Sara Liben

Experience

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  Gateways: Access to Jewish Education

  Sept 2007 - May 2009

  Volunteer
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  Camp Ramah in New England (Palmer)

  Jun 2009 - Aug 2011

  Camp Counselor

  Overnight counselor for kids entering 9th, 10th, and 11th grades. Part of a collaborative staff which planned Jewish educational and fun activities for entire age unit.

• 

  Columbia/Barnard Hillel

  Jan 2011 - May 2013

  Planned and orchestrated young-alumni phone-a-thon that raised over $2,500. Appointed Co-Chair of Class of 2013 Giving Fund and raised over $10,000 for CU/BC Hillel. Worked closely with the Director of Development to create new student, alumni, and parent-giving initiatives. Oversaw ten student groups. Planned weekly social events including a Comedy Night, Auction, and Formal Dance, which each attracted over 200 attendees and raised a combined total of over $1,500 for charities. Part of an elected student board responsible for Jewish life at the University.

  • Development Intern

    Jan 2012 - May 2013

  • Student Executive Board Member; Social and Cultural VP

    Jan 2011 - Dec 2011
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  UJA-Federation of New York

  Sept 2011 - Dec 2011

  Planned Giving and Endowments Intern

  Trained on the UJA fundraising database and compiled lists of prospects for planned giving. Learned how to maintain relationships with donors, plan events for the entire Federation, and calculated when planned gifts would become available for Federation use. Part of the JTS Fellowship in Jewish Social Entrepreneurship.

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  The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS)

  Apr 2012 - May 2013

  Leadership Intern

  Planned and ran leadership development seminars for selected undergraduate students as well as a community building and community service undergraduate retreat

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  Park Avenue Synagogue

  Sept 2012 - May 2013

  Hebrew Specialist, Learning Disabilities Teacher, Tutor

  Private Tutor for Religious SchoolTeaching Assistant for Special Education ClassroomHebrew Specialist for 2nd and 6th grade classrooms

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  Columbia University

  Nov 2012 - May 2013

  Senior Week Committee Chair

  Selected by a committee of Columbia Deans to plan a week of events for the 2,500 graduating seniors of the University’s four colleges. Fundraised from a budget of $0.00 and developed, advertised, and ran activities for Columbia’s Senior Week including cruises, galas, regalia sales, and more.

• 

  Elluminate

  Feb 2013 - May 2013

  Intern

  Measured the social impact made by the grantees of JWFNY in the past 18 years, and in turn re-vamped the grant application and decision process. Part of the JTS Fellowship in Jewish Social Entrepreneurship.

• 

  Israel Religious Action Center

  Sept 2013 - Dec 2014

  Development Department and Diaspora Relations

  Worked closely with Directors of Israel-Diaspora Relations and Development to implement strategies for engagement of a nuanced cohort of supporters and donors. Wrote weekly newsletters as part of a team on behalf of the Executive Director and runs all of the organization’s social media. Spoke to groups visiting from abroad on behalf of the organization. Founded, developed, and ran an internship program and managed two collegiate interns for the office.

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  National Ramah Commission

  Jan 2014 - Jun 2014

  Head of Prayer Experience for Ramah Jerusalem High School

  In charge of planning and implementing the structure of prayer for 50 high school students on a Conservative Movement program in Jerusalem. Works with the Director of Religious Life to plan four months of prayer programming and works with counselors and individual students to achieve milestones in skills and intention in prayer.

• 

  Zion: An Eretz Yisraeli Community

  Jun 2014 - Jul 2019

  Manager of Community, Operations and Development

  • Managed ongoing operations including budgets, website, external communications, administration, event production, and volunteer engagement while growing local membership by 200%.• Curated marketing content and communications strategy for social media and print in Hebrew and English including weekly newsletter with 37% open-rate.• Created accounting and financial tracking system and managed daily finances.• Oversaw partnerships with municipal and organizational leaders from across religious and ethnic spectrums to produce 7 large city-wide events and 75 local events impacting more than 6,000 participants annually.• Presented through speaking engagements to over 3,000 donors, religious leaders and partners both locally and from around the world.• Cultivated development opportunities supporting annual budget of $300,000.• Coordinated Jerusalem-wide emergency response to deportation of 300 African asylum seekers who arrived to Israel as unaccompanied minors in collaboration with lawyers, government officials and a diverse cross section of community leaders.• Developed and lead strategic planning process with participation of 700 members and stakeholders. • Served as Chief of Staff to founding Rabbi. Show less

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  Jerusalem Rape Crisis Center

  Dec 2016 - Dec 2018

  Hotline Volunteer

  • Provided weekly support for anonymous callers and trained for emergency accompaniment to Police Station and/or Hospital

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  Gift of Life Marrow Registry

  Jun 2019 - Jan 2020

  Lead Coordinator

  • Coordinated donor drives for tour groups, averaging 96% participation rate• Recruited over 700 individuals for national bone marrow registry through public speaking

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  Masa Israel Journey

  Dec 2019 - Jul 2021

  ● Directed, designed, and developed boutique adaptive leadership training programs for 500 international Fellows annually, encompassing recruitment and curriculum development. ● Spearheaded collaborative "Train the Trainer" sessions for global senior leadership faculty.● Collaborated across the international company including finance, marketing, and product departments to ensure program quality and success.● Evaluated program effectiveness and presented comprehensive reports to funders and C-suite executives. ● Managed the annual program budget for leadership training. ● Innovated a new engagement strategy for over 3,000 North American alumni. Show less

  • Director of Leadership Development and N.A Network, Masa Leadership and Impact Center

    Sept 2020 - Jul 2021

  • Director of Programs at Masa Leadership Center

    Dec 2019 - Sept 2020
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  Nativ College Leadership Program

  Jul 2021 - May 2024

  Director

  Lead a premier international gap year leadership program in Israel for rising college students from the United States, Canada and UK, modeling a growth mindset for staff and participants alike. Through programmatic innovation, staff development, and my ability to hold details while seeing the large picture, I ensured that the program met educational goals and participant and stakeholder satisfaction. Within this role I:● Managed all program operations concurrently for international college gap year program while maintaining a high level of attention to detail including staff and participant recruitment, learning and development, curriculum planning, health and safety, disciplinary issue management, fundraising, and logistics management.● Fundraised and administered an annual budget of $1.2M USD.● Proactively managed complex strategic, legal and compliance risks in collaboration with advisors in legal, health, and security, while also actively monitoring and executing on relevant crisis management initiatives.● Recruited and managed six employees of diverse levels, identified skill gaps and provided trainings to skill-up the team.● Developed and maintained impactful relationships with organizational partners and stakeholders globally to increase brand awareness, fundraising, and program quality.● Adapted the program design to meet the needs of today’s young adults and prepare them for college leadership including new strategic partnerships, trainings, and innovative opportunities for enrichment.● Continuously evaluated program quality and implemented educational innovation through informal qualitative and formal quantitative feedback and participant surveys. Show less