Leadership Team

Director

Jill Doctor

After graduating from McGill University with a Bachelor of Education, Jill was a director for Westcoast Connections. After meeting her husband in New Zealand, she spent the next 5 years there working as a facilitator at an outdoor education centre and as corporate team building manager. Upon returning home, she continued her love of working with teens as Director of BBYO (Montreal), and then moved to Ottawa with her family in 2010, where she joined Ganon Preschool as an early childcare teacher.

Jill has been an instrumental part of CBB since she joined in 2019, building and growing our camp, campers and staff for the future. We are very fortunate to have her leading our CBB community.

Assistant Director

Justin Shulman

The foundation of Justin’s current leadership skills were undoubtedly built at CBB Ottawa. From camper to CIT, staff to supervisor, Justin’s personal and professional progress were positively shaped by his experiences within the gates of the Camp. Some of Justin’s fondest memories include leading numerous canoe trips as supervisor of the tripping program.

Justin returned to CBBO as Assistant Director in 2008, a role he has mostly continued for over 10 years (with a short break to be with his young family). He is looking forward to another successful summer and feels fortunate to be able to share this experience of a lifetime with his wife Jess and their two children.

Justin is the proud Principal of Knoxdale Public School, within the Ottawa Carleton District School Board. Throughout the school year, Justin’s primary focus is the education, well-being, and growth of all his students and staff. He is thrilled to be working alongside a fantastic team to bring our community the best summer camp experience for our campers and staff.

DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMING & STAFF DEVELOPMENT

Derek Swarcok

Derek joined camp in November 2023 as Operations Manager, and he has already become an essential part of the Leadership Team, working on camp operations, events and organizational management behind the scenes. As we approach the summer, Derek will be shifting his focus to Programming and Staff Development, allowing us to take full advantage of his 16 years of experience creating transformative sessions for kids of all ages.

Derek has been part of Jewish summer camp communities since the age of five, spending most of his summers as a camper at CBB Montreal and as a staff member at Tamarack camps. Sixteen years after his last summer of camp he found himself lined up with the mission and values of CBBO, and he can’t express enough how excited he is to be part of our family.

OPERATIONS MANAGER

Dan Denofksy

Dan attended CBB of Ottawa for many years through the 90s and 2000s! He started his camp journey as a B Boy and continued to fall in love with the magic of CBB even more as a staff member. Through the 2000s, Dan did it all! He worked as a specialist on Tennis, Bunk Staff in B Boys, Senior Boys, and Pathfinder Boys. He spent many years as a Unit Head for B Boys and Senior Boys, eventually joining the Admin Team in 2007 as the Program Director. For the last 2 decades, Dan has run the day-to-day operations of Kiddie Kobbler St. Laurent, Canada’s busiest independent children’s shoe store. Working with children and families is a real passion of his.

Each time Dan returned to visit camp, usually for the annual Sports Night Fundraiser each summer, Dan always imagined how incredible it would be to return to work at camp. This summer, that dream is becoming reality! He is beyond excited to be back at camp, and is counting down the days, hours, and minutes until he can share his excitement and love for CBB with the whole camp family!

Past Directors

Cindy Presser Benedek

Cindy’s dream has always been to return to the place where her passion for working with children was seeded – CBB of Ottawa! Cindy attended CBB of Ottawa from 1982-1994.

Cindy has built a career working with children at all levels of Jewish education. Cindy graduated from York University with an undergraduate degree in Psychology and certification in Early Childhood Education. She launched her teaching career at The Children’s Place in Ottawa, a not-for-profit childcare organization, serving children from infants through school age and as a kindergarten classroom teacher, before quickly moving into the role of Program Supervisor. She also administrated the Summer Program for children ages 5-12, planning the curriculum, training and supervising staff.

When Cindy’s husband, Joey, was recruited to Microsoft in Seattle, Washington, she served as the Assistant Head of School at The Jewish Day School of Metropolitan Seattle, managing the Preschool and Admissions. Cindy thrived in this role, where she was responsible for the children’s academic, social and emotional development as well as the school’s operations. When Cindy and her family moved back to Canada 7 years ago, Cindy accepted the role of Director of Communications at The Leo Baeck Day School in Toronto where she has been responsible for all marketing, advertising and community communications.

For 10 years, Cindy worked full-time for Camp B’nai Brith of Ottawa, and has recently moved on to start a new division of Camp Canada, bringing Israeli staff to summer camps across Canada.

Jonathan Pivnick

Jonathan Pivnick returned to Camp B’nai Brith of Ottawa as Director in 2008, continuing a camp career that has spanned the period from the late 60s to the 21st century at CBB of Ottawa. Piv’s background and experience are helping CBB of Ottawa continue to move forward, building upon the camp’s strengths and traditions.

Jonathan has worked with children, adolescents and the community his entire adult life. He has taught, mentored and been an administrator in education, sports and camping.

With a degree in mathematics and education, both from Queen’s University, and qualifications in special education and guidance, Piv enjoyed a most rewarding career in the teaching profession. He spent 31 years serving the Ottawa community as a teacher at Sir Robert Borden High School and a longtime coach on the local hockey and lacrosse scene before retiring in 2008. During that time, he coached many high school sports including hockey, wrestling, baseball, and lacrosse. Piv was a math teacher for 27 years and spent his final four years in the guidance department where he assisted students with the many issues that they deal with in their daily lives.

Jonathan enjoys working with children and believes that going to camp provides an excellent opportunity for campers and staff alike to partake in new experiences and meet new people in a Jewish environment. Piv has seen first hand how the camp experience helps to develop an individual’s confidence and independence, lifelong friendships, and a strong commitment to the Jewish Community.

The Pivnicks are all alumni of CBB of Ottawa. Jonathan met his wife, Heidi (Portigal), at camp while she worked on the horseback riding program.

Jon remains involved with CBB, including capital renewal projects, disposal and acquisition of major equipment, alumni engagement and special projects.