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Hillary Zaken joined ¾Ã¾ÃÈÈ in 2017. She worked for Jewish Life until 2022, when she moved into multifaith work for the Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life where she currently serves as the Director of Multifaith Programming and Engagement, and works to advance religious literacy and multifaith education, interfaith understanding and bias prevention, student leadership development, inclusive programming, and campus-wide initiatives that support engagement with diverse religious, spiritual, ethical, and cultural worldviews and traditions

Zaken lives her life in full color and hopes to inspire others to do the same; she has a passion for empowering others to affirm and celebrate their own identities.

Zaken holds her BA in Religion and Jewish Studies from Bard College, and a Masters in Jewish Professional Studies from the Spertus Institute for Jewish Leadership and Learning. She also studied at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, completing coursework towards a MA in Bible Studies.

At Elon, Zaken currently serves on the Jewish Studies Advisory Board, the Student Life Assessment committee, the Multifaith Strategic Plan implementation team, and the Dialogues Workgroup, and acts as advisor for LEAF (Lutherans, Episcopalians and Friends), APSA (Asian Pacific Student Association), the Ripple Conference, and the Viewpoints Fellowship.

Outside of work, Zaken serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for Reconsidered Goods, a creative reuse nonprofit, on the Editorial Board for Shalom Greensboro (the Greensboro Jewish Federation’s magazine), as a Communications lead for Guilford for All, and was a fellow with the Avodah Institute for Social Change in 2021-22.