National Leadership Team

Barbara Birch joined ORT America in 2019, bringing 25 years of experience in non-profit development for educational institutions to the nearly 100-year old organization. Prior to ORT, she served as Vice President of Development at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, where she managed strategic planning, fundraising and business development. Previously she held a number of leadership roles in development at Yeshiva University, including Assistant Vice President for Alumni Affairs and Annual Giving, and was the Director of Alumni Affairs at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Barbara’s career has always focused on the intersection of her Jewish values and commitment to supporting education for all. At ORT, she feels she can fully dedicate herself to these goals. Barbara received her BA from Binghamton University where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and an MBA from Hofstra University.

A native of New Jersey, Jeff comes to ORT America from his most recent position as Controller-Racing, Vice President-Accounting for the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. A CPA and graduate of the University of Albany in Accounting, he has had a long and rich career in Finance and Management. Among Jeff’s core competencies are operations management, process system design, and budgeting.

Allison comes to ORT America with a wealth of experience, most recently from the Federation for Jewish Philanthropy of Upper Fairfield County in Connecticut where she was the Vice President of Development. She holds a Masters in Not for Profit Management/Jewish Communal Service from Brandeis University, and in her long career in the Jewish not for profit world serving in she has worked in significant positions at the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, Young Judaea, Hadassah, Metro West NJ, UJA Federation of Northern Jersey, the JCC in Manhattan and at Albert Einstein Medical College.

Robin joins ORT America with extensive development experience in the nonprofit world. For the past seven years, Robin served as National Director of Planned Giving and Regional Director for the Southeast Region at AMIT. Prior to joining AMIT, Robin held various positions at other prominent non-profits, including Director of Development for the JCC of the Greater Palm Beaches, Chief Development Officer for Hibiscus Children’s Center, and National Grassroots Fundraising and Membership Specialist for Hadassah.

Tova Kantrowitz comes to ORT from the American Technion Society where she served in a number of roles, most recently as the Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships and Outreach. In this capacity she built successful partnerships; oversaw the Alumni Relations program and recruitment for Technion International programs. Previously she was the Senior Vice President of External Relations and a key member of the strategic planning team. She led the Marketing Department for many years and was responsible for all print and digital communications as well as media relations. Tova received her bachelor’s degree from UCLA and her master’s degree from Columbia University, both in chemical engineering. She worked for a number of years as a biomedical engineer in both Boston and New York. She was also a columnist and science writer specializing in science and technology news.

Nicole Miller grew up in suburban Detroit, graduated from the University of Michigan in 1995 and earned a law degree from New York Law School in 1998. Before accepting a position with ORT, Nicole practiced law in New York City at the law firm LeBeouf, Greene & MacRae, and later with Michigan law firm, Michael Morse, P.C

While in Detroit, Nicole also planned and coordinated events for Star Trax Corporate Events, and served as a consultant for the Detroit chapter of Men’s American ORT - by providing supervising (formerly) American ORT’s annual Rub-a-Dub fundraiser from 2003-2005. In 2005, she served as the lead coordinator for the Rub-a-Dub event – the ORT America Michigan Region’s largest annual fundraiser until November of 2009, when she came on as the Regional Director for ORT. Nicole is mother to Max and Bella.

A CPA and a Certified Non-Profit Accounting Professional, Lily Joy comes to ORT with over 20 years of experience in the field of finance. Most recently, she served as controller for an international non-profit organization specializing in transitional justice, overseeing all financial aspects of the organization including grants management and donor reporting. In addition to handling the organization-wide annual audits, and all international country program and statutory audits, and operational reviews, she spearheaded the budget preparation process and coordinated with the banking institutions on cash and investments. As part of the oversight function, she visited country offices in different parts of the world to ensure adherence to fiscal policies and procedures, and developed systems to strengthen internal controls and safeguard the assets of the organization. Previously, Lily Joy was employed in public accounting and was a senior auditor of Ernst and Young Global where she had extensive training and exposure in the fields of accounting, finance and auditing. A native of the Philippines, Lily Joy earned her bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of San Carlos, Philippines, and graduated Magna Cum Laude.

Allison Weinger comes to ORT America with over a decade of experience in higher education administration at New York University and Teachers College, Columbia University. In this role she helped develop and implement donor engagement events and ran programs to promote innovation in the public sector focusing on education in public schools. Prior to that Allison spent time in Italy teaching English. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Lehigh University and her Master’s degree from New York University.