Baruch Kelman is an accountant for the AVI CHAI Foundation. Baruch made aliyah with his family in 2002, and joined AVI CHAI soon afterwards.
In addition to his accounting work, Baruch arranges torah lectures at Beit AVI CHAI, featuring renown speakers such as Rabbi Mayer Lichtenstein, Rabbi Chaim Soloveichik and Rabbi Chaim Ilson
Baruch has a degree in Business Management from Northeastern Illinois University, and received semicha from Yeshivas Brisk in Chicago.
Yossi Prager has been the Executive Director for North America of The AVI CHAI Foundation since 1994. A graduate of Yeshiva College and Yale Law School, Yossi practiced law at Debevoise & Plimpton in Manhattan before joining AVI CHAI. In addition to Yossi’s work at AVI CHAI, he has served in a lay capacity in Jewish communal organizations including as vice president of his children’s day school. He is on the Steering Committee for the Orthodox Forum (chair of the 2008 Forum on Philanthropy) and has served as a dayan for the Beth Din of America.
Rachel Mohl Abrahams is a Senior Program Officer at The AVI CHAI Foundation, where, for the past 16 years, she has developed and managed an array of Jewish day school related projects. Her current portfolio includes managing the Foundation’s educational technology agenda in North America. A graduate of Stern College for Women, Rachel holds a J.D. from the Cardozo School of Law and an M.A. in Bible from the Bernard Revel Graduate School. Rachel worked as an attorney handling all types of family law matters prior to coming to AVI CHAI.
Michael Trapunsky is a Program Associate at The AVI CHAI Foundation. Since starting in 2003, Michael has been involved with day school programs, communications and website infrastructure as well as various research projects.
Before joining AVI CHAI, Michael worked in the IT field for eight years as a help desk technician and database administrator. In his free time, Michael enjoys cooking, reading and researching his family’s genealogy.
Michael S. Berger, a professor of Religion at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, is a part-time Program Officer at The AVI CHAI Foundation. He focuses on teacher training and novice teacher support, as well as day school leadership programs. He has been with AVI CHAI since 2000.
Susan M. Kardos is Senior Director, Strategy & Education Planning at The AVI CHAI Foundation. After facilitating a process of developing AVI CHAI’s ten-year spend-down strategy for Jewish day schools, she now oversees the implementation of the strategy.
Marlene Wasserman is Office Manager at The AVI CHAI Foundation, where she has worked since 1995. Marlene has a B.A. from Hunter College in Renaissance Art.
Marlene lives in Westchester County with her husband Ron and is the mother of two sons, one a UCLA graduate and one an Electronic Engineer graduate of University of Pennsylvania.
Before coming to AVI CHAI, Rabbi Steven M. Brown, Ed.D headed Jewish educational institutions for 41 years. For many years he served as director of supplementary and day schools, staff member and educational trainer at Ramah camps, and in recent years was Director of the Melton Research Center for Jewish Education and Dean of the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education at JTS. He has authored many articles and books on Jewish school curricula and has a particular interest in teaching Jewish prayer and translating Jewish theology into varied educational settings.
Nechama has been a member of AVI CHAI’s support staff since 2002. Before joining AVI CHAI, she worked as an Executive Assistant at the New York branch of The American Committee for Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem.
A native of South Florida, Nechama graduated from Stern College for Women with a B.A. in English Literature. She currently lives with her husband, son, daughter and two guinea pigs in Brooklyn, NY. Both of her children attend Ramaz in Manhattan.
Leah Nadich Meir has been a Program Officer at The AVI CHAI Foundation since October 2000. Her varied portfolio at the Foundation includes projects to strengthen teaching and learning in Jewish day schools, especially in the areas of Hebrew language and Judaic studies; programs to enhance the quality of Jewish summer camping and develop national networks of camp alumni; and new initiatives to help Jewish day schools build their communities and recruit students through social media and video.
