Most recently the interim director of the Synagogue Council of Massachusetts, Gretchen Marks Brandt is a fifth generation Californian and graduate of the University of California at Berkeley. She lived in Israel for several years, working at the High School in Israel (now the Alexander Muss High School in Israel) and learning at the fledgling Machon Pardes. She did graduate work in Social Psychology at Boston University with a research emphasis in Jewish Identity. She was a JTS Fellow in Educating for Applied Jewish Wisdom. She was a mentor for young adults who volunteer in the Silver Lining Buddy Program, an intergenerational program that partners young adults with senior adults, and prior to the Covid epidemic, she was an active member in the Community Hevra Kadisha.

Gretchen says that “Teaching is both what I do and who I am!” A master educator, she has learned with people from preschool through adulthood in pluralistic, Reform, Conservative and Orthodox settings and has held both teaching and leadership positions.

Gretchen loves stories, learning stories, hearing people’s stories, and sharing stories. For the past seven years, she has worked with Rabbi Dr. Michael Shire on the Torah Godly Play project collaborating on both TGP trainings and crafting Torah Godly Play scripts. She loves the calm of TGP stories and the opportunity to gently accompany people on their Jewish journeys.

A passionate Zionist and Hebrew speaker, she is a life-long learner, committed to hevruta learning. Her abundant blessings include her husband, four children and their partners, and her grandchildren, Aviya, Hodaya, Tiferet and Maor.