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.

Alla Svitlynets graduated with honors from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine, holding a bachelor's degree in history and a master's degree in anthropology. She started her career in Kyiv, but after the outbreak of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, Alla made the courageous decision to relocate to Los Angeles. She joined the USC Shoah Foundation team as an Administrative Assistant in March 2024.

Kobi is the Program Specialist for Organizational Engagement and Strategic Partnerships - Programs, and assists with all USC Shoah Foundation agreements.  Kobi has engaged in direct services with and for Holocaust survivors for over a decade.  Prior to joining USC Shoah Foundation, she was the Holocaust Survivors Justice Network Administrator at Bet Tzedek Legal Services.  As an adjunct professor at the University of Wyoming, she taught courses on the Holocaust both inside the classroom and through the University’s Summer Semester Abroad in Israel.  Kobi received her MA in Holocaust Studies

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.

Dr. Robert J. Williams is the Finci-Viterbi Executive Director of USC Shoah Foundation. He is UNESCO Chair on Antisemitism and Holocaust Research and the Advisor to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, where he also served for four years as chair of the Committee on Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial.

Susan Popler is Director of the Visual History Archive Program where she is driving initiatives to reimagine how audiences access, engage with and learn from testimony with the goal of expanding global reach, increasing interactions and impact. Prior to joining USC, Susan was Executive Director of Production Operations at Time Inc. During her 18 year tenure, she worked with magazines such as Time, Life, People, InStyle, and Fortune.

Rachel Peacock has a B.S. in Telecommunications Production from University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications. She has eight years of professional experience in educational video production, broadcast production, and project management. Rachel manages scheduling and production for new testimonies conducted by USC Shoah Foundation for the Holocaust and Countering Antisemitism Through Testimony (CATT) Collections.

Lindsay is the Managing Director of Echoes & Reflections, the Institute's flagship Holocaust Education program in partnership with ADL and Yad Vashem. In this role, she leads strategic planning and the ongoing programmatic and operational oversight to ensure successful reach of goals and objectives of the Partnership. Lindsay holds an MEd from the University of Vermont and a BA in History from Northwestern University. She has held a range of leadership positions in the non-profit education field for more than 25 years. Lindsay is based outside of Chicago, IL.

Raquel Diaz Serralta is the Learning and Development Specialist for Primary Education. She creates developmentally appropriate testimony-based educational content, delivers training, and collaborates with partners. 

Ari Şekeryan received his PhD from the University of Oxford in 2018 and has since held research positions at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, California State University–Fresno, the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, and the University of Cambridge.

Dr. Brian Hughes directs the Shoah Foundation’s Countering Antisemitism Laboratory (CAL). In this role, he develops evidence-backed interventions to prevent and reduce antisemitic attitudes and behaviors. These interventions address the problem of antisemitism at scale, online and offline, with a focus on the needs of impacted communities and victim-survivors. A media and communication scholar by training, Dr.

Noah joined the USC Shoah Foundation in 2021 as Associate Director of Annual Giving and began his role as Director of Development in 2024. He is responsible for content development, strategy, and general annual fund progress, as well as working with community members at an individual level to grow their engagement. Before joining the Institute’s advancement team, Noah worked in annual giving at Caltech and UCLA and graduated from the University of Michigan.