Next Dor St. Louis

Benj was born and raised in St. Louis.  After attending Epstein Hebrew Academy and Block Yeshiva High School, he earned his degree in Aerospace Engineering at Boston University and spent an exciting year working for Delta Airlines in Macon, Georgia.  Back in St. Louis, he is working at Announce Media, a web company, while earning his MBA part-time at St. Louis University.  He is excited about the emergence of Next Dor as startup and it's transition to a sustainable organization for the young Jewish community in St. Louis.  "It's much harder for my friends in other cities, where the Jewish community lacks the same type of support and organization that Next Dor provides." 

_Originally from Atlanta, Jessica went to college in Pennsylvania, studied abroad in New Zealand and Venezuela, and spent lots of time as a camp counselor in North Carolina. After earning a Master's in Social Work with a concentration in nonprofit management from UGA in 2011, Jessica moved to STL, ready for a new adventure. Jessica looks forward to helping Next Dor STL expand in the next year!

Mel Paticoff grew up on Long Island, New York. She was inspired to work with children with hearing loss by her cousin Julie, who is profoundly deaf and uses two cochlear implants to hear. In 2011, she graduated from Fontbonne University with a degree in deaf education and is currently working towards a master's in deaf education through the Program in Audiology and Communication Sciences at Washington University School of Medicine. In 2010, Mel published her first children's book, Sophie's Tales: Learning to Listen, the story of a little dog with hearing loss inspired by Julie and her own certified-therapy-dog, Sophie. Mel is excited to join the Next D'Or board along with her best friend, Amy, who recently moved to St. Louis and with whom she shares the food blog "It Takes Two" on Jewish in St Louis' site. Mel loves being a part of the Jewish community in St. Louis and hopes to help welcome new members to Next D'Or just as she was welcomed by the organization not that long ago.

Rachel Lippmann did go to high school in St. Louis, (and was classmates with another board member) but she absolutely detests THAT question. She's looking forward to the chance to help grow Next Dor as a place where the answer doesn't matter. In the "real world," Rachel is a reporter and anchor with the local NPR affiliate, and is hence always looking for cool stories to tell. When she has the time, she's on a quest for good food, good friends, good music, good books and good baseball, and generally has pretty good luck finding all five in the St. Louis area. 

Amy Pakett recently moved to St. Louis after graduating from Lehigh University in 2011 where she earned a degree in Marketing and Communications. She first came to St. Louis in 2010 for an internship with Build-A-Bear Workshop at their corporate headquarters in Overland. Amy later pursued a career with the company and currently works for Build-A-Bear Workshop doing Public Relations. She is excited to become more involved in Next Dor and help grow the organization that was so welcoming upon her arrival to St. Louis.

Bio coming soon...

Bio coming soon...

b. 1976 Saint Louis

raised: Saint Louis

  Went to: St. Louis Community College

School of Museum of Fine Arts in Boston

Graduated: San Francisco Art Institute 1999

Currently an artist in residence at Next Dor in Saint Louis, Missouri for 2011.

Has lived in: Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Austin

now: Saint Louis

Has been a: barista, usher, laborer, bike messenger, desk clerk/janitor in a non-profit hotel for homeless, and now a union carpenter.