Museum at Eldridge Street Staff

Bonnie Dimun, Executive Director

Bonnie brings a wealth of experience in the non-profit, corporate and university arenas. She founded and was president of Dynamics for Change, a management consulting firm focusing on client relations, business development, and alliance partnerships. Bonnie also served as National Director of Education and Public Policy at Hadassah, the world’s largest women’s non-profit organization. There she created and managed the Leadership, Education and Training Center. Prior to that, she was Executive Director of Organization Advancement for Middlesex County College. Bonnie holds an Ed.D from Columbia University as well as two degrees from Rider University, where she serves on the Board of Directors.

My favorite place: Next to new visitors as they walk into the synagogue for the first time and truly gasp with the magnificence of the place. My other favorite is when the sun shines through the stained-glass windows and the magnificent reflection is on the walls, floors and halls. It takes my breath away.

Eva Bruné, Vice President for Institutional Advancement

Eva has more than 30 years experience in non-profit management and fundraising. As sole development staff person at the Museum at Eldridge Street, Eva was responsible for planning and implementing the organization’s successful $19.5 million capital campaign. Prior to joining the Museum at Eldridge Street, Eva served as Executive Director for The CityKids Foundation, Managing Director for INTAR Hispanic American Arts Center, and Director for Institutional Advancement for the Dance Theatre of Harlem, Young Audiences, Inc., and the Big Apple Circus. She has served as a grant evaluator and/or panelist for numerous institutions and agencies including the Arts and Business Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the State Arts Councils of Alaska, Florida and New Jersey. She serves on the Advisory Board for the Irish Theatre Company, Origin Theatre Company. Eva is the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts awards, a Visual Arts grant for her sculpture and a Fellowship for her arts management work. Eva received her BFA and California teaching credential from the California College of Arts, and is currently completing a Certificate in Global Affairs from New York University’s Continuing Education Program.

My favorite place: The historic tzedakah box is my favorite artifact, as it represents the original congregants’ deep commitment to the community in which they lived and worshipped. I believe that the Museum at Eldridge Street’s donors share the same commitment to the Jewish community by contributing to maintain the Eldridge Street Synagogue and support the Museum’s cultural and educational programs.

Sarah Verity Collica, Director of Visitor Services

Sarah oversees the museum's volunteer docents and works to ensure that every visitor to Eldridge Street has a meaningful and welcoming experience. Sarah has worked for a variety of organizations in the Jewish community, including Hillels, summer camps, and, most recently, Congregation B'nai Jeshurun on the upper west side. A Los Angeles native, Sarah has always been drawn to New York City and is fascinated by its history, and has enjoyed visiting museums and historic sites all over the world. Sarah holds a BA in History from the University of California, Berkeley, and a MPA in non-profit management from NYU.

My favorite place: The site where the new Kiki Smith-Deborah Gans stained-glass window is installed. I love that not only does the window bring added beauty to the space but it also contributes to a new chapter in the story of the building.

Mattie Ettenheim, Museum Educator

As Museum Educator, Mattie plans art projects and facilitates conversations about the immigrant experience to visiting school children and the public and is developing a monthly series for 20-somethings called Eldridge Street After Hours. In addition to her work at MAES, she works as an educator with the New York Transit Museum and volunteers with the Teen Advisory Board at the Noguchi Museum and NYCMER. She is also a portrait photographer and scrapbook/craft instructor, and can sometimes be found at PortraitBug on the Upper West Side. Mattie received her BA from Mount Holyoke College in Anthropology and Religion and her MS in Museum Education from the Bank Street College of Education. She has previously worked as an educator at with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Folk Art Museum, the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, the Children's Museum of Manhattan and the Brooklyn Children's Museum.

My favorite place: My favorite artifact in the museum are the flag holders in the woman's balcony. The new immigrants were so proud to be in America that in addition to the five pointed stars covering the walls, several stained glass windows open with the intention of hanging flags. And just to be sure there was no confusion, there are five pointed star cut outs in the actual flag holders.

Judith Greenspan, Education Director

Judith Greenspan came to the Museum at Eldridge Street after a 16-year career as a television producer at CBS News in New York and at WHDH Television in Boston. She enjoyed traveling around the country writing and producing stories of all kinds, but historical pieces were always her favorites — from an Emmy award-winning segment on Ellis Island to a documentary on the history of country music. As Education Director at the Museum at Eldridge Street, Judy is thrilled to work with rich, historical materials every day and to share the many stories of the Eldridge Street synagogue and its immigrant community with students of all ages. Judy holds a B.A. in History from the University of Michigan, a certificate from Hebrew College for the Me'ah program on Judaism and Jewish History, and is a member of the National Council for History Education.

My favorite place: I love watching the students' faces when they see the sanctuary for the first time. And I love the ark. The red velvet interior designed to hold so many Torah scrolls says so much about the immigrants who worshipped here, and it is very moving to me every time the doors are opened.

Hanna Griff-Sleven, Director of Family History Center & Cultural Programs

Hanna conceives, plans and runs the Museum at Eldridge Street’s concerts, lectures, readings, festivals, and other public programs. Prior to joining the Museum’s staff, Hanna was a Program Officer in the Folk Arts Program of the New York State Council on the Arts and, for one year, the program's Acting Director. She holds a Ph.D. in Folklore and American Studies from Indiana University. In the early 1990s Hanna directed Toldot Iowa, which collected oral histories of Jews in Iowa, and more recently served as Oral Historian for the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience in Jackson, Mississippi. She has been a Senior Lecturer in American Studies at Grinnell College and was for two years Assistant Professor, Faculty of International Studies, Sanyo Gakuen University, Okayama, Japan, and Visiting Associate Professor at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. Hanna is an adjunct professor at NYU, CUNY and the Eugene Lang College at the New School for Liberal Arts. She has published in academic journals and has been a frequent speaker at conferences and seminars.

My favorite place: Upstairs in the women's balcony below the rose window: standing below it when the light shines through is a transcendent moment. The window is huge, I am so small and I feel strength and beauty of the place both as it once was and is again.

Nancy Johnson, Archivist

Nancy is the Museum’s archivist and looks after its historic documents, objects and art. She has catalogued these collections and is currently involved in developing new ways to share them with the public, including an exhibit of Judaica in the Family History Center and a new virtual exhibit on our website. Nancy has worked as an archivist, editor and writer for longer than she cares to admit. She has been a consultant on major projects at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Montclair Art Museum, Alan Lomax Archives and many other arts-related organizations. She holds an MA in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University and BA degrees in history and art history from Stony Brook University.

My favorite place: The new Tribute Wall is about my two favorite things: history and art. It preserves an important piece of the history of the synagogue and its congregation, while making room for a spectacular new piece of contemporary art. What a brilliant act of recycling!

Sharon Stein, Visitor Services Associate

Sharon is a Chicago native with a love of the wonders of New York, including our pocket of the Lower East Side. She was educated at the University of Illinois and has lived in New York since the early 1960's, raising two children on the Upper West Side and spending her full time career in advertising as a Broadcast Traffic Manager and Vice-President at two agencies. Sharon was a volunteer docent at Eldridge Street since the 1980s. In 2008, after the Museum re-opened, she was lured out of her retirement to serve as our first face to the public – orienting visitors, helping manage the gift shop, and otherwise creating a warm, welcoming experience. Come on a visit to Eldridge Street and you will likely meet Sharon.

My favorite place: The thing in the”gogue” that I find touching cannot be physically touched…unless you call our warm and heartfelt greetings and farewells physical. It is the friendship, camaraderie, interests and intellectual information that I share with our docents and our visitors. Every day is different. Every day I learn more and grow.

Amy Stein Milford, Deputy Director

Amy has more than 20 years of experience in management positions for non-profit cultural institutions in New York City. She has worked at The Jewish Museum, the Writers Room, where she served as Acting Director, and the Museum at Eldridge Street, where she has been on staff since 1997. Amy oversaw all planning for the Museum’s 2007 re-opening, including re-opening exhibits, communications strategy, and government outreach. She is currently Project Director for the new Kiki Smith-Deborah Gans window, and conceived and is implementing “Ways We Worship” a new multi-faith initiative introducing Jewish practice and culture to a broad audience. Amy has been a speaker on museum practices and Jewish culture at special events and conferences, including for the Council of American Jewish Museums (CAJM), Museums Association of New York (MANY), SUNY Binghamton, and openhousenewyork.

My favorite place: There is a single hand-painted heart in one of the domes of the sanctuary. You have to look hard to find it. Perhaps one of the original artisans was in love. Or he didn’t feel like painting what he was supposed to. In any event, it reflects the hand-made quality of this sacred site and how important the human touch bas been from opening day to the present.