Jacob B. Handelman serves on the Chicago Advisory Council at Avodah. He is a lawyer by trade and enjoys a passion for making communities safer and giving medium-income families a chance to own a home instead of renting. He loves … Continue reading
18th Jun, 2020
Abby White serves on the Chicago Advisory Council at Avodah. She is an alum of the Avodah Justice Fellowship in Chicago. She grew up in Evanston, IL and holds a B.A. in Public Policy from the University of Michigan. After spending … Continue reading
18th Jun, 2020
Jessica Schaffer serves on the Chicago Advisory Council at Avodah. An Avodah Alumna (Chicago ’07-08), Jessica serves as Director of HIAS Immigration & Citizenship, part of JCFS Chicago’s family of services. She has more than a decade of experience working with … Continue reading
17th Jun, 2020
Absera Melaku serves on the Board and Chicago Advisory Council at Avodah. She is a public health practitioner with a specialized focus in health equity and social justice, adolescent health and youth development, and community-based public health programming, implementation, and … Continue reading
5th May, 2020
Tessa Zevallos joined the Avodah Team in 2019 as the National Director of Strategic Partnerships. In her position, Tessa leads the strategic efforts to grow Avodah’s network of allies, supporters, and champions and build sustainable support for Avodah’s high-impact work across … Continue reading
28th Oct, 2019
Ilana Zafran Walden serves on the Board and Chicago Advisory Council at Avodah. She is the Director of the Chicago Student Success Initiative for Chicago Public Schools (CPS). In this role she leads a district wide collaboration with University of Chicago … Continue reading
14th Mar, 2017
Sarah Thompson is the executive director of Christian Peacemaker Teams. She’s from Elkhart, Indiana (traditionally Potawatomi land) and now lives in Chicago, Illinois. She received her MDiv from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in 2011 and graduated summa cum laude from … Continue reading
1st Mar, 2017
Ursula Wagner wasn’t sure if she was in the right place on her first day as an Avodah Justice Fellow, but it didn’t take long for her to realize that she was exactly where she belonged. Ursula is a social … Continue reading
30th Dec, 2016
Growing up as the child of a rabbi, Ben Levenson was surrounded by Jewish life, attending day school during the year and Jewish camp during the summer. As he grew older, there was a long period when he distanced himself … Continue reading
28th Dec, 2016
Rabbi Aryeh Bernstein is Avodah’s National Educator and Chicago Justice Fellowship Director. Aryeh also works as Educational Consultant for the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, Staff Educator for Farm Forward’s Jewish Initiative for Animals, and Coordinator and Teacher for Mishkan … Continue reading
11th Sep, 2016