Our Staff
Finance Director – Kate Shkurko
Head of Marketing & Communications – Robert Klein
Programming Director – Marina Capponi
Head of Youth Education – Donny Janks
Campus Manager – Andrina Grynberg
Executive Assistant – Sarah Vasin
Accountant – Lizeth Diaz
Accounts Support – Felipe Avela
Events Coordinator – Michelle Kasimov
Choir Director – Andrea Catzel
Caretakers – Ilia Kletski and Anna Kletski
Kate Shkurko
Finance Director
Kate is a member of CPA Australia and has much experience on Boards of not for profit organisations . She leads the finance team to ensure the financial sustainability of the congregation. Kate was born in Russia and completed her studies in Australia. She has one beautiful daughter and enjoys travelling to visit family, skiing and music, especially opera.
Marina Capponi
Programming Director
Marina is our programming director, uniting her cultural background (emigrated from Italy) with her passion for languages, literature and the arts to enrich the lives of those who are a part of Emanuel Synagogue. With unique insights into what drives ardent engagement within a community setting, Marina is able to support the Emanuel clergy and CEO with captivating programs and experiences that ignite conversation. When Marina is not building educational, cultural and spiritual experiences for the Emanuel community, you will find her at a museum, horse riding and creating memories with her daughter on their long walks.
Donny Janks
Head of Youth Education
Donny is a native Sydneysider with a background in informal Jewish education. He loves Jewish text, music and Hebrew, and is passionate about creating opportunities for meaningful engagement across our diverse community. Donny is an eager musician, dabbling in the experimental and electronic corners of the music world, and can often be found partway up a rock climbing wall.
Andrina Grynberg
Campus Coordinator
Andrina is the Campus Manager and is responsible for all volunteer engagement. Andrina hails from the Emerald Isle and is married to Ari and has three children.
Sarah Vasin
Executive Assistant
Sarah is the welcoming presence when you contact the congregation and will assist you with all manner of requests. Sarah is a Sydney native and has been involved in the Jewish community for all her life. She is married with two children and enjoys travelling and experiencing new places.
Lizeth Ibarra
Accountant
Liz joined the Emanuel Synagogue’s finance team in July 2017. One of her key roles is to ensure the efficient running of the accounts receivable process of the synagogue.
Liz was born in Colombia, where she worked in commercial accounting for six years. She moved to Australia in 2011. She recently became a mother and together with her husband enjoy travelling, spending time with friends and watching movies.
Felipe Avela
Accounts Support
Felipe joined the Synagogue in November 2019. He is part of the Accounting team. One of his key roles is to ensue the banking process and the accounts receivable process of the Synagogue.
Felipe was born in Colombia, where he completed his accounting degree and spent more than 6 years working with one of the big four accounting organisations and the largest professional services network in the world. He moved to Australia with his wife in 2017. They both enjoy spending their time travelling and making new friends.
Michelle Kasimov
Events Co-ordinator
Michelle is our Events Co-ordinator and she is the one behind the scenes making sure that all our events, services and activities run smoothly and look beautiful. Michelle emigrated from South Africa with her family in 2014 and has been an integral part of our community since that day. She has two children and loves cooking and baking.
Andrea Catzel
Choir Director
Andrea has been responsible for bringing our congregation beautiful music since 2007. She leads and conducts the wonderful Emanuel Ensemble that sing on Shabbat and Yom Kippur, and the Community Choir that sing for Rosh Hashana and perform in concerts for the wider community. She hails from Cape Town, has sung leading roles in Opera and concerts in Europe and South Africa. She is passionate about teaching and coaching young singers, musical theatre and movies.