COJECO RSJ Symposium
Masha Merkulova
Founding Director of Club Z
masha@clubzteens.org
Masha Merkulova is the founder and executive director of Club Z. Born in Minsk, Belarus, Masha came to the Bay Area in the early 1990's. When her young son began attending Jewish Day School, she started learning along with him about Judaism and Israel, and became much more involved in pro-israel circles. Masha has been a passionate lay leader in the Jewish community in the Bay Area for close to 10 years. While having a successful career as a primary healthcare provider in OB/GYN, Masha felt that she needed to devote more time and energy to the Jewish world. After organizing numerous educational events with local and international speakers and becoming involved with helping college students deal with campus anti-semitism, Masha established Club Z, a teen group with specific purpose of educating teens about Israel and the Middle East, and giving them skills to address bigotry and injustice of Anti-Semitism. Masha has a Bachelor of Science degree, completed Center for Israel Education’s certificate program, and is now a member of the Yeshiva University’s Experiential Jewish Education Regional Cohort. She lives in San Mateo with her two children.
Organization
Club Z
www.clubzteens.org45 McLellan Ave, San Mateo, CA 94403
Mission:
Club Z is a youth movement that fosters a commitment to Israel and Zionism among today’s teens. We empower young people to become leaders with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to stand up to anti-Semitism, bias, and ignorance.
