Karen Kim is the senior researcher and evaluator for the USC Shoah Foundation. She was previously a faculty member at CSU Fullerton; education director for a National Science Foundation funded center at UCLA; researcher and evaluator of several large-scale, multi-institutional grant projects; and research administrator for the Directors Guild of America. Dr. Kim earned her Ph.D. in Education from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Wolf Gruner is the founding director of the Center. He developed the vision and main features of its now internationally recognized innovative academic program.

Martha Stroud manages the day-to-day operations of the Center for Advanced Genocide Research, which advances innovative interdisciplinary research on the Holocaust and other genocides and promotes use of the Visual History Archive in research and teaching. She joined the Center in 2015 after earning her PhD in Medical Anthropology at UC Berkeley.

Zovaira Rodriguez is the Procurement Specialist for the USC Shoah Foundation and has been with the institute for 3 years.  She works within our Operations Department overseeing and managing all purchasing requests along with vendor intake, setup, and requesting payments. Prior to the Institute, Zovaira received her Bachelors in Criminal Justice with a Minor in Anthropology from the California State University of Los Angeles.

Arie Salma is a web developer and program analyst for the Shoah Foundation. He specializes in front end, back end and CMS development.

Letisha Young joined the Shoah Foundation in July of 2017 as the Program Manager of Administrative Programs.  She oversees Human Resources and Facilities for the Foundation.  Prior to joining the Foundation, she worked as a HR Analyst for the Dornsife Business office for 2 years.  Letisha received her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration with emphasis in Human Resources from California State University, Northridge.  She also holds two HR Certifications. (Professional in Human Resources- PHR and Society of Human Resources SHRM-CP).

Mark Weicht is a Video Archivist and Post Production Specialist. He also has fabricated many items designed for use with several DIT projects and exhibits. Prior to joining the staff at the Shoah Foundation, Mark worked at Post Production facilities around the Los Angeles area including Herzog and Company where they won 4 Primetime Emmy's for "Gettysburg (2011)".

Edith Umugiraneza joined the USC Shoah Foundation in 2009 as a consultant and later became an indexer. Before that, she lived in Canada for 10 years. Edith graduated from College Sainte-Foy with a degree in social work and got a bachelor’s degree from Laval University in multidisciplinary studies. Edith has worked for several organizations and the government especially in the field of integration and adaptation of immigrants.

Alex Paiva Jr is a programmer helping build the Dimension in Testimony platform by using AI services to allow for an interactive experience with testimonies from survivor. Previously in his career Alex has worked on building and implementing enterprise level applications. He received a BS in Computer Engineering degree from California State University Northridge. 

Larina Palacpac supports the financial management of the Institute by assisting in account reconciliation, budget development and financial reporting. Prior to joining USC Shoah Foundation, Larina worked as a Budget/Business Technician at the USC Dornsife Business Office for six years where she was responsible for processing procurement orders and reimbursement requests for a high-volume research intensive department. She received her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing from the University of Southern California.

Alan Auyeung oversees the collection, management and transfer area of broadcast video equipment; administers educational, instructional and reference materials collections; and provides services for patrons including ensuring requests for distribution copies of the archive are fulfilled.  Prior to joining USC, Alan worked at a Los-Angeles area post-production technical support service provider for 20 years as an Electronic Technician, with experiences in post-production systems and equipment repair, maintenance, and troubleshooting.

Hoan Tran oversees the data archival and storage infrastructure for the Institute’s content. Hoan has experiences in software dev-ops, systems engineering, system administration, and information systems security.

Prior to joining the USC Shoah Foundation she was Administrative Director of the USC Rossier School of Education's Center on Education Policy, Equity and Governance.

Jeff Schulz is a Senior Software Engineer leading the Angular development for USC Shoah Foundation's interactive web sites.

Mya Worrell (they/them) supports the Center's programming, research, and outreach. They’ve been with USC since 2016, earning a BA in Gender & Sexuality Studies and American Studies & Ethnicity in 2020. They joined the Center for Advanced Genocide Research in 2021. While an undergraduate student, they interned at USC Asian Pacific American Student Services and Kaya Press, assisting with events and developing programming.

Since December 2021 Matthew Rabin has served as Senior Director of Development for USC Shoah Foundation, coming from his prior role as Chief Development Officer for the Doheny Eye Institute. He has twenty years in the field, having worked at Stanford University, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.  He received his B.A. from Rutgers College, Rutgers University, and his Juris Doctor from George Washington University. Prior to development work, he was a community organizer and attorney.

Lacey manages higher education programs and partners closely with students, faculty, and other campus organizations.

Wendy manages budgets, serves as a bridge between the Operations, Finances, and our other departments at the Institute.

Jennifer Rodgers is a historian of modern Germany and Europe. She holds a PhD in History from the University of Pennsylvania, where she wrote a dissertation on the International Tracing Service (ITS), the first study of this Holocaust-era humanitarian organization.

Sedda Antekelian develops educational content, programming and community partnerships utilizing Armenian Genocide testimony collections. Sedda received her B.A. in History and Humanities from Loyola Marymount University, Master of Arts in Teaching from UC Irvine, and holds a Single-Subject teaching credential in Social-Science and Art History. Sedda has well-rounded experience working within diverse educational spheres, including the traditional classroom, museum education, online curriculum development and project-based learning.

Will Horowitz provides external relations for the USC Shoah Foundation. Will received his bachelor’s degree in political science and his master’s degree in public administration and policy from American University. He previously worked at the Government Accountability Office, Amgen, and the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington Legislative Office before starting at USC Shoah Foundation in 2023.

Shana Fishman is a grant writer on the constituent affairs team responsible for composing grant proposals to support existing and planned program activities. Before joining USC Shoah Foundation, Shana was Director of Development and Operations at Gindi Maimonides Academy and recently earned a master's from Pepperdine University in Social Entrepreneurship and Change.  

Jaclyn Singer has a lifelong passion for Judaism, Israel and community-building. She holds a bachelor's degree in social science from San Diego State University and a master's in security and diplomacy from Tel Aviv University.

Rachel Herman is the Program Platforms Lead of the USC Shoah Foundation. In this role, Rachel manages IWitness, the Visual History Archive, SFI Access, Echoes & Reflections and the building of in-app and Virtual IWalks. Rachel joined the Institute in 2017, working as a content specialist with the Education team.

Trained as a historian of modern Europe in USC’s History Department, Clark comes to the Shoah Foundation from MIT, where she has been the Faculty Director of MIT’s Programs in the Digital Humanities.

Porscha specializes in bringing testimony-based education programming, multimedia resources, and digital tools to educators and students. Her top priorities include developing the Mobile Dimensions in Testimony (DiT) program and innovating the William P. Lauder (WPL) Junior Internship program. Porscha establishes and maintains relationships with school district decision makers and staff, vendors, and community organizations.