New York

Irene (Irina) Dobkin grew up in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in an assimilated family. She learned about her Jewish roots at the age of 15 after going to a Jewish camp – which changed her life. For almost 14 years, Irene was a director of Hillel in Saint Petersburg. She moved to the U.S. with her family in March 2022. Irene’s passion is engaging Jewish teens and connecting them with Jewish life and Israel.

Irene’s favorite Jewish holiday is Hanukkah, and she loves Jewish weddings! Her most memorable Israel experience was visiting Kibbutz Degania and learning about the first kibbutzim – how they lived, loved, fought and believed in the future of Israel. As a proud Zionist, Irene feels it’s important for every Jew in the world to be connected to Israel and not take its existence for granted. Irene’s Zionist hero is Golda Meir, the grandmother of the State of Israel.

Lena immigrated to the U.S. from the former Soviet Union at a young age and made New York City her home. As a teen, she was lucky to have many opportunities that helped cultivate her profound engagement with Jewish life and forge a deep appreciation for her Jewish heritage. While Lena holds a Doctor of Pharmacy degree, it has always been her passion to make a positive impact on the Jewish landscape. After working as a pharmacist in Manhattan for several years, Lena joined a Jewish nonprofit called The Brownstone as the Director of Operations, working with young adults to help them experience Judaism in a meaningful way. She brings her collective experience to Club Z to help shape the next generation of proud and proactive Zionist leaders.

Sarrah has a special connection to Club Z, as she graduated from the Brooklyn Chapter when she was in high school! Before joining Club Z’s staff, Sarrah worked with a number of nonprofit and municipal organizations, including the New York City Mayor’s Office, the New York University Bronfman Center, Talento MCR in Madrid, Spain, and was part of NYU’s inaugural “Extremism Examined” program. She also was the vice president of events and programming for NYU Hillel and participated in the Black and Jewish Dialogue Fellowship. Sarah brings her unique perspective of being a former Club Z teen to her role and enjoys sharing her love of Israel and Club Z with the New York region.

Dan is an accomplished Jewish and Israel educator with more than 15 years of experience instructing students on topics such as Zionism, activism, the BDS movement, the apartheid accusation and more. As the grandchild of Holocaust survivors, Dan also founded an organization called 3GNY (Third Generation New York) to train descendants of survivors to provide Holocaust education to students in public and private schools. He has also worked for the Museum of Jewish Heritage and Artists 4 Israel. Dan is passionate about developing innovative pro-Israel education that changes the Jewish world.

Originally from Canada, Yoel moved to Israel as a young adult, where he trained to become a tour guide at the University of Haifa. Throughout his career, Yoel has worked with numerous Israel education organizations, from Birthright-Israel to Jewish National Fund, where he specialized in guiding and educating American-Jewish teenagers and young adults. With a strong passion for Israel and Jewish education, Yoel champions the use of experiential learning, firmly believing that hands-on experiences are the most effective way to learn. In addition to his work in the Israel educational space, Yoel has taught history, geography and Holocaust Studies at the high school level. Yoel's vision is to inspire the next generation of Jews to explore, engage and deeply appreciate the richness of their heritage.