Rabbi Shlomo Porter is the executive director of the Etz Chaim Center for Jewish Learning.
Rabbi Porter is originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he was raised by his parents who began their life anew in America after spending World War II in the Jewish-Russian partisan movement.
Rabbi Porter's parents, together with his mentors, Rabbi Michel and Rebbetzin Feige Twerski, had a profound influence on his life and encouraged him to attend Beis Medrash L'Torah, a yeshiva high school in Skokie, Illinois.
From 1974 to 1977, Rabbi Porter organized SEED (Summer Educational and Enrichment Development) programs in Milwaukee.
In 1981, Rabbi Porter moved back to Baltimore to expand and direct the Etz Chaim Center of Jewish Studies, a multi-level program of outreach and adult learning which has reached over 10,000 Jews of every affiliation.