The OLAM Impact Fellowship aims to educate, inspire, and empower Jewish communal professionals to become champions for global Jewish service and international development in their organizations and among their constituents.
Our first cohort (June 2018 – June 2019) brought together high-level Jewish professionals who are devoted to engaging Jewish young adults. Fellows came from a variety of countries, backgrounds, and ages, and represented a diverse range of Jewish organizations.
The Fellowship is designed to expand their toolbox for engaging Jewish young adults with global issues and Jewish values, with the ultimate goal of having more young Jews volunteering overseas, raising money for international development and humanitarian causes, and running programs locally on issues related to global service and international development.
A study trip to Rwanda
In person seminars
A webinar series
Knowledge of the field of global Jewish service
Personalized "Take Action" plan
Rachel Barton
Senior Engagement Officer, Israel & Global Network
Rachel Barton was raised in San Diego, CA with a strong sense of Jewish values and social justice, and caught the travel bug at the age of three. She has since pursued a career as a Jewish professional with an international emphasis, and earned a Masters in Social Work from University of Southern California, and a Masters in Jewish Nonprofit Management from Hebrew Union College. Rachel has held positions in Los Angeles, Washington DC, and now San Francisco, all of which have involved international travel, including significant time in Israel. Rachel currently works as the Senior Engagement Officer, Israel & Global Network, at the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, The Peninsula, Marin & Sonoma Counties.
Tamas (Tomi) Buchler is working for the Jewish Agency’s Global Leadership Institute, as the director of Minyanim, a network of young Jewish community activists from Central/Eastern Europe.
Operating in ten countries, Minyanim allows Jewish young adults to explore their diverse Jewish narratives, deepen their Jewish identities and strengthen their leadership skills.
Tomi holds an M.A. in Law and Political Science, and undertook teacher training in Jewish studies. He also graduated from the University of Haifa’s program in Peace and Conflict Studies. He passionately believes in the potential and future of European Jewry.
Molly Cram is an Oregon native and holds a degree in international relations from the University of St. Andrews from St. Andrews, Scotland. Before joining the Moishe House team, Molly previously worked for a disability rights organization, spent time traveling in Central America, lived and worked in an Ethiopian community in Israel, and served as the Director of Engagement at American University Hillel. Molly supervises the D.C.-area and Ohio Moishe Houses, and a few in between. Molly loves talking about Jewish identity, human rights activism, and British culture.
Becca is the Director of International Operations at KAHAL: Your Jewish Home Abroad, which creates and facilitates transformative Jewish experiences for study abroad students. She graduated magna cum laude with a double major in Government and Politics and Sociology from the University of Maryland, College Park. She holds a Certificate in Fundraising from New York University’s Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising and worked in development at Maryland Hillel and UJA-Federation of New York.
In her role at KAHAL, Becca has visited Jewish communities around the world, developing relationships with Jewish leaders to build a network of more than 700 partners in 40 countries and 70 cities worldwide. Becca currently lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and puppy.
Liza was born and raised in Westchester, NY and graduated from the University of Vermont in 2015 with a B.S. in Speech Pathology. She spent 11 formative summers at URJ Eisner Camp as a camper, counselor, and senior staff member, where she learned how to apply Jewish values to become a socially engaged member of her community. Her commitment to social justice and background in youth leadership led her to Repair the World where she is managing expansion into Harlem.
Liza lives in Brooklyn and loves to bicycle, draw and paint, hike, and seek all kinds of adventures.
Aviva Klompas
Associate Vice President of Strategic Israel Engagement
Aviva Klompas is the Associate Vice President of Strategic Israel Engagement at CJP. Prior to joining CJP, Aviva worked as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Ontario Government supporting efforts to resettle Syrian refugees across the province of Ontario.
From 2013- 2015, Aviva served as the Director of Speechwriting for Israel’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York City. As the chief speechwriter for Ambassador Ron Prosor, Aviva crafted highly acclaimed speeches that advanced Israel’s policies and informed public opinion.
Aviva’s work has appeared in the pages of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, The Jerusalem Post, and other international publications.
Neil has been Chief Executive of the JLGB since 2005, transforming the organisation into an award winning, innovative and highly regarded youth charity in British society.
Social action is at the heart of the JLGB and through Neil’s vision and delivery of the ‘evolve – young volunteering & skills initiative’ is leading the way in youth volunteering and accreditation.
Neil is a leading expert in creating faith and culturally sensitive provisions that remove barriers to universal youth programmes to thousands of Jewish young people each year.
Neil also chairs the Interfaith Youth Trust and Yom HaShoah UK and in June 2016, was awarded an OBE for Services to Young People and Interfaith Relations in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
Dan has worked in the Jewish community for over 10 years, starting in youth engagement for Jewish charities, before moving into fundraising at a charity for young Jewish adults with learning difficulties, before eventually becoming Head of Fundraising at MDA UK.
In 2015, Dan started at Mitzvah Day as their first ever Executive Director. Mitzvah Day is a relatively small charity with an enormous reach. Over 40,000 people across the world participate in hands-on social action projects each year.
Dan has professionalised the organisation whilst continuing to grow and develop the charity. This first experience of running a charity has been challenging, although incredibly enjoyable.
Dan has a real passion for people, hearing their stories and what motivates them.
After graduating from Bellevue University with a degree in Behavioral Science, Annie lived in Israel, volunteering in a MASA program for 9 months. There she taught English at a high school, she also worked with several local organizations to help better the community. After Israel Annie moved to Kansas City to become the BBYO Director, she had previously volunteered for the organization for six years.
Annie has been the Director of BBYO in Kansas City for the last five years, she has always had a passion for working with youth, mentoring and teaching them.
Mor is a graduate of the Secular Yeshiva of BINA in Tel Aviv. She is an educator and a community manager at the Secular Yeshiva. Having established Beit BINA in India, an open Jewish house for travelers engaging in Jewish culture and Tikkun Olam with the local community, Mor is back in Israel and is now BINA’s Community Development Lead, in charge of BINA’s Alumni Community and the young adults department, as well as the Director of the Aviv post-army program.
In her free time, Mor is a high school teacher of Jewish philosophy and Bible.
Yana is the Director of RSJ Programming for Moishe House, bringing together her passion for global Jewry and community building. She earned her B.A. in psychology from Hunter College and is a graduate of the Hornstein Program at Brandeis University, receiving her MBA in nonprofit management and M.A. in Jewish professional leadership.
Prior to Moishe House, Yana worked at the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, managing the sister city partnership between Boston and Dnepropetrovsk. Yana is originally from Moscow and grew up in New York City. She has spent extensive time in Latin America and Israel and enjoys work travel to the Former Soviet Union. Yana lives in Brooklyn and is an amateur boxer.