UConn Hillel Staff

Edina comes to UConn Hillel with over 20 years of experience serving in a variety of student affairs capacities. Passionate about engaging the Jewish community, she serves as a contracted trainer for the Anti-Defamation League where she facilitates workshops on antisemitism, bias and discrimination to youth and adults throughout Connecticut. She also served on the board of Congregation Or Shalom in Orange for over 10 years in a variety of capacities including Sisterhood co-President and Chairs of the Jewish Life and Adult Education Committees.  Edina loves working with students to help them succeed and reach their potential. She enjoys working collaboratively with students, families, faculty, staff and the greater Storrs community to create a vibrant, welcoming, and inclusive Hillel.

Edina met her husband, David, at UConn. They now live in Orange, CT and have two daughters.  In her spare time, she loves to hike, kayak, bicycle, travel and play golf.

Michala is so excited to join the UConn Hillel team. Michala grew up in Hamden, Connecticut, and later graduated from the University of Vermont. While at UVM, she served as a “Hillel Fresh” student leader, working to combat food insecurity on campus by providing free Shabbat meal kits. 

After graduation, she spent a year in Haifa, Israel teaching English as a second language to elementary school students. Michala began her Hillel career supporting Jewish students at Oregon Hillel as the Ezra Springboard Fellow. She then followed her passion to the University of Vermont Hillel to give back to her alma mater’s Jewish community. One of Michala’s proudest accomplishments is founding UVM Hillel’s Fresh Fest early move-in program for incoming Jewish first year students. 

Michala is overjoyed to return to Connecticut and spend time with her family who all live locally. She looks forward to mentoring UConn Hillel students and curating fulfilling experiences for and alongside them. 

Tomer Kornfeld is ecstatic to be joining our team at UConn Hillel. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Tomer holds a Master’s in Business Administration and has nearly a decade of experience in the Jewish communal space. One of his proudest achievements is forming the current Alpha Epsilon Pi chapter at UConn when he was the Northeast Regional Director for AEPi. 

Tomer credits his successes to his upbringing as a proud son of a Kavkazi mother and a Mizrahi/Ashkenazi father. This upbringing allowed him to always carry with him a deep knowledge and appreciation of all the facets of Jewish culture and identity.

Tomer has always been driven by a passion for connecting people and strengthening Jewish life through meaningful experiences and inspiring leadership. His journey in Jewish community work is not only professional but deeply personal. It was on a Birthright trip that he met his wife, Alexandra—an experience that continues to shape his belief in the power of Jewish connection and shared identity.

Now a devoted husband, father of two sons, and dog dad, Tomer is as committed to building strong Jewish families as he is to building strong Jewish campus communities. His work is guided by a vision of inclusivity, tradition, and innovation—ensuring the Jewish future and spaces for Jewish UConn students are vibrant, enduring and well-funded.

Dana is arriving at Hillel with lots of excitement, all the way from Haifa, Israel!

Dana holds a Bachelor’s degree in Behavioral Sciences from The Max Stern Yezreel Valley College in Afula, Israel, and brings extensive experience in informal education through youth movements and organizations. Before her service, she volunteered for a year with Krembo Wings, a youth organization that brings together young people with and without special needs, and she was also active in the Israeli Scouts youth movement. In her most recent role before coming on Shlichut, Dana worked at Noar Latet, an organization that promotes social action and community engagement among young people.

Dana feels a deep connection to the university community, as her father grew up and was educated in Connecticut- and even her grandparents met at UConn!

In her free time, Dana enjoys working out and doing Pilates, cooking, and traveling!

Gabby comes to UConn with a passion for supporting the Jewish community on and off campus. Gabby grew up in South Bend, Indiana and moved to Ellington, Connecticut just a year before her Bat Mitzvah in 2008. She grew up attending Hebrew School where her love for Judaism ignited and followed her through her years in high school and college. Having majored in Psychology, Gabby found her passion was being able to help create a healthy and positive environment where everyone felt safe to be themselves. Before joining the UConn Hillel family, Gabby worked in the retail industry where she flourished as Store Manager for Eddie Bauer. She currently resides in Vernon, CT with her husband whom she just married! With over 8 years of customer service experience and her knack for personable interactions, Gabby takes on this role with much eagerness and excitement!

In Gabby's free time, she enjoys traveling, reading, listening to music, and finding a good show/movie to watch! Her favorite place she has been fortunate enough to travel to is France, her favorite book is The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, her favorite musical artist is Bon Iver, and her favorite movie of all time is Titanic. You can always find Gabby offering a hug or a friendly smile to everyone she meets! 

Caleb is delighted to be joining UConn Hillel from The Jewish Theological Seminary this year. A native of Bristol, TN/VA (the birth place of country music and the best NASCAR track in the world), he attended James Madison University for undergrad and East Tennessee State for a Master's in Library Science. He's particularly interested in Jewish approaches to agriculture, military service/military combat, and Jewish/Christian relations.

Before rabbinical school, Caleb spent 15 years working for the US Department of Labor, Government Printing Office, and the Department of the Navy. His policy areas included veterans' employment and discrimination, employment-based immigration (H1-B, H2-B, H2-A, and Green Cards), and, most recently, he served as Chief Operating Officer for the Bureau of International Labor Affairs which combats international human trafficking, child labor, and forced labor/human slavery in over 130 countries. Caleb has experience working in Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative, and Orthodox spaces and is excited to work with everyone at UConn to dream up exciting shabbat experiences that engage our whole community.

Caleb lives in Westport, CT, with his husband, Cantor Gedalia Penner-Robinson. When he's not at JTS, he enjoys distance running, cooking, birdwatching, and reading (225 books this year and counting!). He's currently lamenting the relocation of the Bridgeport Islanders to Hamilton, Ontario but excited to replace them with UConn hockey this fall. 

Giovanna Zavell has worked in nonprofit and higher ed spaces since graduating from Drake University where she earned degrees in both Magazine Journalism and English. She has always stayed connected to her Jewish community through teaching Hebrew school and as a youth group advisor. A native of Skokie, IL, Giovanna currently lives in Des Moines, Iowa. In her free time she enjoys reading, attending concerts and perfecting the perfect at-home shaken espresso for every season.