Staff
Naftali Brawer, PhD
Neubauer Executive Director & University Jewish Chaplain
Pronouns: he/him/his
Rabbi Brawer cares deeply about the Jewish community of the future, and believes that it is being shaped on the college campuses of today. The excitement of supporting Jewish students as they experiment with, and discover a Judaism relevant to them, is what drives his work at Hillel.
Lauren Bloom
Associate Director
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Lauren oversees the vast array of programming at Tufts Hillel. Lauren's work has a special focus on making social justice an integral component of work on campus. Lauren is a Syracuse alumna, and holds a graduate degree in Social Work. Prior to her appointment at Tufts Hillel, Lauren directed youth programming at a large synagogue and has also worked extensively with the foster care system and troubled youth.
Marilyn Goldman
Director of Operations
Marilyn joined Tufts Hillel in June 2022 as the Director of Operations. She has spent her career working in the Boston Jewish Community in various organizations as well as working for many years at a private family foundation who supported local and national Jewish organizations. Marilyn has extensive experience in nonprofit management, specifically in the areas of operations, finance and human resources. Marilyn has also spent much of her career working with college students and high schools and is excited to return to campus through her work at Tufts Hillel. Marilyn cares deeply about the Jewish community, in future generations, and is energized by her work with young adults. Marilyn lives in Newton with her husband and is the proud mother of two young adults, who also live in the Boston area. When not working, Marilyn enjoys experiencing the many sights and wonders of Boston and the greater New England area.
Alyssa Frank
Director of Development
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Alyssa is overjoyed to be stepping into the role as Development Director of Hillel at Tufts. Alyssa comes to Tufts having worked in several development positions at Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF) and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) focusing on peer-to-peer fundraising, corporate sponsorship, volunteer engagement, and donor stewardship. Alyssa prides herself on building relationships with others and looks forward to meeting students, faculty, alumni, and friends of Hillel and Tufts alike. Hillel played an important role in Alyssa’s own college experience at Syracuse University where she studied business management and marketing as Hillel became her “home away from home”. Alyssa lives in Charlestown with her husband, two year old son, and goldendoodle Tux. Outside of work, you can find her going for walks in her neighborhood, reading a good page turner, taking a yoga class, or by the ocean.
Ilan Persing
Communications and Marketing Manager
Pronouns: he/him/his
Ilan hails from all over, including Israel, Boston, and California. At UMass Amherst he studied Communication and Film studies, and has spent his career working in Jewish Experiential Education, Multimedia and Marketing. Ilan loves finding new restaurants to explore, playing his guitar, and spending quality time with his wife and their dog.
Katie Hamelburg
Curator of Religious Experience
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Katie Hamelburg is thrilled to have joined the Tufts Hillel team as the Curator of Religious Experience. Her background is in Experiential Jewish Education and Engagement and is passionate about creating meaningful Jewish experiences for people of all backgrounds. She moved to Boston after studying Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Maryland and has an MA/MBA in Jewish Professional Leadership and Non-Profit Management from Brandeis University's Hornstein Program. Prior to coming to Tufts, Katie worked in a wide range of Jewish communal organizations including Repair the World, Camp Tel Noar, United Synagogue Youth, Metrowest Jewish Day School, and Boston area synagogues, and most recently comes from the Program Team at JPro. In her free time, she loves playing board games, traveling, and teaching Israeli dance.
Natalie Lopez
Student Life Coordinator
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Natalie graduated from Tufts in 2020, earning her BA in Classics and International Relations. As a former intern for our Cummings/Hillel Program for Holocaust and Genocide Education, Natalie is excited to be back at Tufts Hillel. She is looking forward to working with students and helping them implement successful programming. Outside of work, Natalie is an avid OrangeTheory Fitness member, having taken 400+ classes.
Rabbi Leah Nussbaum
Jewish Educator
Pronouns: They/them
Leah Nussbaum is a reform rabbi, chaplain, and teacher-- and they're excited to support reform students and beyond at Tufts Hillel this semester! Rabbi Leah lives in Medford but works full-time at Hebrew SeniorLife in Roslindale as a staff chaplain. They love working with people of all ages, having been a Hillel leader during their time at Syracuse U, leading teen leadership programs, and more recently organizing a queer Pesach retreat for young adults. Rabbi Leah is also a new volunteer with Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters, and is an active alumnus of teen and young adult engagement organizations NFTY-NE, Repair the World, Interfaith America, and the Adamah Farming Fellowship. They love nature, crafts, games, and helping each person find a connection to their Jewish identity and community.
Sam Russo
Israel Education Consultant
Pronouns: he/him/his
Sam works with students to explore their relationships with Israel, Israeli society and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In his full-time job, Sam is a site reliability engineer, and when he gets free time, he enjoys cooking, baking, playing board games, and hosting shabbat dinners. He graduated from Tufts in 2023. If you want to talk about Israel, the conflict, or anything related, be sure to reach out!
Victoria Joy
Development Coordinator
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Originally from sunny South Florida, Victoria earned her Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications with a focus on public relations from the University of South Florida in 2018. Since then, she has garnered valuable experience working with various digital agencies, but her true passion lies in giving back to her community. Currently pursuing her Master of Social Work degree, Victoria is excited to channel her skills and enthusiasm into her role with Tufts Hillel, where she is committed to advancing their mission. In her free time, Victoria enjoys reading, traveling, volunteering, and taking barre or pilates classes.
Rabbi Jeffrey Summit
Emeritus Neubauer Executive Director
Pronouns: he/him/his
Rabbi Summit stepped down from the position as Executive Director of Tufts Hillel after serving for 39 years. He is currently a Senior Consultant for Hillel International directing a national project entitled “Living our Values.” He continues in his position of Research Professor in the Department of Music and the Judaic Studies Program at Tufts and also holds the appointment of Emeritus Jewish Chaplain at Tufts. Rabbi Summit is an ethnomusicologist and his CD "Abayudaya: Music from the Jewish People of Uganda" was nominated for a GRAMMY award. He also recorded a CD for Smithsonian Folkways Recordings on the music of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim Fair Trade coffee farmers in Uganda and is the author of two books on music and identity in the American Jewish community. He is passionate about hiking, guitars, and Jewish music.