Ayelet Oreg

Ayelet Oreg’s research focuses on the motivations for philanthropic giving in response to personal loss. In her dissertation research, she studies the motivations of bereaved mothers to donate their human milk to nonprofit milk banks. She finds that the process of expressing and donating the milk helps these women reframe the meanings of their loss. In addition, Ayelet studies Grassroots International NGOs (GINGOs) that have been established by refugees. She examines how refugees’ philanthropic giving serves as a process for meaning-making following trauma, grief and loss. In other research she explores the notion of ambivalent philanthropy, in specific socio-cultural and political contexts in the US and Israel. Ayelet is a lecturer and field experience coordinator at the International Program in Crisis and Trauma of the Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University in Israel.