Full Time Staff
Ari Gauss, Executive Director
Michelle Brownstein Horowitz, Assistant Director
Amanda Gross, Engagement Associate
Hilla Paz, Israel Fellow
Lisa Salzman, Development Coordinator
Ari Shapiro, Statewide Coordinator
Part-Time Staff
Merle Schwartz, Accountant
Ari Gauss
Executive Director
Ari@nchillel.org
Ari is entering his third year as NC Hillel's Executive Director, and is loving life in The Southern Side of Heaven after twelve years in the northeast. He lived the last nine years in New York City, where he served as a Director of Development for the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science, and also received masters degrees in non-profit management from New York University and Judaic studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary. He previously earned a BA in Philosophy from Pomona College.
Ari has also worked for Hillel at Tufts University and Yale University. In fact, he and his wife, Hollis, met when they were both Hillel Jewish Campus Service Corps Fellows. Hollis and Ari are the proud parents of Aaron, who is a Tar Heel born and a Tar Heel bred.
A native San Franciscan, Ari also lived in Jerusalem for two years, where he was the Jerusalem Little League Baseball Commissioner and coached the Israeli national baseball team for three summers.
Michelle Brownstein Horowitz
Assitant Director
Michelle Brownstein Horowitz joins NC Hillel as our new Assistant Director, having previously worked in a variety of positions in K-12 and higher education. Most recently, she ran an after-school program in the Durham Public Schools while completing her Master's Degree in Multicultural Education at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. During her Master's program, Michelle particularly enjoyed teaching an Introduction to Communications class for first-year students. Prior to living in the frozen tundra of Wisconsin, Michelle spent eight years in Washington, DC, earning her B.A. in Political Science from American University, working in political communications and running a dropout prevention program in the DC public schools. Michelle was also involved in the lay-led Shabbat service and social justice group Tikkun Leil Shabbat, where she served on the leadership group and met her husband, Jonathan.
Amanda Gross
Engagement Associate
agross@nchillel.org
Amanda Gross was born and raised in Newton, MA. She attended Elon University, where she majored in Psychology with a triple-minor in Spanish, International Studies and Religious Studies. She was an active member of Hillel, heavily involved in community service organizations and participated in a variety of other activities ranging from rugby to yoga. She travelled extensively in Latin America, studying abroad in Costa Rica and Peru in addition to participating in alternative spring break trips to Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay.
Following graduation she attended the Brandeis Collegiate Institute (BCI) for the summer before participating in Avodah: the Jewish Service Corps in New Orleans. After her year of service was completed, she stayed on with her Avodah placement at Rebuilding Together New Orleans for another year as an AmeriCorps VISTA. If you've had a conversation with Amanda, you most likely have heard her talk about her love for bad 90's pop music, food and/or New Orleans. Amanda is thrilled to be returning to North Carolina working as the Engagement Associate for UNC Hillel.
Hilla Paz
Israel Fellow
hpaz@nchillel.org
NC Hillel is eager to welcome our new Israel Fellow, Hilla Paz, who will be an invaluable resource to students around the state. Originally from Nes Tziona (just south of Tel-Aviv), Hilla is very excited to move to the Tar Heel State and meet North Carolina's students. During the past year, she served as Director of Education for the "Ami-Chai" program, a year-long program for Zionist and Social Leadership for a diverse group of pre-army Israelis. Hila received her B.A. in Anthropology- Sociology, Gender and Middle East Studies from Ben-Gurion University, after having completed her army service, which included teaching Zionism, Judaism and Hebrew to new immigrants. (She has also volunteered as a Hebrew teacher for refugees from Darfur and Eritrea seeking asylum in Israel.) Hilla loves music and cooking, and looks forward to sharing Israeli tunes and flavors with the students of North Carolina.
Lisa Salzman
Development Coordinator
lsalzman@nchillel.org
Lisa Salzman, NC Hillel's first Development Coordinator, is a native Atlantan. She graduated from Yale in 1986 with a B.A. in English and has worked in banking and community development. Since arriving in Durham-Chapel Hill in 2004, she has been an active community volunteer, leading a number of fundraising intitiatives. Lisa served as Development Chair and board member of Judea Reform Congregation, helped start YO:Duham (a project of Durham Congregations in Action), chaired Durham Academy's Used Book Sale and raised money for the Levin JCC, Durham-Chapel Hill's new Jewish community enter. Most recently, Lisa helped produce an anniversary book celebrating Judea Reform's 50th anniversary. She currently serves on the boards of JELF (Jewish Education Loan Fund), DCIA (Durham Congregations in Action) and BounceBack Kids.
Merle Schwartz
Accountant
Merle@nchillel.org
Merle is truly “Tar Heel born and a Tar Heel bred," having grown up in the eastern part of the state. Her whole family is part of the UNC-(G) nation as she and her son, Joseph, are UNC alumni, her husband, Bob, has worked at UNC for 30 years, and her son, Jonathan, is a student at UNC-G. Merle is happy to be back on campus and looks forward to meeting and interacting with all the students.
Ari ShapiroStatewide Coordinator
ashapiro@nchillel.org
Ari Shapiro, NC Hillel's Statewide Coordinator, is looking forward to working closely with students and community partners on a dozen North Carolina campuses, from coast to mountains. Ari came to North Carolina via California, where he was a Team Leader for an AmeriCorps national service program. Previously, he was a Program Associate at AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps and Technical Director of Habonim Dror Camp Tavor. He is trained in disaster relief and responded to the tsunami that hit American Samoa in 2009 and the tornadoes that hit North Carolina and Alabama in 2011. Ari earned his B.A. from Hampshire College where his studies focused on Community-Based Learning.