Our Staff
Leadership
Liora joined the ELEM family right after graduating from New Jersey City University, where she was a psychology major. Liora first came on board as an Administrative Assistant, and her passion and years of commitment to ELEM allowed her to climb the ranks quickly, and become the Chief Operating Officer. Additionally, she has a certificate in the field of event planning from NYIAD which is a great asset to the organization. ELEM’s mission statement is incredibly close to Liora’s heart, as she herself was a homeless youth when she was a teenager.
Development Team
Scott is a philanthropy professional with expertise in the areas of fundraising, development, marketing, and grassroots campaigns. His diverse background includes work within alumni chapters, capital campaigns, pediatric hospitals, academic healthcare systems, and nationally ranked medical schools. Scott completed his Masters in Nonprofit Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania.
Alan has over twenty years of experience as a philanthropic professional in nonprofit and education. Most recently as the Southeastern Regional Executive Director for American Friends of Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv. He created awareness and was able to raise significant funds for the hospital especially during COVID and grew the board from two to eighteen in a period of two years. Alan enjoys opening doors that have been previously closed, and as well as thinking “outside the box”. His fundraising and development mantra has always been to provide a lifeline for a lifetime. A passion for helping those that cannot help themselves, Alan is a lay-leader in South Florida and is a member of the board of directors for several nonprofit organizations.
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Kaya is an administrative professional based in San Diego. She has a background in grassroots fundraising and office management. Kaya received her BA in Political Science from University of Massachusetts Amherst and hopes to continue her education in California. After working in the apparel industry for several years, she is thrilled to be back in the nonprofit community.
Miriam is a committed philanthropy professional primarily in the field of Jewish Philanthropy. Born in Shanghai, China, Miriam’s background as a “Shanghai Jew, and having lived three years in a D.P. camp, has forged her commitment to helping the displaced and homeless. Prior to joining ELEM, Ms. Wazeter served as Director of Foundation Relations at the American Friends of Hebrew University and she then transitioned to part-time Research Manager. Her previous experiences include Hadassah and the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. Ms. Wazeter also served as Director of Research at Pace University and had the pleasure of serving as Manager of Research at the Ms. Foundation for Women. Miriam completed her B.S.W. at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada.
Communications and Marketing department
Ayelet Pearl is an artist, educator, and curator, whose work has been at the intersection of community and creativity. Ayelet is a cofounder of Ashreynu, a startup for Jewish arts and music, and served as the DEI and community engagement consultant at the Voelker Orth Museum. Ayelet is a graduate of Barnard College, and in 2023, was named to the JTA 36 to Watch list. Ayelet brings over a decade of expertise in partnerships, programming, and nonprofit media to ELEM.
