Having been at the Institute for 25 years, Kim Simon was involved in developing and scaling the Institute’s impact and reach globally. She directed the development and implementation of key public engagement programs that connect USC Shoah Foundation to its many distinct audiences.

Sam Gustman has been chief technology officer (CTO) of the Shoah Foundation since 1994. Gustman is also associate dean and CTO at the USC Libraries where he oversees IT for the Libraries and started the USC Digital Repository.

Anita Pace, Director of Technology for the Shoah Foundation Institute at the University of Southern California, is responsible for overseeing the technical network design and operations of the Institute. She is also responsible for the operation, preservation and cataloging of the Institute’s 105,000 hours of video testimony, the Visual History Archive, Access and IWitness websites as well as support and planning for new collections.

Jeffrey Langham oversees the management and the strategic development of the Institute's website. Prior to the Institute, Jeffrey worked at a Los Angeles-area design firm for seven years as a web designer/programmer with experience in print design and copywriting. He received his doctorate in English literature from the University of Southern California.

Jayne joined USC Shoah Foundation in 2012, and is based in New York and Philadelphia. Currently the Director of Community Engagement & Outreach Programming, Jayne served as Managing Director of Advancement from 2012-2022. Prior to joining USC, Jayne was President of The ARJAY Group and spent over 25 years as a special event, fundraising and volunteer management consultant. She is a graduate of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Nicole Watkins serves as the Director of Donor Relations for USC Shoah Foundation’s Advancement team and is responsible for managing our donor relations program, stewarding our community of donors and producing the Annual Impact Report. Prior to joining USC 12 years ago, Nicole managed the Los Angeles region of Operation Hope’s Banking on Our Future program. Nicole received her MBA, Masters in Television, Radio and Film, and undergraduate degree in Speech Communication from Syracuse University.

On staff since 2011, strategic communications manager Aaron Zarrow joined the organization for the first time in 1995 as a production assistant. In 1996 he became Associate Producer ofThe Last Days feature documentary. His later credits include Senior Year, a 13-part PBS series; Funny Old Guys, an HBO special presentation; Sir! No Sir! winner of the 2005 LA Film Festival Audience Award for Best Documentary; and Healed: Music, Medicine and Life with MS, a 2014 PBS documentary.

Doug works in the Institute’s technology group as a Technical Project Leader on a variety of different technology projects including the current, major re-development of the Institute’s web applications, IWitness and VHA. Doug has worked for the Shoah Foundation since 2000, starting originally as a Historical Content Analyst to help index English language testimonies and has worked in numerous roles over the years. Doug received a MA in History from California State University, Los Angeles, and both a BA in English Literature and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University.

Mills Chang is the Senior Software Architect leading the software development of USC Shoah Foundation ITS Department. Mills received his Master in Computer Science from USC in 2002 and joined USC Shoah Foundation in May 2008.

Daryn Eller manages the Institute’s institutional media collection and participates in cataloging the Visual History Archive testimonies. She previously worked as a magazine and book writer, has an undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley, and a masters in library and information science from San Jose State University.

Ryan Fenton-Strauss manages the video archive and post-production team.  He joined the USC Shoah Foundation in 2003, and oversees the digitization and restoration of Visual History Archive.  He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in film production, from Chapman University and a Bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University.

Zachary Goode fulfills most filming and editing requests that come to ITS.  He also helps oversee the digitization and quality control of new collections. He received his M.F.A in Film Production from the Chapman University.

Michael Russell is a lead web developer at USC Shoah foundation. He received a BA in French from University College London, England, and has been a software engineer in the Los Angeles area since 1983.

Amy Marczewski Carnes, PhD, completed her doctorate in French at UCLA in 2007 and worked at Human Rights Watch in Los Angeles before starting at USC Shoah Foundation in 2008.

Inna Gogina is the archivist of the USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive. Prior to that, she has worked at USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education in a variety of capacities since 1999, including assistant production coordinator, historical content analyst, coordinator of international programs, and international digital education associate.

Francesca is the Liaison between Operations and other Shoah Foundation departments as well as visitors, scholars, and guests.   Other responsibilities include institute travel and reimbursements, scheduling, and guest relations. A native Italian speaker, Francesca worked as a translator and interpreter before joining the institute. Prior to that she worked as a fashion designer for 12 years.  She received a BA in Linguistics from USC and an AA in Fashion Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

Jenna Leventhal is the Interim Director of Programs at USC Shoah Foundation. She earned a BA in history from UC Santa Barbara and an MA in public history from University of Houston, with an emphasis in Holocaust education and oral history. She joined the Institute in 2011 and worked for many years leading the development of the IWitness website.  She currently oversees program management and strategic partnerships for the education department. 

Crispin Brooks is the curator of the Institute’s Visual History Archive. He holds a M.Phil. in Russian Literature from the University College London School of Slavonic and East European Studies and a diploma in translation from the Chartered Institute of Linguists. His academic publications include two works on Russian avant-garde poetry; his current research interests include the Holocaust in Ukraine and the North Caucasus.

Monika Koszyńska, USC Shoah Foundation education specialist since 2011, lives in Warsaw, Poland. She is a school educator by training, with a master's degree in pedagogy from Warsaw University. A teacher of elementary education and civic education, she worked in schools for 12 years. She co-founded the Lauder-Morasha School, a Jewish elementary school in Warsaw, where she worked for 8 years. Monika then led educational projects in history education, civic education and school quality assurance at the Center for Civic Education. She has worked as a teacher-trainer for 25 years.

Andrea Szőnyi is based in Budapest (Hungary) and oversees the Institute's international educational programs including content development, professional development programs and partnerships. Andrea has a background in education, she has her MA from Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, and worked as a highschool teacher for several years. She is an expert member of the Education Working Group of the Hungarian delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

Lesly Culp, is USC Shoah Foundation’s Director of Education. In her role, she leads the educational strategic plan to make audiovisual testimonies and interactive biographies of survivors and witnesses of genocide and mass atrocity accessible to educators and students worldwide.

Sandra Aguilar oversees metadata, indexing, and institutional archiving. Prior to the Institute, Sandra worked as Director of Archives for USC School of Cinematic Arts' Warner Bros. and Moving Image Archives. Previously she worked as Media Librarian in the visual effects industry at Industrial Light & Magic. She received an M.L.I.S. from the UCLA and a B.A. in Film Studies from UC Santa Barbara.

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.

Cynthia Schirmer currently oversees the finances and business operations of the Institute. She has worked for the Shoah Foundation since March 2016. Prior to that, Cynthia worked as the Shoah Foundation’s Business Officer (while employed at the Dornsife Business Office) from December 2013 thru December 2015. Cynthia has a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of La Verne, and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics with a minor in Computer Science from Cal State Fullerton.