Our World ORT Mensch of the Month is Jennifer Brunton, our Archivist and Records Manager.
For Jen, who holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in Archives and Records Management from the University of Dundee, it was an exciting challenge to succeed her predecessor, Rachel Bracha, who curated the World ORT Historical Archive for more than 20 years.
Jen began her role at a particularly demanding moment. Archive documents and artefacts had been moved off-site, and major programs were already underway: reassessing stored materials, digitizing key items, and integrating ORT’s historical legacy into our digital ecosystem.
Jen successfully completed the final report to the Rothschild Foundation, which sponsors the World ORT Archive website. The site is a critically important tool for sharing the richness of ORT’s history with the ORT network, supporters, researchers, and the wider public.
Over her three years at World ORT, Jen has developed deep knowledge of ORT, its roots, key milestones, and the specific contexts of national organizations. Her professional accounts of ORT’s work across many countries provide valuable historical context that supports World ORT leadership in strategic decision-making.
She also manages a wide range of ongoing institutional demands that require expert attention daily, including digital preservation; integrating current and historical records; responding to individual enquiries; assessing printed and digital materials for retention; and maintaining close working relationships with partners and ORT colleagues overseas.
Jen’s impact extends well beyond ORT’s archive itself. Most recently, she represented World ORT at the Association of Jewish Refugees’ Kristallnacht event at Belsize Square, speaking on World ORT’s behalf with real clarity and emotional force. The event was widely regarded as an outstanding success: it generated strong engagement with our materials and renewed interest among attendees in learning more about ORT, evidence of Jen’s growing role as a confident and compelling ambassador for the organization.