Our Teams
At Camp Avoda, our administrative team is comprised of seasoned professionals with backgrounds in family counseling, social work, teaching, and healthcare. More than just managing daily operations, we uphold rigorous standards for our staff and are readily available to address any issues that may arise, ensuring a safe and supportive environment for every camper.
What truly sets Camp Avoda apart is our exceptional staff. The majority of our counselors are former Avoda campers who have successfully completed our Counselor-in-Training (C.I.T.) program. With a camper-to-counselor ratio of 4:1, your son will receive personalized attention and guidance throughout his camp experience.
In addition to our dedicated counselors, we are proud to have Israeli staff members who enhance the Jewish cultural experience at Camp Avoda. Each staff member is carefully selected based on their experience, maturity, skills, and values, ensuring that they serve as mentors, teachers, coaches, and friends to your son.
Rest assured, your son is in good hands with our passionate and qualified team at Camp Avoda. -kens and ronni's headshot should be the one from this page https://campavoda.org/tour/
Directors and Administrators
Ken Shifman-Executive Director
Ken became director of Camp Avoda in 2008. Coming back to Camp Avoda was a homecoming for Ken after spending 11 summers at Avoda from 1980-1990 as both a camper and counselor. Ken loves Avoda: the campers, parents, staff, CIT’s, alumni, and the incredible community – both during the summer (you can’t beat it!) and in the “off season.” He also runs sports enrichment programs for 3, 4, and 5 year olds in the greater Boston area and coaches youth sports. Ken loves seeing kids and campers succeed and grow! ken@campavoda.org | phone: 781-433-0131
Ronni Saltzman Guttin-Director
We are thrilled to welcome Ronni to Camp Avoda! She is a people-person and seems to know everyone. Her friendly persona, positive outlook, and camp leadership skill set make her a valuable part of the team. Ronni grew up in camp since she was 8 years old. She credits her camping experience as the most influential marker in her career choices. Ronni’s background includes almost 20 years as a camp director – for Camp JORI in Rhode Island, and as the director of a synagogue religious school. She also teaches 6th and 7th grade students at Temple Emanu-el in Providence, Rhode Island. Ronni loves working with staff and campers to help them become part of the camp community. ronni@campavoda.org | phone: 401-465-1516
Gary Rabinowitz-Assistant Director
Gary works both on and off the field to help run the camp. He runs many aspects of camp including programming, scheduling, staff leadership, the hockey program, special events, and much more. Gary spent seven summers as a camper at Avoda in the 70’s. For the past 14 years he has served as a coach, teacher and administrator at a private school in upstate New York. He has coached hockey with collegiate, prep school and international teams and works with high school student athletes to help them find the appropriate NCAA landing spot. gary@campavoda.org
Leon Dyer-Assistant Director
Leon started at Avoda in 2003 running the woodshop. He is now an invaluable member of our leadership team. Leon runs our CIT program, oversees field trips, overnights, special activities, our yearbook called “The Avodian,” and our diverse Arts programs. Outside of Avoda, Leon is a Technology Engineering teacher at Chenery Middle School in Belmont MA and is the Athletics Manager at Belmont High School. He is on the executive board of the Belmont Education Association and runs the Belmont Solar Car Team. leondyer@campavoda.org
Jill Shifman
Jill Shifman, wife of Director, Ken Shifman, is many things to Camp Avoda! In addition to having two of her own boys at camp, Jill spends the majority of her summers at camp too. Jill is the camp mom. She is also a liaison to many parents. She helps wherever she is needed including substitute arts and crafts instructor, giving tours and welcoming new families, and she runs a Shabbat favorite: “Cooking with Jill.” In her “real life,” Jill is a senior manager with Partners Health Care. jillshifman@gmail.com
Staff
Our administrative staff comprises trained professionals in such critical fields as family counseling, social work, teaching, and healthcare. We don’t simply manage the camp’s daily operations, we set and uphold high standards for all our staff and are directly and quickly involved when an issue needs to be resolved
Camp Avoda’s staff is how we differentiate ourselves from other camps. Almost all our counselors were once Avoda campers and successful graduates of the Avoda Counselor-in-Training (C.I.T.) program. We have a camper-to-counselor ratio of 4:1. Wr have Israeli staff as well to round out the Jewish cultural experience. We are very proud of our counselors – and we should be, because each one was hand-picked based on his experience, maturity, skills, and values. They are your son’s mentors, teachers, coaches, and friends.
Board of Directors
Current Board of Directors
Russell Sherman-President
Michael Ross-Vice President
Robert Zuker-Treasurer
Sam Mirkin-Clerk
Lee Kaiser-Secretary
Dr. Jonathan Bamel
Nate Cohen
Louis Dennis
David Glattstein
Ed Klayman
Mike Pemstein
Michael Roth
Willie Wilkov
Thomas Leavitt, Emeritus
Jim Singer, Emeritus
Alumni Association Committee
Dan Gollinger – President
Larry Rubin – Secretary
Ben Rubin – Treasurer
Jake Alexander
David Bacdayan
Jared Fixler
Seth Fox
Mark Goldberg
Ben Kassiff
Justin Lukoff
Andrew Stone
Sam Watman