Amit Gerstein is a recent graduate from the George Washington University with a major in international affairs and a minor in anthropology. He just completed a six-month program volunteering with AmeriCorps in the Pacific U.S. and is excited to continue working with the JDC Global Response and Innovative Development (GRID) team. Amit is particularly interested in using anthropology to understand public health and human rights advocacy work and how they can be improved. In his free time, Amit loves to play guitar, try new things, and endlessly watch animal videos on Youtube.

Carla is serving as the Breslauer Fellow with JDC-Israel Elka. Carla Habif is a 34 years old historian, living in the amazing Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, that considers herself a citizen of the world. Carla loves to travel, to meet new people and new cultures. She also loves to learn new languages and so far she can speak Portuguese, of course, Spanish, English, and Hebrew. Now, Carla has been practicing her French and she knows a little Arabic as well. Carla acts as a passionate History teacher, as she believes that from the comprehension of History we can understand how to act in our own societies to achieve a better current and future world. She also has international experience in intercultural dialogue and conflict transformation, as she participated as a Committee Chair for events such as The Muslim Jewish Conference. She also coordinates an international field trip for Brazilian students to Poland and Israel, with the purpose of understanding the Holocaust and other genocides, studying human rights and relevant nowadays topics, such as racism. For the past two years, Carla has been a Ph.D. student in International Relations, studying non-violent movements between Israelis and Palestinians. Peace and dialogue are important topics to her. Carla dreams to do humanitarian work and acting in international organizations. She is a very social person, loves to chat, read a good book in her hammock, listen to some Latin American music, and enjoy sunny days at the beach!

Eitan is serving as a Repair the World JSC@home Fellow with JDC-Israel Unlimited. Eitan is based in Los Angeles where he currently works as an Executive Assistant at The Maple Counseling Center and is a resident in Moishe House West Hollywood. He moved to Los Angeles in June 2018 to pursue a career as a singer and songwriter writing in English and Hebrew and to work as a Springboard Ezra Fellow at the University of Southern California Hillel Foundation (Fight On!). Eitan is a proud graduate of the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL, and of the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in his hometown of Rockville, MD.

Emily is serving as a Repair the World JSC@home Fellow as the Communications Fellow at the Evelyn Peters JCC in Mumbai, India. Emily graduated from Hofstra University in 2017 where she majored in Public Relations and minored in Global Studies. Immediately after graduation, she moved to New York City and spent just over a year as an Account Coordinator at Hunter Public Relations where she worked on clients in the consumer food and beverage industry. During this time, she spent Saturday mornings teaching first-grade religious school at Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn. Emily found herself spending all week looking forward to Saturday mornings. She enjoyed working with the children in her class and loved being able to help their families build a Jewish community together. The following year, when CBE was looking for someone to join their education program full time, Emily jumped at the opportunity to pursue her passion. She has worked at CBE full time since August 2018 teaching elementary through high school classes and planning holiday programming, family events, and retreats. When not at work, Emily enjoys exploring every corner of NYC, especially trying new restaurants.

Gaia is serving as the Lemesh Fellow with Hakaveret, JDC’s social innovation hub in Israel. Gaia is a master’s graduate student, with a bachelor’s in Communication and more than eight years of experience in different fields, such as Public Relations, Social Media, Recruitment, and Project Coordination. She was born in Brazil, lived and the States, moved to Amsterdam to do get a Master’s degree and decided to stay. For years she volunteered for CISV – an international organization that promotes peace and international friendship through summer camps. She has also volunteered for an art gallery in a park and for sustainable cooking projects in Amsterdam. When she is not working, or volunteering, she likes to read and write, catch up on Netflix, go for walks, or dance classes. She also loves languages and is now in the process of learning Italian.

Gianina is serving as a Pears-JDC Fellow as the Program Writing Fellow at Gabriel Project Mumbai in Mumbai, India. Creative, ambitious, and adventurous, Gianina strives to make a positive impact on a global scale. Having scored within the top 3% worldwide in the International Baccalaureate, she now studies Theatre and Spanish at the University of Bristol. Her extra-curricular activities at University include learning British Sign Language, pioneering as a Bristol Campus Intern for Kahal: Your Jewish Home Abroad, and training student radio show presenters for Burst Radio. Gianina has previously gained journalism work experience at The Times, the University of Salford, and with SUITCASE magazine, and has taught English as a foreign language at an academy in Madrid and a Jewish primary school in Buenos Aires, after earning her TEFL certificate in 2017. She has also shared her passion for theatre in a professional context, facilitating drama activities for children at RHEMA Theatre summer school, Camp Moshava California, and in the Royal Exchange Young Company as a Young Design Technician. In her spare time, she enjoys blogging, planning future Jewish initiatives, and taking every opportunity to travel. Gianina plans to live abroad upon graduation to explore Jewish communities around the world and develop professional skills that will set her in good stead for her future career.

Goldie is serving as a Repair the World JSC@home Fellow with the JDC’s Archives department. She grew up in a Persian and American Jewish household, experiencing Ashkenazi and Sephardi customs alongside traditional and modern Jewish culture. Goldie?s Jewish and secular education stems from her many years in Jewish day school in the greater Boston area. Outside of school, she spent 10 summers at URJ Eisner Camp and several months in Israel on different study abroad and internship programs. Goldie and her family also spent two years living abroad in Shanghai, China, studying at an international school and creating a Jewish community for themselves abroad. Her young expat experience led her to study abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark in her junior year of college, during which she engaged with Kahal Abroad programming and participants in Jewish experiences. This past spring, Goldie graduated Magna Cum Laude from Brandeis University with her BA in Near Eastern & Judaic Studies and Anthropology. During her undergraduate years, she not only sang in an acapella group, but she also dedicated a lot of time to the Jewish community through her participation in Israel Campus Roundtable programming, recruitment for Birthright and Onward Israel, and campus internship with Kahal Abroad. This fall, she began studying on the dual MA/MBA track of Brandeis Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership program. Goldie is passionate about elevating Jewish traditions and experiences from across the diverse Jewish community and hopes to pursue this passion in her future career.

Hannah is serving as a Donner Fellow as the Communications and Programs Fellow at the Balint House JCC in Budapest, Hungary. Born and raised in New York, Hannah comes to this fellowship excited to learn, grow, and expand her cultural awareness. Most recently, Hannah worked as a Field Organizer on a political campaign and used her passion for community-building and forming relationships to get people excited about the political process. Hannah recently graduated from Tulane University in New Orleans, where she studied International Relations. During her time at Tulane, Hannah’s passion for discovering new cultures and exploring new cities allowed her to appreciate the beautiful scenery, rich history, and exquisite food scene of New Orleans. A highlight of Hannah’s undergraduate experience was studying abroad in Budapest, Hungary, and she is eager to return to a community she grew to love and appreciate through her JSC@home fellowship. In her free time, Hannah loves making gluten-free treats, taking long socially-distanced walks, and chasing a good sunset.

Hannah is serving as a Donner Fellow with JDC-Israel Ashalim. Driven by deep-rooted principles and beliefs, Hannah has often been described as a ‘social justice warrior’, a term she rather likes. After volunteering throughout the university, she made activism her career, starting within the British Jewish community where she grew up before branching out more widely. In Israel, the UK, and the US, Hannah has worked directly on race and gender equity, access to education, interfaith relations, and disability inclusion, and has assisted professionals supporting people facing homelessness, addiction, former offenders, and survivors of sexual abuse and exploitation. At heart Hannah is a storyteller, drawing threads together to create powerful narratives that inspire and empower change for good. She works with threads in the literal sense too, having used lockdown to rediscover a childhood love of knitting; she is currently working on tiny hats and blankets for premature babies and looks forward to graduating to more complex items such as jumpers and socks as soon as she’s ready. Hannah is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Government, Diplomacy, and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, which has supercharged her interest in humanitarian aid and sustainable international development.

Klementyna is serving as the Wolf Fellow as the Communications Fellow at the JCC in Warsaw, Poland. Klementyna was born and raised in Poland and is currently residing in Cleveland, Ohio. She recently graduated from Baldwin Wallace University where she studied communications and philosophy. During college, she was also the president of the university’s Hillel, as well as an intern with the Cleveland Hillel Foundation. Klementyna also interned with the JCC Krakow where she worked with the programming office. For Klementyna supporting and educating others about Jewish life in Poland has always been important, which is why she is honored to have been selected to be a JSC@home Fellow. In her free time, Klementyna enjoys taking care of her houseplants, reading, and sewing.

Rachel is serving as the Jewish Education Fellow at the Evelyn Peters JCC in Mumbai, India. Rachel is a Plan II Honors and International Relations and Global Studies graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. She was also a student in the University of Texas Arabic Flagship Program. Before beginning university, Rachel was a participant in the Nativ College Leadership Program in Israel. She was very active in the Jewish community at UT, serving in several leadership positions including as the Texans for Israel president and as a Campus Engagement Intern for Texas Hillel. She also interned at the Blanton Museum of Art and worked as a religious school teacher at Congregation Agudas Achim in Austin, Texas. In 2013, Rachel participated in BBYO’s Ambassadors to Bulgaria summer program, where she was introduced to the JDC and its impact on Jewish communities around the world. In 2017, she participated in Inside Jewish Argentina with JDC Entwine and Texas Hillel. In her free time, Rachel enjoys reading books and traveling to new places.

Shulamit is serving as a Pears-JDC Fellow as the Social Media and Local Fundraising Fellow at Gabriel Project Mumbai in Mumbai, India. Shulamit has always been motivated by a deep desire for social and environmental justice and a love of Judaism and has recently submitted an application to the rabbinical program at Leo Baeck College. She is currently working part-time as a freelance research associate at Biomimicry Innovation Lab, compiling data on UK academic work in the field of biomimetic and nature-inspired technologies. Shulamit is also involved with Pivot Projects, a new initiative aiming to bring the needs and knowledge of local communities together with the power of AI to collaboratively create resilient, sustainable communities. Shulamit grew up in Holloway, London, and studied at the City of London School for Girls and Camden School for Girls, where she achieved straight A’s in both her GCSEs and A levels. After graduating with a BA in Classics from Clare College, Cambridge, she spent three years as a teacher, qualifying on the job at an academy group in Pimlico. She then took a year out to pursue her love of Spanish as an au pair in Madrid, and when this was interrupted by the pandemic, she became heavily involved as an organizer in her local mutual aid effort, as well as being invited onto the Core Team of Pivot Projects by its founder, Peter Head CBE. Shulamit’s impulse for volunteering has been a consistent characteristic, taking mentoring roles both as a teenager and now; caring for vulnerable individuals in overseas settings during university summers and currently helping lead inclusive monthly services at synagogue; galvanizing social justice campaigns to help the homeless in sixth form, refugees while at university and the environment since getting involved with Extinction Rebellion and XR Jews; naturally falling into community organizing roles at JSoc, with a local minyan as a graduate, and more recently with XR, mutual aid and Pivot Projects. Shulamit loves singing (another way she gets involved at synagogue), dancing (despite a total lack of proficiency!), Jewish learning (she is a veteran Limmudnik), and languages (at the moment Shulamit is hoping to start properly learning Hebrew).

Veronica is serving as a Repair the World JSC@home Fellow with JDC’s Global Response & Innovative Development department in Jerusalem, Israel. Veronica is a Jewish community leader who is passionate about what she, as a Jew, can do to make the world a better place. Veronica was born and raised in Boston, where she attended Solomon Schechter Day School, Gann Academy, and was an active member of Temple Emanuel in Newton, MA. Following high school, she completed a gap year with Kivunim, her first on-the-ground exposure to global Jewry. As a senior at Barnard College she is working to foster Jewish community through significant involvement in Hillel, as the President of her TAMID chapter, and as the internal manager of the Pluralistic Jewish co-op at Columbia, The Bayit. During her summers, Veronica has interned on Capitol Hill, with Innovation: Africa, at the Arava Institute, and with Oxeon Partners. These experiences have developed her knowledge of domestic environmental and health policy, international development and cross-national collaboration, and the U.S. health care system. As a psychology major, Veronica is also passionate about engaging in questions of human cognition and social psychology, exploring why people do what they do. She is excited by the prospect of bringing her passions and energy to the work she will do as an Entwine Service Corps member.

Yaffa is serving as a Pears-JDC Fellow as the Social Media and Development Fellow with the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda. Yaffa was born and raised in London, England, and has recently completed her bachelor’s in Business and Cultural Studies at the University of Manchester, UK. During her university years, she played an active role in the Jewish student society, organizing events and raising funds for J-Soc activities; as the ball chair, she successfully financed the 2020 Manchester J-Soc Centenary Ball with £10,000 and raised a further £1,500 for community events. Prior to this, Yaffa was a participant on a JDC Entwine trip to India, Mumbai on her sabbatical in 2018. On this trip, she reconnected with her Indian-Jewish roots and learned about Tikkun Olam which ignited her passion for community building and development. Yaffa then worked at the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) as the Centenary Coordinator and designed a centennial book, curated a public exhibition and other events. On her return to her studies, Yaffa was a UK delegate for the EUJS seminar ‘Antisemitism and Holocaust Studies’ at Yad Vashem, Israel. Most recently, her passion to connect with others and foster positive peer relationships have culminated in Challah Magazine, a non-denominational, a-political publication for young Jews, by young Jews. Yaffa also enjoys traveling and photography and has photographed people and places across the world; she enjoys using documentary photography as a medium to raise awareness about Jewish communities and Jewish life beyond the Western-centric Jewish life many of us know today.