Join Zack Ellis, CEO of TheirStory, and Alisha Babbstein, Director of Collections & Exhibitions at the Oregon Jewish Museum & Center for Holocaust Education (OJMCHE), as they discuss how OJMCHE has leveraged technology and volunteer engagement to reinvigorate and grow their oral history program. They'll dive into OJMCHE's use of TheirStory to engage over 30 volunteer interviewers, process existing oral histories, and incorporate these stories into OJMCHE programming and exhibitions.
Zack Ellis Bio:
Zack Ellis is the Founder & CEO of TheirStory, an end-to-end oral history platform. Zack was a Division 1 wrestler at the University of Pennsylvania where he earned his Bachelors in bioengineering. After college, Zack spent 6 years in Silicon Valley working in industries ranging from API Management, to Home Health Care, and Math Education Technology. As the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, he founded TheirStory in 2018 as a means of sharing and preserving family stories. Since then, however, TheirStory has evolved into a platform used by over 120 organizations -- including America250, 9/11 Museum, Idaho State Historical Society, Los Angeles Public Library, and University of Wisconsin -- to collect, preserve, and share the stories of their community members, for generations to come.
Alisha Babbstein Bio:
Alisha Babbstein is the Director of Collections and Exhibitions at the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education (OJMCHE), where she has served since 2013. She oversees the museum’s archival collections, oral history projects, and the development and rotation of permanent and temporary exhibitions. Alisha also plays a key role in strategic planning and policy development, working closely with curators, artists, and community partners to ensure Oregon’s Jewish history is preserved, accessible, and meaningfully shared.
A committed advocate for community-driven archives, Alisha manages the museum’s Oral History Program and mentors interns and volunteers in collection stewardship. Her work is rooted in the belief that every story matters and that protecting these stories strengthens connections across Oregon and beyond.
She earned her Master’s in Library and Information Science from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and a Bachelor’s degree in Women’s & Gender Studies and Biology from the University of Oregon. Before joining OJMCHE, Alisha worked in academic and local government archives, eventually finding her professional home in cultural preservation and public history.
Alisha is the recipient of the Laurie Rogoway Award for outstanding professional and community leadership. Outside the museum, she enjoys building projects, playing pickleball, and remains a devoted Dolly Parton enthusiast.
Photo: Kathleen Daly, recipient of the annual OMA member recognition award, and her mother, at the 2019 Annual Conference.