Atlanta Educators Cohort

Rabbi Ilana Schachter serves as Associate Rabbi at Temple Sinai of Roslyn. She was ordained as a rabbi by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, where she also received an MA in Hebrew Letters and received her AB With Honors in Comparative Literature and Judaic Studies from Brown University. In addition to serving as adjunct faculty for various M² programs, Ilana is a graduate of M² Senior Educators Cohort and M² Relational Engagement Circle. Ilana lives with her husband, John, and their two children, Jacob and Aviva.

Stephen has dedicated the last 25 years to working with nonprofit organizations and educators worldwide.  He has held senior positions in leading Jewish organizations including The Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the Melton Centre for Jewish Education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Torah Mitzion, The Jewish Agency and M²: The Institute for Experiential Jewish Education. Stephen has created his own consultancy initiative based on a psychodynamic approach to personal and organizational wellbeing, under the guidance of The Institute for Leadership and Transformation (SA), affiliated with the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations (UK). A graduate of the Hebrew University (MA Education) and WITS University (South Africa), Stephen was born and raised in South Africa, lives with his wife and four children in Jerusalem and is devoted to empowering people to get the most out of their professional and personal lives.

Rabbi Lisa Goldstein teaches a wide variety of online courses with an emphasis on spiritual resilience, cultivating the capacity for love and awe, meditation, and other Jewish spiritual practices. She also works one-on-one to support people in their spiritual journeys. She lives in New York City with her husband and foster son.

Kelly Cohen serves as the Senior Director of Experiential Jewish Education at the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta. Kelly has a wealth of experience as a Jewish educator working in camps, day schools, synagogues, Federations, Israel travel, and more. Most recently, Kelly served as the as the North American Director of Education for the Diller Teen Fellowship, guiding the Jewish educational vision and implementation for the global teen leadership program. She holds a BA in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University, a Masters in Jewish Education from Hebrew College, and is a graduate of both the Pardes Educators Program and M²’s Senior Educator Cohort. Additionally, Kelly is also the creator of Parsha Storybook Project, an online resource for early childhood Torah literacy.

Wendy Verba is the founder and principal of Belonging By Design. Previously, she was the Managing Director of Community Impact at the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Foundation. Wendy was a Wexner Heritage Fellow and an M2 Relational Engagement Cohort participant. Wendy can be reached at wendyverba@designbelonging.com.