More bios and photos will be posted as they become available.
Kim Carter grew up in New Jersey and has lived on the West Coast for the last 15 years. She works in the social justice field, helping workers win fair treatment and good working conditions on the job. Kim is a member of Temple Beth Abraham, a conservative synagogue in Oakland, and sits on the Regional Council of the Progressive Jewish Alliance/Jewish Funds for Social Justice.
Shayna Maxine Gelender serves as the Organizing & Community Engagement Director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California where she supervises the organizing team, leads planning and implementation of community engagement and membership recruitment programs, and develops organizing strategies for grassroots participation in advocacy campaigns. She has worked with ACLU for over 10 years in the areas of youth empowerment, field, and community organizing. Shayna was named Emerging Social Justice Leader in 2009 by the Progressive Jewish Alliance, where she now co-chairs the Bay Area Regional Council for the combined organization Progressive Jewish Alliance & Jewish Funds for Justice. Shayna is a founder and former Membership Director of the Good Ol’ Girls as well as former Membership Director of the East Bay Young Democrats. In 2004, Shayna earned a bachelor’s degree in Public Policy from Mills College in Oakland, California. She lives with her partner in Alameda. (Photo by Bob Hsiang Photography)
A community Maggid, wilderness guide, youth mentor, environmental educator and attorney, Zelig Golden brings over a decade of visionary leadership to the Jewish environmental movement. To help connect people and community to their highest purpose, Zelig develops and guides programs such as the Jewish Vision Quest, B’naiture, and Wilderness Torah’s annual cycle of land-based pilgrimage festivals. A former member of the Hazon Board of Directors, he co-chaired Hazon’s 2008 Food Conference. Zelig derives much inspiration from his 2006 season farming, teaching and pickling at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center’s Adamah program; as well as his years as a Colorado Outward Bound instructor, an Alaskan back country park ranger and a life-long explorer of wild places. Until recently, he worked as an environmental attorney for the Center for Food Safety to protect our food and farms. Zelig holds a B.S. in ecology from the University of Washington and a J.D. from the Berkeley School of Law. He received smicha from Reb Zalman Schacter-Shalomi as Maggid, Gabbai, and Mentor of Torah on Lag B’Omer 5771. He teaches at his home congregation, Chochmat HaLev, in Berkeley.
Mira Pertz has taught Hebrew and Judaic Studies at Tehiyah for 13 years, and loves to incorporate songs and plays with her classes so that the students are engaged on many levels. This past summer, she traveled to Boston for an intensive course on teaching NETA, and will return for a follow-up course this coming summer. Mira graduated cum laude from Technion Institute in Israel, where she got her teaching certificate. She taught for six years in Israel before immigrating to the USA in 1994. She worked for the Israeli Consulate and taught Hebrew at Temple Emanuel and Hebrew Academy prior to joining Tehiyah’s faculty. Mira’s three children all attended Tehiyah. Her two oldest are currently in the Israeli army. Her youngest, Lior, is in eighth grade. In her spare time, Mira likes to sing, exercise, do yoga, and visit museums. She is currently training for the Run for Tehiyah marathon in March.
Robi Feliz Saphyra is an executive assistant at the Oshman Family JCC.
Rona Teitelman is a member of Beth Israel in Berkeley and her son attends Oakland Hebrew Day School. She is also a member of the Berkeley Midrasha board.
