Social-Emotional Support Skill Building for NY Teen Professionals

Naomi Skop Richter, LCSW is the Senior Director, Teen + Young Adult Mental Health Initiative at Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. Previously, Naomi served as the Chief Program Officer at the National Council of Jewish Women, NY and Program Manager, Jewish Teen Funders Network at the Jewish Funders Network. Earlier in her career Naomi worked as a clinical social worker. She holds an MSW from Hunter College School of Social Work and a B.A. in Psychology from Brandeis University. She lives in Washington Heights with her husband and two children. 

Rabbi Aaron Brusso is the senior rabbi of Bet Torah, where he has led a vibrant and dynamic congregation of approximately 550 families in Northern Westchester since 2009. Rabbi Brusso is an officer of the Rabbinical Assembly, a Senior Rabbinic Fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute, and served as faculty for the Anti-Defamation League’s Bearing Witness. Rabbi Brusso has been a vocal supporter of immigration rights and was awarded the 2020 Human Rights Hero award from T’ruah. Rabbi Brusso received his ordination and master’s degree from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and bachelor’s degree from American University. Rabbi Brusso has written articles featured in The Forward, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Slate and been featured in the Washington Post. He is married to Hana Gruenberg, who is the Managing Director of the Department of Jewish Life at UJA-Federation of New York, and they have three children, Sari, Zoe, and Ilan.  

Loen Amer has been an experiential Jewish educator working with teens since she was one herself! She has served at Temple Israel of Great Neck as the Director of Teen and Community Engagement, and at Bet Torah in Mt Kisco–first as their Director of Youth Engagement, and then as their Director of Experiential Learning for Children and Teens. Loen has also worked for Ramah Israel, the Hillel at Hofstra University, Woodbury Jewish Center, and Temple Beth Sholom in Roslyn Heights. 

Loen has a voracious love for lifelong Jewish learning, and most recently studied Torah le’shmah, Torah for its own sake, at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem. She lives on Manhattan's Upper West Side and enjoys baking and reading.