Rabbi Yoni Kaiser-Blueth will leave GW Hillel this summer after seven years as executive director of the organization, Louis Mayberg, the chairman of Hillel’s Board of Directors, said in a statement Thursday.
Kaiser-Blueth will leave GW to serve as the director of the Latin America Desk for Hillel International, the group’s parent organization, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
“As the executive director of GW Hillel, he has been a driving force strengthening and creating invaluable relationships with our university partners, assisting in the reformation of our Board of Directors, obtaining important funding grants to move the organization forward and bringing joyful Jewish leadership to the GW community,” Mayberg said in the statement.
Kaiser-Blueth became Hillel’s executive director in 2010 after serving as the associate director and campus rabbi at the University of Florida’s Hillel.
Adena Kirstein, the current assistant director of GW Hillel, will replace Kaiser-Blueth as executive director, Mayberg said. She has served with Kaiser-Blueth for seven years.
“During these years, Adena has led GW Hillel in significantly increasing engagement, supervised the growth of our education and programmatic portfolio, connected with countless students over coffee and supported them in their growth,” he said in the statement. “I feel confident in her deep investment in this organization and the enthusiasm she brings to this new role.”
Mayberg said the executive transition had been “smooth,” and that the organization will soon announce a going-away celebration for Kaiser-Blueth.