Meet the Team

Behind every meaningful experience at Hunter Hillel is a passionate team dedicated to empowering Jewish students. Our staff creates a welcoming, vibrant, and inclusive community where students can explore their Jewish identity, build lifelong friendships, and develop as leaders.

From inspiring programs to one-on-one mentorship, our team is here to support and guide students on their journey. Reach out to us—we’d love to connect with you!

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  • Executive Director

    Merav Fine Braun is the Executive Director at the Rita Levine Rabin Hillel at Hunter College and a proud member of the Hillel movement. She is a graduate of NYU's Wagner/Skirball dual Masters program in Nonprofit Management and Judaic Studies, and she holds a BA in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, College Park. Merav has been featured in the New York Jewish Week's 36 under 36 for her work supporting diverse students on a commuter campus, and was awarded the Richard M. Joel Exemplar of Excellence Award in 2023. She is proud to serve the Hillel Movement in her role as Directors Cabinet Co-Chair.

    Merav is as passionate about supporting colleagues in professional development and career advancement as she is about supporting her students at Hillel. In her spare time she practices and teaches yoga, loves to host a Shabbat meal, and spends time outdoors with her husband, Adam, and her three children, Doron, Eitan, and Maayan. She is a fierce advocate for really good ingredients, enjoying the journey, the color yellow, and curly hair care.
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    Book a meeting with me here!

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  • Assistant Director

    Yael Kornfeld, LCSW, is the campus social worker at Hunter Hillel. Yael received her MSW from the Silberman school of social work in 2010 and holds a BA in Jewish Studies from Rutgers University with a special interest in Yiddish language. After graduating from Rutgers, Yael participated in AVODAH, the Jewish service corps, working in Washington D.C. at a day shelter for homeless women. Yael was a synagogue social worker at DOROT for the last ten years, working with older adults on the upper west and east sides of Manhattan.

    Yael is passionate about supporting individuals along their respective journeys, whether that be through listening, accessing resources, or helping to make connections and figure out next steps. She is very excited to be joining Hunter Hillel team to fill this newly created position.

    Yael enjoys singing, and has led a number of high holiday services (even in Australia), in addition to leading services at her local synagogue. She bakes and cooks, but nothing fancy. Yael is a strong advocate of lemon loving, letter writing, and messy cooking.

    Yael's greatest sidekicks include Revaya (9), Hillel (5) and Shabtai (almost 2). 

    Book a meeting with me here!

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  • Senior Jewish Educator

    Rabbi Jamie Weisbach was ordained in 2023 from Yeshivat Hadar, as part of their inaugural cohort of rabbis from the Advanced Kollel, and currently serves as Senior Jewish Educator at the Rita Levine Rabin Hunter College Hillel.  Prior to ordination, he also studied at the Yeshivat Hadar Year Fellowship and the SVARA Full-Time Program. He is also an Educator for SVARA's Trans Halakhah Project where he writes about trans identity and halakhah (Jewish law).  
    A proud Chicago native, who spent four years studying theater and religion in rural Maine at Bowdoin College, he currently lives in upper Manhattan with his husband Amram; their two cats, and an ever-growing collection of books.  Outside of Hillel, he loves to host vegan Shabbat dinners in his home and honing his skills as an amateur bartender.  

    Book a meeting with me here!

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  • Program and Engagement Manager

    Maya Parness (she/her) is excited to be the Program and Engagement manager at Hunter Hillel! A Queens native, Maya has B.S. in secondary education and mathematics from Vanderbilt University, where she spent much of her time on Hillel leadership and co-founding Vanderbilt’s Association for Women in Math. After graduating in 2022, Maya started her career in Jewish education as the Director of Youth Engagement at the Community Synagogue of Rye and CLASP Fellow (Camp Leadership and Synagogue Professional) with URJ Eisner Camp, which she has called home since 2011!

    Maya is passionate about community building, social justice, and Jewish joy, and is thrilled to bring all of that with her into her role at Hunter. She loves to sing and play guitar, see new works of theatre, watch cooking shows with her family, and host a pluralistic 20’s and 30’s minyan.

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  • Jewish Agency Israel Fellow

    Natalia is originally from Russia where she had experience organizing large-scope programs for young professionals and community leaders. In 2015 she participated in Taglit and Masa programs in Israel and fell in love its weather and sea views. Then Natalia immigrated to Israel in 2016 with her parents and lived both in Haifa and Tel Aviv. Being highly motivated to integrate into Israeli society she learned Hebrew, traveled around the country, and discovered a lot about Israeli music and media. She considers herself a global citizen that is always curious to meet new people with the diversity of their backgrounds and views. At the same time, she cares about the place she lives, volunteers and helps others locally.

    In Israel Natalia worked with young immigrants and international students. Natalia holds an MBA degree in Organizational Behavior from Tel Aviv University that included students exchange in York University (Canada), MA and BA in Informational Technologies from SSAU (Russia). You should know that she loves rabbits, likes to spend some quality time in the gym, and mixes it with yoga once in a while. Natalia joined us as an Israeli Fellow in August 2022. You can meet her in person and/or reach her by email: natalia@hunterhillel.org

    Book a meeting with me here!

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  • Springboard Fellow

    Katie Faour is originally from Houston, Texas and graduated from Penn State in 2024 with a degree in Sociology. At Penn State, she was an active member of Penn State Hillel, where she served on the Student Executive Board as Secretary and facilitated multiple JLF cohorts. Katie is living in Brooklyn now and is excited to be in her second year of the Springboard Fellowship. 

    Katie is passionate about community, thrifting, arts and media, and Israel, and has enjoyed bringing her passions to life within Hunter Hillel. Whether it’s through Jewish Movie Nights, Pizza, Parsha and Pop Culture learning or social media trends, Katie has loved introducing her style of Judaism to Hunter Hillel while also learning from her team and students!

    Book a meeting with me here!

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  • Chief Executive Assistant

    Mel Marquez brings over a decade of experience in operations and project management, specializing in process optimization, community engagement, and executive support. With a background in both startups and established organizations, Mel has helped businesses streamline workflows, enhance productivity, and improve user experiences. Previously, they served as a Program Operations Coordinator at PILOT, where they optimized systems to strengthen engagement and retention.

    Passionate about community building, Mel has also led their own consulting business, Whistle & Work, providing administrative and strategic support to entrepreneurs and business leaders. Outside of work, they are very involved in LGBTQIA+ community organizing and have a background in independent radio, having served as a DJ and Assistant Marketing Director at CHIRP 107.1 FM.

    Mel shares their life with their wonderful partner, Anna, and their beloved dog, Vivian.