Our Team
The thirdhouse team consists of core faculty who are supported by a diverse range of guest instructors and critics from across disciplines, expertise, and perspectives.
Zvika Krieger
Zvika Krieger is the Spiritual Leader of Chochmat HaLev, an innovative spiritual community in Berkeley, California. He is co-founder of Shevet: Jewish Mindfulness Collective and co-leads the Milk+Honey camp at Burning Man.
Zvika has worked on mitigating some of the most damaging impacts of new technologies on individuals and society as Facebook/Meta's first-ever Director of Responsible Innovation, creating and leading the World Economic Forum's Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and as the US Department of State's first-ever "Ambassador to Silicon Valley." He served as Senior Strategist in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and has taught courses on design, technology, and social impact at Stanford, UC Berkeley, and the Rhode Island School of Design.
Zvika previously served as Senior Vice President of the Center for Middle East Peace, an editor and writer at The Atlantic and The New Republic, and was Newsweek’s Middle East correspondent, based in Egypt and Lebanon and covering most of the Arab world.
He has a BA from Yale University, is a certified Shadow Work facilitator and Design Thinking facilitator, certified as "God" with "Talk to God", trained as an ecstatic dance DJ by Embodied Sound, and is ordained as a rabbi in both the Hasidic and Jewish Renewal lineages. Listen to this Search Engine episode to hear about talk about God (not that God). Originally from Los Angeles, Zvika loves to surf, dance, rock climb, and sing karaoke occasionally on-key. He lives in Berkeley with his ten-year-old son.
Learn more about Zvika at www.zvikakrieger.com and follow him on Instagram at @zkrieger.
Ariel Burger
Ariel Burger is an author, teacher, and artist whose work integrates spirituality, storytelling, and strategies for social change.
His meeting, at age 15, with Holocaust survivor and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel set him on a path of spiritual searching, immersive study, and activism. Ariel received his PhD from, and served as Teaching Assistant for, Professor Wiesel, who wrote: “I have known Ariel for almost a quarter-century. He is gifted as a scholar, artist, humanist and leader. The blend of knowledge and natural teaching ability that he embodies is unique. Ariel's distinctive presence, combining creativity, insight and sensitivity with clarity of thought, makes him a natural teacher and leader, one who can help continue my work.”
Ariel grew up in New York City, an artsy kid navigating complex and diverse expressions of Jewish living, including in ultra-Orthodox settings. His quest for meaning and integration, a way to bring together all the elements of his life into a whole, led him to study for seven years in the closest thing to a monastery Judaism offers. He became a rabbi, wrote hundreds of songs and played guitar at Carnegie Hall with Richie Havens, exhibited art in galleries, danced with thousands of Breslover Hasidim at their annual pilgrimage in Ukraine, participated in dialogue groups between Jews, Muslim, and Christians, got married and had four children, got a PhD in religion and conflict transformation, illustrated folktales, became a teacher, designed cutting-edge educational projects at the Combined Jewish Philanthropies in Boston, taught, lectured, led workshops on leadership and Design Thinking, and began using storytelling to connect people across communities.
More recently, Ariel is the author of Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom, and is the Founder and Senior Scholar of The Witness Institute, whose mission is to create a more compassionate and just world through public educational programs and leadership development. The Institute’s signature Witness Fellowship educates and empowers emerging leaders in many fields, including human rights, peacemaking, and the fight for racial justice.
Ariel’s work, which catalyzes new experimental approaches to creative moral education, has been applied by learners, educators, and leaders around the world. He lives in Jerusalem and Massachusetts with his family.
Adena Philips
Adena is an organizational consultant, executive coach, and spiritual guide dedicated to helping people and organizations align with their purpose. As the founder and CEO of Rhizome Partners, she helps companies scale and adapt to change, designs and leads gatherings, and fosters purposeful leadership. With almost 20 years of experience spanning industries such as life sciences, tech, finance, foundations, and faith-based organizations, Adena collaborates with leaders and teams from innovative and fast-growing organizations to navigate transitions, clarify values, and build sustainable futures rooted in authenticity. Her recent work has touched emergent issues from Future of Work, to Black Economic Empowerment in South Africa, to nuclear fusion, crypto/web3, and AI.
Raised in an Orthodox Jewish community, Adena’s spiritual journey has led her to embrace a broader spectrum of traditions, including mindfulness, Eastern philosophy, and plant medicine. She integrates her deep knowledge of Jewish practice with diverse influences, creating transformative experiences and reimagining rituals in authentic and meaningful ways. Through Kimu, she shares this approach, helping others anchor their spirituality in their own core beliefs. Read this piece for more on her approach to how we talk about belief.
Adena has helped some of today's leading Jewish institutions navigate and innovate on challenging issues, from Jewish identity to political polarization. She is a trainer and facilitator for Resetting the Table, an organization dedicated to fostering dialogue across differences.
Whether guiding influential rabbis, coaching executive teams, leading organizational transformation, or hosting events that inspire personal and collective growth, Adena’s work is defined by her unique combination of professional expertise, spiritual depth, and a passion for fostering connection and transformation.
Adena graduated summa cum laude from York University with a BA in Philosophy and Communications and earned an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business, specializing in Global Business, Strategy, and Leadership & Change. Her academic foundation informs her ability to address complex organizational challenges with creativity and clarity. Adena is based in Brooklyn but spends a good part of the year traveling the world.
Jeremy Snepar
Jeremy Snepar is an education technology entrepreneur dedicated to transforming education and career development. With a passion for innovation, he has pioneered new approaches to workforce readiness and lifelong learning. His work has connected thousands of students to careers in tech and significantly influenced national conversations around STEM education.
Jeremy is best known as the Founder and CEO of the New York Code + Design Academy (NYCDA), which he launched in 2012. The academy was among the first to offer immersive coding bootcamps, creating faster, more accessible pathways to careers in software development, UI/UX design, and technology leadership. Under Jeremy’s leadership, NYCDA expanded to 10 locations across the United States and developed partnerships with corporations and academic institutions to offer enterprise training programs. In 2016, he successfully led the sale of NYCDA to Strayer Education, Inc. (now Strategic Education, Inc.).
Earlier in his career, Jeremy worked in education, where he held roles across admissions, marketing, business development, and finance. He also served as an Analyst in the Restructuring Group at Lehman Brothers from 2006 to 2008 and as Vice President at MESA Global, where he advised early-stage technology startups on mergers, acquisitions, and capital raises.
In addition to his work with thirdhouse, Jeremy serves as the CEO and Co-Founder of Good Academy, an AI education technology startup focused on equipping nonprofit professionals with the skills to leverage AI tools in their work.
Jeremy’s commitment to community is reflected in his role as the Chief Operating Officer of Sound+Science, a non-profit organization backed by the Simons Foundation that uses music to engage New York City public high school students with physics, math, and coding. He also serves as a Board Member of the Union Square Partnership, where he actively contributes to the growth and vibrancy of the Union Square-14th Street district in New York City, demonstrating his dedication to fostering dynamic and inclusive community spaces.
A dedicated leader and advocate for education, Jeremy is known for his ability to scale organizations, foster partnerships, and create innovative pathways for learners. He resides in Manhattan with his wife and three children.
Bex Michaelson - Operations
Bex Michelson is a qualitative researcher and community builder dedicated to creating better systems for support and well-being. With a background in anthropology and an insatiable curiosity, she has spent over a decade exploring how knowledge and storytelling drive meaningful change. Whether she's enhancing digital government services or curating transformative retreats, Bex places relationships at the center of her work. Originally from San Francisco, she thrives on balancing the serenity of the countryside with the energy of city life.
