Deborah Lauter, Executive Director

Deborah Lauter was appointed Executive Director of The Olga Lengyel Institute for Holocaust Education and Human Rights (TOLI) in August 2022.

She brings three decades of nonprofit and government leadership in civil and human rights, inter-group relations, and anti-bias education. Deborah provides strategic management and vision to grow the organization’s domestic and international professional development programs that empower educators to use the lens of the Holocaust to foster social responsibility in future generations.

Deborah served in senior management at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for 18 years, including as Senior Vice President, where she oversaw ADL’s domestic programs on anti-bias and Holocaust education, civil rights, extremism, and hate on the internet. In 2019, the Mayor of New York City appointed her to create and lead the NYC Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, the first of its kind in the country. Deborah is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and received her J.D. from Cardozo School of Law.

A native Californian who lived in Atlanta for a number of years, she now resides in Brooklyn, New York, where she is active in civic affairs.

Sondra Perl, Senior Director, US Programs

Sondra Perl is Professor Emerita at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. An acclaimed teacher, she is the author of six books and the recipient of both a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Carnegie Foundation’s Professor of the Year award. Perl’s desire to explore the difficult subject of the Holocaust began in 1996 when she was invited to teach in Austria, a journey she chronicles in On Austrian Soil: Teaching Those I Was Taught to Hate. Ever since, she has been involved in post-Holocaust dialogue with members of the second and third generations in the United States and in Europe. Contact: sperl@tolinstitute.org

To read an excerpt from On Austrian Soil: Teaching Those I Was Taught to Hate, click here.

Jennifer Lemberg, Associate Director, US Programs

Jennifer Lemberg received her Ph.D. in English and a Certificate in Women’s Studies from The Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She also holds a certificate from the International Trauma Studies Program, and has published essays on Holocaust literature, American Indian literature, graphic novels, and television studies. In addition to her work with TOLI, Jennifer has taught interdisciplinary seminars, composition, American women’s literature, and American Indian literature. Her co-edited volume with Alexander Pope, Becoming a Holocaust Educator: Purposeful Pedagogy Through Inquiry, published by Teachers College Press and the National Writing Project, was released in October 2021.

Contact: jlemberg@tolinstitute.org

Oana Nestian Sandu, Director, International Programs

Before joining TOLI, Oana Nestian Sandu worked in Europe for over 8 years as trainer, researcher and project coordinator on human rights education, intercultural education, active citizenship, global education, social action and related topics. As part of these projects, she developed educational programs and delivered training for teachers, young people, migrants, minorities (especially Roma) journalists, civil servants and private sector employees. Oana has a Ph.D. in Psychology with a thesis focused on the development of intercultural competence. She is currently in charge of expanding TOLI’s programs in Europe.

Contact: onestian@tolinstitute.org

Wendy Zagray Warren, Satellite Program Coordinator

For over 25 years, Wendy Zagray Warren has facilitated learning opportunities for first graders through graduate students in Ohio, Wisconsin, Montana and Kentucky. She became involved with the National Writing Project in 2003, serving on local and national leadership teams. While teaching middle school, Wendy realized the importance of Holocaust education as vehicle for awakening empathy and allowing students to consider their own humanity. This and her growing commitment to Indian Education for All, a Montana educational mandate, drew her to the work of the Holocaust Educators Network in 2009. Since 2011, she has co-facilitated the Montana Satellite Seminar, Worlds Apart but Not Strangers: Holocaust Education and Indian Education for All. In 2015, Wendy earned her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership. She is honored to serve as Satellite Program Coordinator, working in community with the brilliant educators who facilitate Satellite Seminars around the nation.

Contact: wwarren@tolinstitute.org

Ildiko Kope, Office Manager & Administrative Assistant

Ildiko Kope began her work with the organization in the early 90s as founder Olga Lengyel’s personal assistant. It was her friendship with and devotion to Olga that inspired her to help make Olga’s vision a reality long after her death. Today, Ildiko works as TOLI’s office manager and administrative assistant, serving the needs of teachers, staff, faculty and board members. Ildiko did her undergraduate studies in Computer Science at City College and she holds a BS in Real Estate and Metropolitan Development from Baruch College.

Alice Braziller, Teaching Staff

Alice Braziller has taught high school English in New York City for the past 30 years. She has spent the past 27 years at Satellite Academy High School on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, an alternative school for students at risk and a place she always considered her home away from home. In September 2010, Alice retired to pursue her many other interests, including quilting, running, hiking, writing, and volunteering at local women’s shelters. While her teaching career has been filled with countless highlights, her association with TOLI remains one of the brightest. Alice is inspired by the relationships she develops with colleagues from all over the country who are drawn to teaching the Holocaust and who strive to teach it effectively.

Victoria Fabisch, Director of Development

Victoria Fabisch has over 20 years of experience as an administrator in higher education and nonprofits, working in development, grants management, and research.  Her strengths in project management, collaboration, team building, and stewardship are critical aspects of how she approaches her pursuits.  Victoria has a lifelong interest in Holocaust studies and human rights, strengthened by her European grandparents who fled Germany and Austria in the 1930s.  She received a BA in Economics from Brandeis University and an Ed.M. in Higher Education Administration from Harvard University.

Contact: vfabisch@tolinstitute.org

Hannah Sattler, Program Assistant

Hannah Sattler joined TOLI in January 2022 as a Program Assistant. With a background in antisemitism research and program development, Hannah comes to TOLI from the ADL New York/New Jersey office where she coordinated programs for synagogue partners. Hannah has also previously worked at Human Rights First, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. Hannah earned a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Northeastern University and starting this fall, will be pursuing a degree in International Human Rights from Columbia University.

Contact: hsattler@tolinstitute.org

At TOLI, we value all employees and job candidates as unique individuals, and we welcome the variety of experiences they bring.  As such, we have a strict, non-discrimination policy.  We believe everyone should be treated equally regardless of race, sex, gender identification, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital status, citizenship, or any other characteristic protected by law.