Faculty and Staff
Lisa Fishbayn Joffe is the Shulamit Reinharz Director of the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute and directs the HBI Project on Gender, Culture, Religion and Law. She teaches in the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies Department. Her research and teaching focus on gender issues at the intersection of secular and religious law, the rights of parents and children in family law disputes, and Jewish perspectives on reproductive rights. Her publications include the books Women’s Rights And Religious Law: Domestic and International Perspectives, The Polygamy Question, and Gender, Religion And Family Law: Theorizing Conflicts Between Women’s Rights And Cultural Traditions. She is on the editorial team at Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women's and Gender Studies and is editor of both the HBI Series on Jewish Women and the Brandeis Series on Gender, Culture, Religion and the Law for Brandeis University Press. Dr. Joffe is a co-founder of the Boston Agunah Taskforce, devoted to research, education and advocacy on behalf of women seeking divorce under Jewish family law and a member of the steering committee of Cheirut, an international coalition of agunah advocates. Trained as a lawyer, she holds law degrees from Osgoode Hall, York University, and Harvard Law School.
Olivia Baldwin has been organizing and curating exhibitions and arts programs for the past decade. Her experiences working within artist-led spaces, nonprofits, interdisciplinary festivals, universities, and museums inform her collaborative curatorial approach. She holds a BFA in Art and a BA In English/Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and an MFA in Studio Art from the University of Connecticut. As a practicing artist, Baldwin exhibits widely and teaches studio art at colleges throughout New England.
Debby Olins joined the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute in 2000. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Connecticut College and a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Olins oversees all HBI's academic programs including: the HBI Research Awards, the Scholar-in-Residence Program, HBI Internship Program, the HBI Artist-in-Residence Program and the HBI Translation Competition.
Dr. Edith Pick is a postdoctoral associate at the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute and the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, and a lecturer at the Hornstein program and the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department at Brandeis. Dr. Pick holds a Ph.D. in Business and Management from Queen Mary University of London, and in her dissertation explored “the construction of diversity and difference in UK Jewish nonprofit organisations.” Situated in the field of management and organization studies, her work examines how identity is experienced, imagined and managed in Jewish organizations, and how the complexity and diversity of Jewish identity can generate new insights around work, diaspora and social justice. Read more about Dr. Pick and her work at HBI.
Amy Sessler Powell has been writing for local and national news organizations for 30 years. Prior to working at HBI, Powell was associate editor of the Jewish Journal in Salem, Mass. and publicity director for the Lappin Foundation. Earlier in her career, she worked at several local newspapers and was part of the inaugural team for the Boston Globe North section. She is also a private college essay coach. Powell received a BA from Tufts University and an MS from Boston University. Her work has appeared in Parenting Magazine, Patch.com, RandomHousekids.com, Interfaithfamily.com, Lamaze.com, Twins Magazine and others.
Terri Brown Preuss is the director of the Sandra Seltzer Silberman HBI Conversations Series and the HBI Senior Program Coordinator. She joined HBI in 2017 and is a graduate of Boston University where she received her BA in History with a minor in Women’s Studies. She also received her JD from Northeastern University School of Law. Preuss comes to the HBI with a great deal of experience in program development and management from her years as an active volunteer and Board member at the Solomon Schechter Day School in Newton, MA. She is trained as a lawyer and early in her career clerked for the Hon. Nancy Gertner (ret.) and worked at the ACLU of Massachusetts as an intake attorney focusing on civil rights and civil liberties.
Abby serves as librarian to the WSRC/HBI scholars, staff and students. She received a BA from Alfred University; a MA in American history from the University of Delaware; and a Master of Library Science from Simmons School of Library and Information Science, Simmons College.
Cheryl Weiner became HBI's Engagement Specialist in 2024. She has been the Gilda Slifka Internship Academic Supervisor since 2022. Cheryl earned a MPH from Boston University and a PhD from Lesley University. Her dissertation, which focused on how Jewish activist girls navigate their relationship to voice, visibility and representation, grew from many years of working with Jewish adolescent girls. Cheryl has played an instrumental role in helping organizations scale their programs and initiatives, including The Women's Lunch Place, The Girlhood Project, and Moving Traditions. She also served as an adjunct professor at Lesley University, where she taught courses on Research Methods; Girlhood: Girl Culture and Identity; Race, Class, and Gender; and Women in Culture and Society.
Student Staff
Alyssa Wu (she/her) is a freshman at Brandeis University pursuing a double major in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics (PPE) and Business. She is a member of the Mock Trial team and a Features Editor for The Justice which published her review of HBI's exhibition, Who Will Draw Our History? Women’s Graphic Narratives of the Holocaust, 1944-1949, Surviving Through Art: Graphic Narratives at the Kniznick Gallery Show How Holocaust Survivors Documented Their Experiences Through Art. She became a docent for the Kniznick Gallery because she values the work that goes into art exhibitions and wants to learn more about how art can communicate important messages.
Elizabeth Cross (she/her) is a junior at Brandeis, pursuing a major in sociology. In addition to being a gallery docent, she is also a research assistant with HBI, investigating sexual abuse of Haredi women. She is interested in historical women's narratives, with a research focus on the culture of domesticity and gender-based violence, and hopes to pursue her senior thesis next year. Outside of school, she enjoys reading and volunteering with children. She is incredibly inspired by the commitment of the HBI team to the preservation of these graphic narratives, and is thrilled to be working on HBI's exhibition, Who Will Draw Our History? Women’s Graphic Narratives of the Holocaust, 1944-1949.
Esther Bistricer (she/her) is a senior at Brandeis University studying Psychology and Public Health. She enjoys visiting art galleries and museums and became a docent with the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute to work more closely with the artworks presented in their exhibitions. Esther is also on HBI’s event staff. Esther is interested in exploring Holocaust history through art and helping visitors connect with the powerful stories of HBI's exhibition, Who Will Draw Our History? Women’s Graphic Narratives of the Holocaust, 1944-1949.
Grace Mwiza Gondwe (she/her) is a senior at Brandeis pursuing a double major in Sociology and History. Having developed a keen interest in research during her time at Brandeis, Grace finds learning about various cultures and histories fascinating. Pairing this with her passion for the creative arts, she finds her work as a student docent in the Kniznick Gallery to be an insightful learning opportunity. Grace is also part of HBI’s event staff.
Casey Tan (she/her) is a senior with a major in neuroscience and a minor in legal studies. Outside of class, Casey also serves as the culture show coordinator for the Brandeis Asian American Student Association. Casey has been working at the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute since her sophomore year as a student docent and part of the event staff. Her favorite part about working as a student docent is engaging with artists and curators and learning about how their personal and family histories influence their work.
Tal Pemstein (they/them) is a senior at Brandeis studying Anthropology, Art History, and CAST. In addition to their work as the Kniznick Gallery's Weinberg Arts Intern, Tal is a Student Docent at the Rose Art Museum and runs the Gallery of Trans Joy, a personal project that they can't stop talking about. When they aren't making, sharing, or learning about art, Tal can be found bouldering with the Brandeis Climbing Team, volunteering at Memory Cafés with Companions to Elders, or perfecting their trail mix recipe for long hikes. After Brandeis, Tal is excited to continue working in museum education and access, reading lots of books, and decorating their next apartment — wherever it may be.
Sadie Lentzner (she/her) is a sophomore at Brandeis University pursuing a major in psychology. She is specifically interested in the clinical aspect of the field and plans to attend graduate school to become a licensed counselor. She is the Vice President of the Brandeis chapter of Sharsheret as well as the Jewish Feminists Association of Brandeis. Growing up with parents who own an art gallery, Sadie was surrounded by art from a very young age. Her family has taught her to value art as a critical means for expression and communication. Sadie is very excited to be working with HBI on their new exhibit, Who Will Draw Our History? Women’s Graphic Narratives of the Holocaust, 1944-1949, and encourages all who can to come see these important works of art.
Gabi Chiquiar-Rabinovich (she/her) is from Brookline, MA, and is currently a junior at Brandeis, where she is majoring in English and Near Eastern Judaic Studies. She has served on the boards of the Brandeis Organization of Sephardic Students, the Brandeis Orthodox Organization, the Brandeis Judaic Studies Journal, and Shira Chadasha, the partnership minyan at Brandeis. Chiquiar-Rabinovich was an HBI Gilda Slifka intern in the summer of 2024, where she worked with Dr. Rivka Neriya-Ben Shahar on her project on Amish and Ultra-Orthodox women’s relationships with media, and completed her own research project, “Barren Mothers in Biblical Narratives: A Look at Infertility in Tanach Through a Disability Studies Lens.” She has also worked with various other HBI researchers on their projects. She loves spending time at the HBI, and this year is working as the student office assistant and gallery docent.