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Rachel Kest is the Senior Director of Jewish Life at the Louis S. Wolk JCC in Rochester, NY. Prior to this role she was the Director of the Jewish Education and Engagement department at the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester for 10 years. Before moving to Western New York, Rachel worked briefly in Vancouver, BC at the Federation and before that was the Director of Elementary and Family Education for 11 years at Temple Shir Tikva in Wayland, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. In this capacity she led the creation and implementation of curriculum for the Temple Shir Tikva Religious School and supervised all teachers from Kindergarten through Grade 9. She also oversaw all synagogue-wide Family Education programs. She held previous positions at the United Jewish Appeal and the New Israel Fund, as well as participating in Project Otzma, a year-long volunteer program in Israel, where she taught Judaic studies and English to immigrant children. Rachel has a particular interest in the area of disability inclusion – both within the Jewish and general communities – working to change the culture of institutions so that they view inclusion as a mindset, rather than an accommodation, making our world a better, more inclusive place for all. As a recipient of a Wexner Graduate Fellowship, Rachel earned two degrees from Brandeis University: Master of Management in Human Services from the Heller School and Master of Arts from the Hornstein Program in Jewish Communal Service. Rachel is the mother of two boys, Elie and Nadav, and is married to Rabbi Michael Silbert.