Who We Are
Staff
Carl Schrag
Carl Schrag is the Editor-in-Chief of Israel Campus Beat. He is a journalist, teacher and Middle East analyst who works with college and high school students across North America. He lived in Israel for nearly 15 years, and in his award-winning career as a reporter and editor, he chronicled political and social developments in Israel through a period that saw the ingathering of one million immigrants from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia, and the highs and lows encountered in Israel’s pursuit of peace. He was the Editor of The Jerusalem Post, Israel’s leading English-language daily.
Since coming to the United States in 2000,he has worked closely with Jewish and Christian supporters of Israel, and as well as with student activists across the country. In addition to his role with ICB, he develops Israel education curriculum materials, speaks and teaches around the country, and is program director of Write On for Israel in Chicago, an Israel education and advocacy program for high school students. Contact: schrag.carl@gmail.com
Allison Sheren
Allison Sheren is the Assistant Director of the Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC). Allison previously worked at the ICC as a Program Associate and at the University of Michigan Hillel as the Program Director. She has a Bachelors Degree from the University of Michigan in Political Science and Near East Studies. Originally from Princeton, New Jersey, she has been to Israel 18 times (and counting) including participation in Young Judaea’s Year Course and staffing numerous Taglit-Birthright: Israel trips.
PJ Edelman
PJ is the Communications and Development Associate for the Israel on Campus Coalition. He graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, where he majored in English and minored in Text and Tradition and Jewish, Islamic, & Near Eastern Studies. PJ worked as website content coordinator for the Jewish Federation in St. Louis for two years, and later participated in the World Union of Jewish Students program in Israel for six months, where he volunteered and studied Jewish texts.
Annette Herndon
Annette Herndon serves as the Office Manager for the Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC). Prior to joining ICC, she worked for the National Headquarters of the American Red Cross, where she held several positions, including executive assistant and donor services associate, in its Development Department. Annette relocated to Northern Virginia from North Carolina, and is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Computer Management Information Systems.
Carolyn Greene
Carolyn Greene serves as Associate Executive Director of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the umbrella for 50 national Jewish organizations from across the political and religious spectrum. She manages day-to-day operations with responsibility for various aspects of policy-making, program planning, communications and administration. She also directs the Conference of Presidents annual Leadership Mission, which has brought organizational leaders to Israel, Europe, Eruasia, and Africa for meetings with top governmental, military and academic leaders and local Jewish community leaders.
Student Reporter Interns
Molly Cornfield is in her fourth and final year at the University of California, Los Angeles. Although she’d love to save the world from the dangers of climate change with her forthcoming degree in environmental science, due to her childhood spent on the frozen tundra of Minneapolis, she can’t help but enjoy what global warming is doing for Southern California. When she’s not learning about the earth’s imminent doom in her major or basking in the SoCal sun, she focuses on her minor in Jewish studies, her position as the Publicity Chair of the Bruins for Israel, and watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Contact molly.cornfield@gmail.com.
Tracy Frydberg is a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin. She is in the Liberal Arts Honors program and majoring in Middle Eastern Studies and Journalism with a minor in Arabic. Tracy recently returned from her fourth trip to Israel with Hasbara Fellowships. Tracy is an outspoken Israel advocate on campus and is excited to combine her love of Israel with journalism! Please contact her at tracy.frydberg@gmail.com
Rachel Henderson is a sophomore at Roberts Wesleyan College with a current major in communications. While at school she serves as an executive board member for their CUFI on Campus chapter. Her passion for Israel truly began when she traveled there in the summer of 2010 with over 150 young adults from across the world. By combining both her passion for writing and her love for Israel she hopes to portray a much more personable Israel through the defining stories of today’s student leaders. Contact racheldh3000@yahoo.com.
Sara Macias is a born-and-raised New Yorker who fell in love with journalism while writing for her high school newspaper. During her freshman year of college she lived in Israel for nine months on Young Judaea Year Course. She is now a junior at Arizona State where she is studying journalism with a film minor. She has interned at the Israel Project in Jerusalem and Jewish News Of Greater Phoenix in Scottsdale, Arizona. She is active in many other clubs focused on journalism and is also very involved on campus with Israel advocacy. She is thrilled to combine her love for journalism with her passion for Israel advocacy and would love to hear from you. Contact sgmacias@asu.edu.
Elianna Mintz hails from the small town of Minneapolis, Minnesota, but has since moved to the Big Apple. She is a junior at Barnard College double majoring in English with a concentration in creative writing and Middle East studies. This past summer she interned for the American Jewish World and The Celebrity Café and during the academic school year she serves as the politics and opinion editor of the Barnard Bulletin and the advice columnist of The Nine Ways of Knowing. This coming fall semester she will be taking a semester off from her college studies to intern as a news correspondent for Talk Radio News Service on Capitol Hill and in the White House. As a passionate writer and Israel advocate, Elianna could not be more ecstatic to be working with ICB for a second season. Contact: esm2150@barnard.edu
Lauren Schmidt is a Chicago area native who studies journalism and mass communications, with a minor in Judaic studies, at George Washington University. She is a senior and has traveled to Israel three times, most recently as a staffer for a teen trip in summer 2011. She is so excited to combine her passion for journalism and Israel advocacy through her work with ICB. Contact her at schmidtl@gwmail.gwu.edu.
Tamar Shmaryahu is a senior at Yeshiva University. a Boston-native, and marketing major, she enjoys delving into Maimonidean Jewish texts in her spare time. As a dual citizen of Israel and America, she has always found herself at an intersection between two worlds. Her exposure to Israel is multifarious and she revels in translating her experiences in the magical Land through writing. Although Tamar’s on-campus Israel experience is positive, she feels compelled to be even more active in the larger Israel campus scene as she takes pride in writing about others’ experiences in college. Upon graduation this year, Tamar will be taking the next big step in making aliyah. Please feel free to contact Tamar at
tamar.shmaryahu@gmail.com.
Danny Wicentowski is a junior at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and is majoring in news-editorial journalism. Spawned from the harsh climate of Wisconsin, he made the treacherous migration across the border at the age of 14 to attend high school in Illinois, but his blood still runs green and gold. Danny works as a staff writer for the Daily Illini and Buzz Magazine, and is the editor-in-chief of the newly created online humor website, deadbeathumor.com. Danny is also a member of the Odd Request improv comedy troupe and performs stand-up comedy.