Over a decade ago, Joelle Asaro Berman experienced the first of many unforgettable summers at URJ Eisner Camp; today, she continues her work in the camp community by joining the Foundation for Jewish Camp as a Communications Associate. In this position, she supports the organization's public relations, marketing, research and advocacy efforts. Prior to her work at FJC, Joelle served as a senior editor for JVibe, the nationwide non-profit magazine for Jewish teenagers. At JVibe, Joelle worked to present real-life issues to teens through the lens of Jewish values and worked to educate community leaders and programmers to communicate effectively with the Jewish teen audience.

Joelle graduated from Boston University's College of Communication, where she studied magazine journalism and sociology. During her college years, she helped lead the North American Federation for Temple Youth's teen trip to Prague, Poland and Israel, and also served on the staff of URJ Eisner Camp. She misses the rowdy Shabbat song sessions, but not the mosquitoes.

Joelle@jewishcamping.org 

While Clarissa has been labeled by former colleagues as the "office mom," she has two sons, both of whom will be attending day camp this summer. Currently pursuing her BA in Business Management, Clarissa's love for young children influenced her to found a day care center, which she hopes will open soon.

clarissa@jewishcamping.org 

In 2007, Marissa moved back to New York, settled down in Brooklyn (with her best friend, whom she met at age 5 while attending the South Shore YM/YWHA summer camp). In 2008, Marissa began work on her degree in early childhood education, stemming from her love of working with children, and her desire to help children and families to have positive life experiences.

marissa@jewishcamping.org 

Prior to joining FJC, Michele had a long and successful career in camping and business consulting. She spent every summer of her youth as a camper and staff member at Camp Derry, a private resident camp founded by her parents. At age 25, she was co-founder, owner and director of Camelot Camps, weight loss camps on university campuses throughout the United States. After decades as a camp professional, Michele founded a marketing consulting company which provided services to many of the most prestigious camps in the country.

In addition, Michele has held leadership positions on many nonprofit boards. For more than 20 years, she served as a board member and officer of the American Camp Association (ACA), New York. She was a founding Steering Committee member and served as Chair of the Tri-State Camp Conference, now the largest conference for camp professionals in the world. In addition, she is a founding board member and past president of Project Morry, a nonprofit summer camp and year-round youth development program; and is the president of the Ben Appelbaum Foundation, an organization that provides mentoring to emerging entrepreneurs. She is the recipient of many regional and national awards in recognition of her work on behalf of children and ACA.

Michele has a B.A. from Hunter College and a M.A. in Special Education from Teachers College, Columbia University.

michele@jewishcamping.org 

Perhaps most importantly, Rina spent eleven summers at Camp Morasha in Lake Como, PA, where she learned the Hebrew word for dustpan, lost her voice every Shabbat, and never passed the deep water test. She did, however, fulfill her dream of running Color War in her final summer at camp. Rina is thrilled to return to the camping community after a nine year hiatus.

rina@jewishcamping.org 

As Associate Program Manager in the Community Initiatives Department, Tova works with Jewish communities nation-wide to strengthen and build partnerships, specifically as they relate to FJC's incentive programs. Tova's work in the Community Initiative Department continues her FJC journey, which began in fall 2006 when she was hired as a Communications Associate.

Born in Boston, Tova Katz received her bachelor's degree from Columbia University in 2006, where she majored in history with a concentration in World War II. While in college, Tova founded and captained Columbia's first-ever women's club ice hockey team, and chaired the University's annual Holocaust Commemoration Day ceremony. Prior to working at FJC, Tova spent three summers interning at the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education, where she worked on disseminating best practices on the subjects of growing enrollment and diverse learning. Passionate about helping the Jewish community, Tova is in the midst of what she hopes will continue to be a fulfilling and exciting career in the field of Jewish nonprofit work.

Tova has only the fondest memories of camp, and is eager to give back to the camping community which had such a positive impact on her childhood. Tova attended Camp Mesorah in Guilford, New York from grade four through college. Her favorite camp memories include mudfights in the pouring rain, Shabbat meal singing, and the rekudiya dance competition.

tova@jewishcamping.org 

Naomi received a B.S. in marketing with a minor in rhetoric from the University of Maryland, College Park, where she was active in Jewish campus life and worked as an editor for the daily newspaper. Before college, she spent a year studying at Midreshet Lindenbaum (Brovenders) in Jerusalem. She attended Camp Moshava in Pennsylvania as a camper and counselor, led a Jewish educational teen tour across the West Coast and staffed birthright Israel in 2005 and 2007.

naomik@jewishcamping.org 

In her capacity as Director of Community Initiatives, Abby will work with communities throughout North America to establish programs that will encourage families to send their children to Jewish summer camps. These programs will specifically target underserved populations such as unaffiliated, interfaith, and the Russian- speaking community to which Abby will apply her specific expertise.

Abby has a B.A. in Russian Studies from Columbia University and an M.A. in Jewish History from New York University. She is currently working towards a PhD in Modern Jewish History from New York University and is in the final stages of completing her dissertation. The dissertation explores questions of Jewish identity among Russian Jews at the turn of the nineteenth century.

While Abby never attended Jewish overnight camp herself, her three sons have loved every minute of their Jewish camp experiences.

abby@jewishcamping.org 

A graduate of Indiana University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and a minor in Business, Sarah has always wanted to work in the nonprofit sector. A New Jersey native, Sarah can't imagine her childhood without the nine wonderful summers she spent as a camper and counselor at Camp Taconic in the Berkshires Mountains. Through her efforts at FJC, Sarah hopes to provide other children with similar memorable camp experiences.

sarah@jewishcamping.org 

Prior to working at FJC, Amy spent 8 years as the Manager, Human Resources for H.C. Starck Inc., formerly a subsidiary of Bayer Corporation. In addition to her general human resources responsibilities, Amy was also involved with designing models for organizational change, assessing leadership and management capabilities, leading cross-functional teams, setting corporate policy and managing community relations. Amy regularly contributed to larger business strategy and executive management discussions. She has been recognized for her work in representing H.C. Starck to the city of Newton, MA.

Amy has a BA in psychology, sociology and business management from Clark University. She has also attained her Senior Professional in Human Resources designation from the Society of Human Resources Management. Amy is a frequent speaker on the topic of talent management and recruitment.

Amy is passionate about Jewish education. A day school graduate, Amy attended JCC day camps as well as overnight camp at Camp Massad and Camp Ramah in New England. She has remained very active with CRNE having served on the Board of Directors since November 2002. Amy is also involved with marketing, outreach and development activities for The Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston. In June 2006 Amy was recognized for her exceptional volunteer service at Schechter. Amy lives with her husband and 2 children in Needham, MA.

amy@jewishcamping.org 

As a child, Cristel looked forward to summer camp with her 4-H club and camping in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Big Sur, and other incredible destinations along the California Coast. Cristel is excited to work as a non-profit professional within the summer camp industry.

Cristel resides in the Boston area with her husband, Doug. She loves making pottery at a local studio and doing anything that involves creativity.

cristel@jewishcamping.org 

Ariel attended Binghamton University where she majored in psychology, with a minor in biology. She has many fond memories of her summers at Buck's Rock Camp, where she could pursue her interests in singing and the performing arts. She is very gratified to have the opportunity to work at FJC, and to be part of its mission.

ariel@jewishcamping.org 

TJ holds a Bachelor's degree in Humanities from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and he teaches as Affiliate Faculty in the Nonprofit Management program at Regis University, where he earned his Masters degree in 1998. TJ has an extensive background in outdoor recreation, community organizing, and leadership development, and he holds black belts in Tae Kwon Do and Tang Soo Do.

TJ is enthusiastic about both Jewish education and Jewish camping. As a young man, he attended JCC day camps, trained as a scout leader with the Tsofim in Israel, and served as the Vice-President of his local AZA/BBYO chapter. TJ lives with his wife and 2 children in Golden, CO.

tj@jewishcamping.org 

Upon graduation, Rebecca established REACH, a free mentoring/tutoring program as part of the OPTIONS Center for Educational and Career Choice at Goddard Riverside Community Center. Rebecca continued to work in education administration, serving as Special Assistant to the Director of Literacy for the New York City Department of Education. In this capacity, she organized and oversaw professional development events for teachers, coaches, principals and superintendents.

Better known as Becca in the camping world, Rebecca began her fourteen year tenure of camping at age four in the Gan while her mother taught Hebrew at Camp Yavneh in Northwood, New Hampshire. At age 23, she even met her husband, Steve, at Camp Yavneh. Becca’s favorite camp story actually transcends the confines of camp property: Her camp friends staged a Maccabiah breakout to entertain her at her wedding. Camp ruach has enriched Becca’s life tremendously and she looks forward to enriching the lives of others through her work at the Foundation for Jewish Camp.

becca@jewishcamping.org 

Laurie's first love is theatre. She worked as a professional stage manager for 10 years before transferring her organizational skills to the accounting world. She briefly returned to the theatre as the business manager for the Roundabout Theatre Company in the late 90s. Laurie grew up in the Bronx, and is a proud graduate of the Bronx High School of Science as well as the University of Rochester. She spent her summers at a bungalow colony, Camp Pecoho, where she attended day camp and got to eat mom's cooking and sleep in her own bed.

laurie@jewishcamping.org 

Adam Weiss founded Oasis Children's Services in 2000 and served as Chief Executive Officer until January of 2007. Under his leadership, Oasis launched over 30 summer programs throughout the metropolitan area serving over 5,000 children. He continues to serve as a consultant to the company and as a member of the Board. He is also the founder and Chairman of the Company's not-for-profit adjunct, the Oasis Community Corporation.

Prior to starting Oasis, Adam spent three years as the Executive Director of the American Camp Association - New York Section. Among his accomplishments, Adam collaborated with the Office of the Chancellor of the New York City Public Schools to design and implement Break-Aways, Partnerships for Year-Round Learning. Break-Aways was a program that, over a four year period, partnered over 100 different summer camps with more than 100 different public schools and enabled over 10,000 inner-city children to attend camp.

Before joining ACA-NY, Adam spent four years at the Partnership for New York City. As Director of Education Initiatives, he created Partners for Leadership, a citywide program that gave hundreds of school principals access to professional development opportunities at major corporations. He also spent a year on loan to the office of the Chancellor of the New York City Schools where he oversaw a range of programs aimed at improving school leadership. He spent his final year at the Partnership as Special Assistant to the President and CEO.

Adam's professional experience includes six summers directing large summer enrichment programs for high school students, four at Amherst College and two at Stanford University. Adam graduated from Wesleyan University in 1989 and from the Yale School of Management in 1993.

adam@jewishcamping.org