Finding Home, Building Community: Sabrina Lustgarten’s Story

Sabrina Lustgarten’s grandparents fled Poland in the aftermath of World War II and found a surprisingly welcoming community in the South American nation of Colombia. There Sabrina was born, and with other members of the Jewish diaspora, they created a fascinating blend of cultures that continues to thrive throughout Central and South America.

Sabrina moved with her parents to Quito, Ecuador, where she became the executive director of the city’s Jewish Community Center, setting the foundation for a career that would eventually bring her here to Shalom Orlando.

But first, Sabrina had a global impact to make.

In 2003, she began working in Ecuador with HIAS (a Jewish global humanitarian organization that protects refugees and immigrants). The nongovernmental, nonprofit organization helps people from around the world find safety and integrate themselves into new communities – just as Sabrina’s family did in the wake of war.

“At that time, HIAS was expanding its services beyond the Jewish community to more refugees throughout Latin America, including many from my home country of Colombia who were escaping guerrilla warfare,” Sabrina says. “It meant so much to me because I was able to take our Jewish values and use them to help families just like mine. My family knew what it felt like to leave their home not knowing what was going to happen next.”

Sabrina came to HIAS headquarters in Washington, D.C., and rose to become the organization’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. She led a team of 1,600 people and helped refugees from every corner of the world. She traveled the globe visiting war-torn regions of Africa, Central and South America, and even the border of Poland and Ukraine where her family escaped the Holocaust.

New Challenges and New Opportunities

Despite the remarkable work HIAS was doing all over the world, there was one obstacle it could not overcome. In 2025, the organization’s funding from the U.S. government was slashed, leaving HIAS gutted and Sabrina in search of her next mission.

As fate would have it, in the winter of 2025, Marni Mandell was beginning a new mission of her own as CEO of Shalom Orlando. Marni brought cutting-edge innovation and advanced fundraising skills to the role, and she was keen to hire a chief operating officer who would deftly manage the people and processes that make Shalom Orlando and The Roth Family JCC thrive every day.

The ideal candidate would be someone who: a) had advanced COO experience leading large and diverse teams, b) knew how to run a Jewish Community Center from top to bottom, and c) could reach out to people and groups who might not know a warm and welcoming community was waiting for them just inside Shalom Orlando’s doors. Sabrina fit the role perfectly.

“This is a full-circle moment for me,” Sabrina says. “It takes me back to my days at the JCC in Quito but with a full career of experience in high-level operations and an appreciation for the many different people who make up the Central Florida Jewish community. I want them all to feel and be welcomed here.”

Bienvenidos a Shalom Orlando

Naturally, Sabrina’s first goal is to engage the surprisingly robust but often unseen Latino Jewish community in and around Orlando. The demographic primarily exists today in a collage of group chats and Facebook groups, and Sabrina is eager to gather them together at the JCC with special programs and social opportunities to turn online connection into real-life support.

Her vision extends beyond the Jewish population, too, and it’s simply an evolution of her life’s work to date.

“I love helping people find and thrive in a new community,” Sabrina says, thinking back to her work with immigrants and refugees all over the world. “It’s what I’m meant to do.”

To connect with Sabrina, call 407-645-5933 x 295 or email Sabrina.Lustgarten@ShalomOrlando.org.

And, of course, ella habla español.