Executive Director

Abby Levine (she/her) is the first executive director of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable. Under her leadership, the Roundtable has grown from 20 to 75 affiliated organizations and from 2 to 10 staff, supported sector-wide efforts on racial inclusion and organizational culture, and organized conferences of hundreds of people from across the network. Previously, Abby led a coalition of 30 local progressive organizations in Columbus, Ohio, with America Votes, served as the founding San Francisco staff member for Progressive Jewish Alliance, now Bend the Arc, and worked in development for DC Vote, which works for DC statehood.

Abby is a Senior Schusterman Fellow, a Jewish leadership program and serves on the boards of National Religious Partnership on the Environment and Faith in Public Life. She has a BA in political science from Yale University and lives in Washington, DC, with her family.

New York Regional Coordinator

Eleni (she/they) is a social worker, educator, and organizer working at the intersection of individual and societal transformation. Eleni most recently came from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene where she coached leaders in Brooklyn public school districts in building holistic, equity-centered student supports, family engagement and staff training. Prior to DOHMH, Eleni worked in schools, youth shelters, and community centers facilitating mental health and advocacy work with NYC youth. Her work is grounded in two decades of participation in racial justice movement spaces, primarily supporting the development of political education and healing-centered leadership development models.

Eleni is an adjunct professor at several schools of social work across NYC, where she teaches on contemporary social issues and community well-being, community organizing, and practice implications within systems of oppression. Eleni is a licensed clinical social worker in New York State. She received her Master's in Social Work from Columbia University and BA from Macalester College. A fifth generation Brookynite, Eleni is dedicated to cultivating a more just city where everyone can thrive.

LA Coordinator

Eric (he/him) is a writer, civil rights activist, and cultural critic. He has worked as a paralegal at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Senior Policy Advisor at the ACLU of Southern California, and Southern California Regional Director of Progressive Jewish Alliance (now Bend the Arc). Of African-American, Native-American, and Russian and Polish Jewish ancestry, Eric is a longtime leader in local and national Jews of Color circles; has worked as an equity, diversity, and inclusion consultant within the Jewish community; and serves on the board of the Jewish Multiracial Network, for whom he wrote the Kaddish for Black Lives in 2020. A respected cultural critic, he has written or contributed to half a dozen books on race, the arts, and politics. Eric studied Religion at Wesleyan University in Connecticut and Pardes in Jerusalem, and was a CORO fellow in New York before attending Stanford Law School, where he served as vice president of the Black Law Students Association and was a founder of the West Coast Conference on Progressive Lawyering.

Director of Racial Equity and Inclusion

Leili (she/her) joined the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable with 11 years experience of grassroots organizing, facilitation, and leadership development. She previously organized state-level campaigns in support of labor rights for domestic workers in California as well as local school funding formula campaigns in Los Angeles. Most recently, Leili was the Selah Program Director at Bend the Arc where she led two cohorts dedicated to Jewish People of Color.

Three core values that guide her life and work are: (1) To honor that each human being is created in the image of the Divine and should be treated as such, (2) Accountability is core in creating the world we want, and (3) There is a place for love within conflict. Leili joined the team to support the Jewish social justice field and its journey towards honoring race equity and inclusion within its organizations.

She has a BA in Political Science from New Mexico State University and an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. As a woman of Mexican and Iranian heritages, Leili takes pride in cooking family recipes including Khoresh Bademjan that her Iranian late father taught her, as well as her mom’s enchiladas. She lives on the ancestral land of the Kikapoo tribe (Dallas, TX).

Advisor

Pippi (she/her) is a nationally recognized organizational psychologist, facilitator, trainer, and leadership coach who has trained thousands of people at nonprofits, universities, schools, and activist groups across the country. Her coaching approach draws on ethical leadership techniques, systems theory, and social psychological research to help people translate their principles into concrete practices and behaviors and work towards building a personal life and work life that they love and feel proud of. She received her MA in Social-Organizational Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University. To learn more about Pippi's work or access her free social justice education resources, visit pippikessler.org.

Senior Director of Organizational Change and Culture

Rachel (she/her or they/them) is an organizer, facilitator, and strategist who believes that by supporting groups to center their values in their projects and internal processes we can practice creating the future we all want to live in. She has assisted dozens of organizations to create liberatory strategies, move through conflict, and implement equitable governance practices.

Deputy Director

Roberta (she/her) joined the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable as the first deputy director. A lawyer by training, she spent most of her career working as senior pro bono counsel and director of programs at a large law firm in Washington, DC. Roberta also has worked as a field organizer supporting a statewide ballot initiative to increase public education funding, a community organizer of businesses supporting paid family and medical leave, a federal judicial law clerk, and a sixth-grade teacher with Teach for America. Roberta received an Abraham Joshua Heschel award from Jews United for Justice in 2015. She holds a JD from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law and a Master of Public Affairs from UT's LBJ School of Public Affairs. She earned her BA from Smith College. She lives in Denver, Colorado.

Development Manager

Sarah (she/her) joined the Roundtable with 20 years of experience in Jewish nonprofits. Previously, Sarah was the executive director of Santa Cruz Hillel and most recently the deputy director of Carolina Jews for Justice. She believes that honest dialogue, powerful connections, and institutional commitments to justice will change the world. She's passionate about creating financially secure organizations, with a focus on sustainable, values-based budgeting and fundraising models. 

Of Moroccan heritage, she works within Jewish communities to educate on Ashkenormativity and create Jewish institutions that are truly reflective of our community's diversity. She has a BA in Political Science, BA in Hebrew Letters, MA in Jewish Education, and MBA in Nonprofit Management. In addition to formal education, Sarah was an Avodah Institute for Social Change fellow and trained in Resetting the Table facilitation. While forever a Californian, Sarah currently resides on Occoneechee land (Chapel Hill, NC) with her family.

Manager of Operations

Sophia (she/her) joined the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable after many years of living in Israel running operations at start-ups and in tourism, developing programming and protocol for a wide range of events and groups. Sophia has always loved to study Judaism and religion and considers herself exceptionally lucky to have had the opportunity over the years to study religion in Spain and Argentina, completing a Bachelor's degree in Religious Studies at American University and learning Spanish along the way. Her commitment to and passion for social justice took root early as a camper and counselor at Habonim Dror’s Camp Galil, where she discovered the joy of using her skills as an administrator and logistician to support leaders and visionaries affecting change. Sophia returned to Philadelphia after 10 years away to practice progressive inclusive Judaism and live closer to many of her family and friends.

San Francisco Bay Area Coordinator

Talia (she/her) is a body liberation coach, social change activist, and educator. She initially learned the skills of organizing and facilitation as a youth participant of Jewish Youth for Community Action (JYCA), an organization she later ran for seven years. It was as the executive director of JYCA that Talia was first introduced to the Roundtable and began to connect with the broader Jewish social justice community. As a certified coach, Talia partners with individuals and teams to explore a variety of topics including career transitions, life planning, supporting young people, creativity, and movement work, as well body image and intuitive eating. Talia is also a singer/songwriter and hosts weekly body love mini dance parties and annual body love open mics. Learn more at taliacoopercoaching.com.