Abby (Gore) Farber ’21

My Mac professors modeled so beautifully how different people learn differently, how intentional conversations and a love of learning can build a space of community.

Abby (Gore) Farber ’21

Growing up, I loved my synagogue in LA, wanted to be like my teachers there, and had always considered a career in the synagogue world. I started at Mount Zion teaching in the religious school and leading youth programming while I was still in college. Now I am on the Mount Zion Leadership Team and run informal education programs for middle- and high-school students—including youth groups, retreats, camps, and holiday programming—and I do engagement and outreach for young adults.

My undergraduate and graduate programs gave me a great balance of skills. I loved the high-level and theoretical learning I got at Mac, which helped me think about the big picture in so many ways. Mac also gave me skills that are part of my job every day: writing, being intentional about how you’re having conversations, community building. And then I went to Hebrew Union College’s Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management for an MA, where I learned skills like fundraising and how to run a board. That program taught me why even in planning events for elementary schoolers, you need to understand budgets, how the board works, and how decisions get made.

For work-study, I worked as a fundraiser at the Macalester Fund and a thank-you note writer in the Advancement office. Both jobs gave me experience working with volunteers, sponsors, and potential donors and helped me think about what it meant to do nonprofit work. I wish more students knew that student employment can be meaningful work and that there are even off-campus partnerships that offer work-study jobs in meaningful community orgs.

Macalester is such a place of connection. My sophomore year, I started taking Hebrew, and then when I was on Study Abroad [when covid hit], my professor immediately emailed me to check in, and then helped me connect for online classes. I spent most of my senior year on Zoom, and professors did an amazing job holding us together. I am still friends with someone in that class; two of my Mac professors came to my wedding. I came back to the Twin Cities after graduation because I wanted that closure, and although I once thought I would end up somewhere else geographically, I love it here. The Macalester world is one of real relationships.

Last updated: October 2025