Board of Directors

Samantha Fein '17, President

Sam graduated from UVA in 2017 with a BA in Economics and an MPP from the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. As a student, she spent three years on the Jewish Leadership Council, including as Chair during her fourth year. She is originally from Long Island, and now lives in Potomac, MD with her husband and daughter. Sam works as the Program Director for the Shalom Hartman Institute’s Washington DC, Center for Judaism, Israel, and Public Policy.

Hagit Lewis, Vice President

Hagit Lewis was born and raised in Israel and now lives in Chicago with her husband and three children. She is the proud mother of a rising senior at the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and a daughter who will be entering UVA as a freshman in the fall.
Hagit holds a degree in Marketing and a Master’s Degree in Jewish Professional Studies from the Spertus Institute. For the past 16 years, she has been deeply involved in the Chicago Jewish community, serving as a leader and educator across local schools and organizations.

Currently, Hagit serves as the Director of Campus Life at a Jewish day school, where she works closely with her team to design and lead programming that brings Jewish values, ruach (spirit), and meaningful Jewish and Israeli experiences to the school community.
Her connection to the Brody Jewish Center began during a visit to UVA with her son Adam several years ago. Since then, she has been consistently inspired by the Hillel team’s dedication to creating a warm, supportive, and vibrant Jewish environment on campus. Hagit is committed to supporting this work in any why she can—especially during these critical times.

Ben Greene '15, Treasurer

Ben graduated from UVa in 2015 with a BS in Computer Science. While at UVa he was active in Hillel where he served as the Jewish Religious Life Committee Chair, was a general member of the Jewish Leadership Council, led Shabbat and High Holiday services, and loved devouring bagels at bagels on the lawn. He also helped re-found the Jewish fraternity AEPi on grounds in 2012 and served as the Chair of their Religious Council.
He met his now wife Sheryl during his first year of school and they were married in Charlottesville in 2018 after having a surprise engagement party at the Brody Jewish Center. He is currently a Senior Software Engineering Manager and lives in Falls Church, Virginia.

Gwen Goodkin, Secretary

Gwen Goodkin, a native of Philadelphia, has lived in Charlottesville with her family since 2002. Her professional background is in financial and database consulting. She worked for two small consulting businesses in St. Louis before moving to Boston in 1997 and starting her own firm. Her clients represented a wide range of family businesses and non-profits.
In Charlottesville, Gwen has volunteered in various positions for a number of different organizations. She is a long time volunteer with the Emergency Food Network and also coordinated the local TAP Project for UNICEF from 2007-2011. More recently, she has worked on special projects for the ACLU of Virginia and the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation.

Andy Brownstein '89, '94 (Law)

Andy Brownstein is a Partner at the law firm of Greene Hurlocker, PLC, where he specializes in corporate transactional work with a specialty in the renewable energy industry. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Richmond School
of Law.

Andy was a founder of and served as General Counsel of Global Realty Services Group for a decade, while also serving as its Chief Financial Officer (2009-2016) and President of its affiliated title company (2013-2017). Prior to GRSG, he was Senior Vice President for LandAmerica Financial Group in Richmond. Other career positions were with investment banking, legal, and private equity investment firms in both Richmond and New York.

While a student at UVA he was an Echols Scholar and served both as President of Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity and as an Honor Council advocate while majoring in Economics and American Government. In Law School he served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Law and Politics, and was the recipient of the S. Phillip Heiner Memorial Scholarship.

Andy serves on the Board of the Weinstein JCC and was previously its Board President. He also served as President of the Richmond Jewish Foundation, Chairman of the Virginia Small Business Financing Authority and Treasurer of Congregation Beth Ahabah.

Andy lives in Richmond, Virginia with his wife and they have two grown daughters.

When he is not rooting for the Wahoos, he is ardently supporting Arsenal Football Club.

Jenny David '97 (Law)

Jenny lives in Newport News, Virginia, and is a partner in David, Kamp & Frank, L.L.C., where her specialty is family law litigation. Jenny received her undergraduate degree from Mary Baldwin College in 1994 and her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1997. Jenny met her husband, Josh (CLAS '94, LAW '97), during law school, and they have two sons, Reilly (CLAS ‘24) and Reece.

Jenny has been involved in the Jewish community on the Virginia Peninsula for over 25 years. She served on the Board of Rodef Sholom Temple, and has been active in the local Jewish Federation, the United Jewish Community of the Virginia Peninsula, Inc., having served as its President, Vice President for Finance and Administration, Secretary, Campaign Chair, and Women's Division Chair. Jenny was a member of the National Young Leadership Cabinet for the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), and currently serves on JFNA’s National Women’s Philanthropy Board. Jenny and Josh have been very excited to watch the growth of Hillel at UVA since they were students at the University, and are grateful that there is such a vibrant Jewish community on Grounds.

Ross Glasser '16, '17 (MPP)

Ross is from Norfolk, Virginia and graduated from the College in 2016 with a degree in Foreign Affairs. He is a proud third-generation Wahoo and double Hoo, having graduated from Batten in 2017. After a few years in D.C., Ross moved to Denver where he met his wife, adopted a dog, is active in the local Jewish community, and continues to work in the health policy space, focusing on pharmaceuticals. He continues to cheer on the Hoos and WaJews from afar.

David Leblang

David Leblang is the Ambassador Henry J. Taylor and Mrs. Marion R. Taylor Endowed Professor of Politics and Professor of Public Policy. He is the Randolph Compton Professor of Public Affairs at the University’s Miller Center of Public Affairs where he is Director of Policy Studies. Leblang is a scholar of political economy with research interests in global migration and in the politics of financial markets. His recent publications include The Ties That Bind: Immigration and the Global Political Economy (Cambridge University Press, 2023), “Labor Market Policy as Immigration Control: The Case of Temporary Protected Status” (International Studies Quarterly, 2022), and “Framing Unpopular Foreign Policies” (American Journal of Political Science, 2022). In 2015,

Leblang was awarded the Outstanding Faculty Mentoring Award by the University of Virginia and in 2016 he received the Outstanding Mentoring Award from the Society of Women in International Political Economy of the International Studies Association.

He is a devoted fan of Bruce Springsteen and the New York Mets, in that order.

Amanda Meyers '22 (Comm)

Amanda graduated from UVA's McIntire School of Commerce in 2022 with concentrations in finance and accounting. Born and raised in Arlington, VA, Amanda grew up going to Jewish sleepaway camp each summer and was an active BBYO participant. As a UVA student, she served as an engagement intern for multiple years and ultimately was a head engagement intern.

Amanda is a CFA charter holder and currently works as a Private Wealth Advisor at AllianceBernstein's Washington, DC office where she supports ultra-high net worth individuals, multi-generational families, and nonprofit organizations.

David Haas '98

Mark Sisisky '72

Mark Sisisky is the immediate Past President of JDC, The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, known around the world as the “Joint”. Mark is currently serving as Chairman of the Board of JDC which serves the needs of 55,000 to 60,000 clients daily around the world.

Mark resides in Richmond, Virginia, where he currently serves as Managing Partner of New Dominion of Virginia LC.

For more than nine years, Mark served as a trustee at the Community Foundation of Greater Richmond as both Chair of the Audit and Governance committees. He served as President and Campaign Chair of the United Way of Southside Virginia, President of the Endowment Fund of the United Way of Greater Richmond and President of the American Red Cross of Southside Virginia. He served as a trustee of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Foundation. Mark also served as President of the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond and the Richmond Jewish Foundation. Mark and Susan were instrumental in creating the Jewish Care Line at Jewish Family Services in Richmond which helps ameliorate Jewish poverty and economic distress in Richmond. They also created the Sisisky Summer in Israel Fund for teens at their synagogue, Temple Beth El and The Susan and Mark Sisisky Global Enrichment Fund at The Collegiate School in Richmond. Mark and Susan also created the permanently endowed Mark and Susan Sisisky JDC Global Enrichment Fund in cooperation with the Richmond Jewish Foundation. More than 37 Sisisky Fellows have travelled on JDC Entwine programs.

Mark took his degree from UVA in 1972. Immediately after college, Mark spent a year in Israel on a kibbutz where he met his wife, Susan. Mark and Susan have two children, Joy and Zach, and four grandchildren.

Zak Krooks '17

Zak graduated UVA in 2017 with a BA in Middle Eastern Studies and Foreign Affairs, spending three years on the Jewish Leadership Council. Originally from Westchester, New York, Zak lived in Israel for a year after graduating UVa prior to attending NYU School of Law. He currently works as a corporate real estate attorney in New York City.

Jonah Werbel '25

Jonah (SEAS '25, B.S. Computer Science) is from Falls Church, VA and works nearby in Northern Virginia as a cloud developer. During his time at UVA, he was involved in Club Swim, Hillel, Chabad, and the Theta Delta Chi fraternity. He also worked as a bus driver and supervisor for the University Transit Service. Through Hillel, Jonah participated in the Hillel Jewish Leadership Institute (HJLI) during his first year, was the HJLI Facilitator intern during his second year, served as Head First Year Experience intern in his third year, and was Vice Chair of the Jewish Leadership Advisory Board during his fourth year. Jonah was privileged to work as a counselor at Camp Ramah in New England for five summers. He enjoys spending time outdoors, hanging out with friends, and cheering on the Hoos and all DC sports teams.

Alex Heyman '27, JLAB Chair

Alex is a fourth-year student from Richmond, Virginia. He is a Statistics major with minors in Data Science and History. Alex is extremely excited to be serving as Chair of the Jewish Leadership Advisory Board (JLAB) this year. Prior to becoming Chair, he was the Head Programming Intern, a First Year Engagement Intern, and participated in the Hillel Jewish Leadership Institute.

Alex is a regular at all Hillel events, rarely ever missing a Bagels on the Lawn or Shabbat Dinner. He is also grateful to have traveled the world with the BJC with immersive trips to both Buenos Aires and Berlin. When he is not at the BJC, you can catch Alex going on runs throughout Grounds and at UVA sporting events. Alex is eager to serve as a member of the Board!

Michael Liebermann '26, Student Representative

Michael is a third-year student from Westfield, NJ. He is a Jewish Studies Undergraduate Fellow and the Jewish Identity Chair of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. Before that, he participated in the Hillel Jewish Leadership Institute and served as a Jewish Education Intern at Hillel. He is also a regular at Hillel’s Shabbat services, where he somehow manages to smile even when someone hijacks the Adon Olam tune.

Michael’s father’s family immigrated to Charlottesville from Israel in the 1980s, spending five years at the University. Michael’s grandfather studied engineering and taught Hebrew at the University — and attended Hillel High Holiday services at Newcomb Hall. Michael is an English major, in the Area Program for Literary Prose Writing. He plays sports as the president of UVA Men’s Club Soccer and writes about far better ones as the sports editor of The Cavalier Daily.

He is excited (although perhaps not as much as his mother) to serve the Board!