Sarah Cort

she/her

Senior Director of Community Impact

Prior to Repair The World, Sarah’s passion for experiential education and relationship building led to a career as an overnight camp professional. She was the Summer Camps Director at McGaw YMCA Camp Echo for seven years. One highlight of Sarah’s tenure at Camp Echo is her work with families and staff to facilitate and implement the first all-gender cabins. While she spent her summers at camp, she led Taglit-Birthright Israel trips most winters, and was in the first cohort of Birthright Fellows. Prior to her role at Camp Echo, Sarah served as the Director of Education at KAM Isaiah Israel in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, where she ran the Religious and Nursery School programs. To better meet the needs of that community, she created Shoresh, a Shabbat-based experiential program, where children would attend Religious School on Friday afternoons, ending with family Shabbat services. Sarah has a degree in Early Childhood Education from Indiana University and volunteered for a year in Israel as an OTZMA Fellow, part of the Masa Israel Journey. Sarah is also on the board for Camp For All Kids, which facilitates racial diversity at overnight summer camps in the Midwest. Sarah is a St. Louis native and proud Cardinal’s baseball fan. She has been living in Chicago since 2012.

Lauren Halperin

she/her

Senior City Director, Bay Area

Lauren has a strong background in community organizing through her time with the Sunrise Movement, Urban Adamah, Moishe House, and Repair the World. She’s passionate about creating programs that help people connect deeply with their neighbors, their spirituality, and themselves. Her experience with Jewish education, urban farming, and mutual aid has shaped her commitment to making a real impact through collaborative service opportunities.

Maya Katz-Ali

she/her

Interim Program Manager, Bay Area

Maya was born and raised in a multicultural home in Oakland, California where she learned about building community across global contexts and bringing people together from a young age. She holds a B.A in International Development and Social Change and an M.A in Community Development and Planning. At the core of Maya’s work she sees sharing stories, traditions, and values across the table as central to our growth as a global community.

Maya has worked as an educator for 15+ years as a teacher, tutor, classroom support and developing curriculum. In her recent role as the Senior Community and Partnerships Manager at OneTable, Maya built the infrastructure for belonging through cultivating partnerships and empowering young adults to build community around Shabbat dinners. At OneTable she pioneered a Jews of Color (JOC) Shabbat series, inviting participants to weave together traditions and stories. Most recently she has returned from Madrid, Spain where she worked as an English Teacher and Cultural Ambassador with the Ministry of Education. She is overjoyed to bring her experience in community building and love of volunteering to her Program Manager in the Bay Area role at Repair the World.