Jason Howard

Board Member

Melanie Kay

Board Member

Melanie Kay joined the University of Colorado Law School faculty in 2015. She teaches courses on legal ethics, professional responsibility, and ethical organizational and professional culture. She directs the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Collegiate Program at Colorado Law, which helps law students develop strong ethical, professional identities through programming and hands-on opportunities.

Professor Kay co-directs Colorado Law's Master of Studies in Law in Ethics and Compliance program and serves as a Senior Fellow with the Silicon Flatirons Center. Before joining Colorado Law, she practiced environmental law with Earthjustice in Denver and general civil litigation at Latham & Watkins in San Francisco and Wheeler Trigg O'Donnell in Denver. She earned her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, her M.S. in Geology/Environmental Geochemistry from the University of Montana, and her A.B. in Earth Sciences from Dartmouth College.

Jason Oruch

Board Member

Jason currently serves as Senior Director of Development at JEWISHcolorado, where he has worked since relocating to Denver in 2019. In this role, he leverages data-driven strategies to guide the organization’s annual campaign planning and provide day-to-day leadership for the Development Team. During his tenure, Jason has led 10 digital fundraising campaigns that collectively raised more than $1.7 million. He also created and continues to lead Jewish Days of Giving, the only statewide Jewish giving event in North America.

Prior to joining JEWISHcolorado, Jason spent seven years as a Hillel professional, including serving as Hillel Director at the University of Hartford. In recognition of his leadership and impact, he received the 2016 Richard M. Joel Exemplar of Excellence Award.

Jason joined the CU Boulder Hillel Board of Directors in August 2021. His commitment to Jewish communal leadership began as a student member of the KU Hillel Board of Directors at the University of Kansas, an experience that helped launch his career in the Jewish nonprofit sector.

Susan Rona

Board Member

Susan Rona serves on the CU Boulder Hillel Board and is the ADL Mountain States Regional Director, bringing extensive expertise in community engagement, nonprofit management, and strategic leadership. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, Susan previously led transformative work at the Boulder JCC, playing a crucial role in funding and developing their new campus, and provided strategic consulting to nonprofits through Susan Rona & Associates, LLC.

Her community involvement has included serving on the Jewish Life Committee at Rose Community Foundation and volunteering as a mediator with the Boulder County Sheriff's Office. Susan is passionate about CU Boulder Hillel's work because of the critical role it plays in supporting Jewish students on campus, particularly during this challenging time when they need community, resources, and strong advocacy more than ever.

Linda Shapiro Manning

Board Member

Linda brings a depth and breadth of knowledge from her professional experience spanning 30 years in clinical care, clinical research, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, and academia. She is a strong patient and student advocate and has previously served on non-profit boards, including training as an OnBoard Fellow.

Linda went to high school in Denver, where she was active in BBYO. She completed her undergraduate studies at USC, where she was active in Hillel, earned her MD at Tulane, and completed her PhD and post-doctoral fellowship at CU Boulder, where she was also on the research and teaching faculty. Linda lives with her husband Dave and their furbabies, and she enjoys the opportunity to support Hillel and engage in Tikkun Olam for future generations.