Meet the Zelikow School Student Redefining What’s Possible: Ella Cooperman Schachter

Each year, Hillel International solicits nominations for its Richard M. Joel Exemplar of Excellence Award, recognizing "Hillel colleagues whose remarkable passion and outstanding devotion to the Jewish campus community sets a standard for all to emulate." This year, one of the winners of the prestigious award was Ella Cooperman Schachter, Director of Jewish Student Life at UPenn Hillel, and current Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management student.

We sat down with Ella to ask her about her work, Hillel, and her time at the Zelikow School.

Ella, tell us a little bit about your background and how you came to Hillel and the Zelikow School of Nonprofit Management.

Ella Cooperman Schachter: My family was always very committed to Jewish values and practice, so my passion for Judaism was always a part of my life from a young age.

I attended Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary's Joint Program for college, where I was very involved with the Columbia-Barnard Hillel.

I grew up going to Camp Ramah in the Berkshires and kept going back as a counselor. Senior year of college, I was a division head for the first time, and in that role I sort of had this epiphany, this feels like the kind of work that I'm meant to be doing.

After college, I was selected to be a Fellow at the Foundation for Jewish Camp, and I worked there for two and a half years. I loved it, and it gave me a great introduction to the Jewish non-profit space.

But I was looking for more one-on-one interaction; I wanted to be community-building and engaging directly with Jewish content, so I looked to Hillel. Shana Zionts, the Associate Director at Columbia-Barnard Hillel, and a mentor of mine, really inspired me. I owe so much of what I'm doing now to her and her work. She told me that Hillel is like camp the rest of the year. And it is.

I've now been at Penn Hillel for four years. I started in the middle of the pandemic, in that phase where we were back on campus, but classes were constantly being canceled. And then it got normal for a bit… and then October 7th happened. It has definitely not been "normal times" every day, but I am grateful to be able to continue working to provide Jewish opportunities for students at Penn, whether life is normal or is a "new normal."

Why did you choose the Zelikow School?

ECS: I had been thinking about grad school for a long time. I had an idea of where I wanted to land, but not a sense of how I was going to get there. I wanted a school that would help me learn how to lead a Jewish non-profit one day. I felt that what I was missing or didn't come naturally to me were a lot of the skills necessary to run a Jewish organization that are not necessarily Jewish, like: How do you manage a board? How do you fundraise? How do you write a strategic plan? Basically, business skills, but for a specifically Jewish context. And I didn't want to get a non-profit management degree in a secular space, because I was craving the specifics that are unique to Jewish non-profits. But also, and this is important, I didn't want a program that didn't have any Judaism. I've loved my Jewish education, and I wanted to continue it. So, this felt like the perfect fit.

And it has been. A lot of the skills would transfer over to any non-profit, but we talk about them in a context that is specifically Jewish. We also learn specifically Jewish content that only helps to enhance our work. And for me, the business skills feel so much more relevant than they would without that framing.

You've been at Hillel four years, and you won their most prestigious individual award. Tell us about it.

ECS: The Assistant Director and the Executive Director of Penn Hillel nominated me, and they did not tell me! I was very surprised. My supervisor went up on stage at the Hillel International Global Assembly (HIGA), and she was speaking about the winner, and I realized she was talking about me. I was just absolutely stunned, honestly, just so shocked.

And at the ceremony, everyone is encouraged to dress in their school spirit. Our team was dressed in Penn Hillel hoodies, branded sweatbands, and matching leg warmers. So that's how I accepted the award. If I had known, I might have dressed differently!

My whole staff had cutouts of my face on sticks, and when I won, they all ran up with "Ella on a stick," cheering. It was crazy and surreal, but also amazing. I really feel like I put 1,000% into the work that I do, and it's really fulfilling for that to be recognized.

Tell us about something you're particularly proud of at Hillel.

ECS: Something that I created new for this year was a program called Jewish Leadership Initiative, or JLI. Our Hillel is full of future leaders. And I think we celebrate being a Jewish leader in a college setting - hosting a Shabbat dinner for your sorority or holding a position at Hillel, but not so much about leading after college and how Judaism plays a role there. My students are amazing. They are going to be judges, doctors, and CEOs with a Jewish lens, and that's something to be lifted up, but also something we should be contributing to at Hillel.

There was nothing in place that talks about what's Jewish about that, or how you balance your Jewish values with work, or how do your Jewish values influence the work that you do in the secular world. So, I started this fellowship with a small, selective cohort of juniors and seniors. It's primarily a speaker series, we meet with Jewish leaders who range from CEOs to the First Lady of Pennsylvania, Lori Shapiro, to Chef Michael Solomonov, who's coming in January.

I also planned a trip to London with this group of students in the Fall to explore how Jewish leaders in a very different Jewish environment experience how Judaism affects their leadership.

It's been super exciting for the students. And for me, personally, to see something that was missing come about in such a rich, meaningful way.

I would be remiss not to mention the role that the Zelikow School played in my building of this new program. I was creating JLI from scratch over the summer while I was in classes, and those classes directly informed the work I was doing. My class on marketing and branding helped me to thoughtfully design the branding of a new program. My fundraising class helped me write the necessary proposals to present to donors. And so many of my classes helped me to think deeply about creating a program to fill a missing need within the organization overall.

What's next?

ECS: I'm excited to graduate with my master's in August and take with me those essential skills that I learned. The Zelikow School has given me the tools to think holistically, preparing me to be a better professional and a better leader. I am now always thinking not just about my specific portfolio, but about the needs of Penn Hillel overall. Through my coursework, I've gained exposure to a wide range of Jewish nonprofit models and aspects of the work, from strategic planning to fundraising and more, which has strengthened my ability to lead thoughtfully and intentionally. I look forward to bringing these skills with me throughout my career.

***In addition to Ella's kudos, Zelikow School student Magda Dorosz, who runs Hillel for all of Poland, was honored to co-chair HIGA this year. For more on Magda, read here.