Fall 2024 Capacity Building Grants Cycle

Dr. Guila Benchimol (she/her) is a researcher, educator, consultant, and victim advocate whose work focuses on gender, abuse, and power. She holds a PhD in Sociological Criminology from the University of Guelph and is also a trained restorative and transformative justice facilitator. Guila was one of the key advisors who guided the launch of the SRE Network ,and she continues to serve as their Senior Advisor on Research and Learning while consulting on other projects. She has been invited to address Jewish professionals and clergy across Canada and the US, as well as other faith communities where she educates, trains, and develops and implements policies on abuse prevention and intervention. Guila also sits on the board of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and is a research associate at the Center for the Study of Social and Legal Responses to Violence where she has worked on projects related to homicides and domestic violence deaths. Her first 10+ year career as a Jewish educator, in and outside of the Orthodox Jewish community, informed her understanding of the need to address victimization of all kinds. Previously, Guila was the Director of Judaic Studies at Tiferes Bais Yaakov where she also taught Tanach to grades 9 through 12. She was also the Managing Director for the National Conference of Synagogue Youth (NCSY) in Canada, where she founded and directed an international camp for high school girls. Guila lives in Toronto, Ontario and she was raised in the Spanish-Moroccan community there which was built by the families who fled Tangier.

Rabba Sara Hurwitz is the first woman to be publicly ordained as an Orthodox rabbi. She is the Co-founder and President of Yeshivat Maharat and, since 2003, has served on the Rabbinic staff at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale - The Bayit.   

Rabba Sara was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and moved with her family to Boca Raton, Florida at the age of twelve. Since she was a child, she enjoyed being part of the Jewish community.  Her ultimate goal became amusingly clear when, as a high school student, she was advised by a vocational counselor, based on a test, that she was best suited to be a member of the clergy.

After attending Midreshet Lindenbaum in Israel, she entered Barnard College, majoring in Psychology in New York and quickly became involved in a student run organization called Lights in Action, connecting other Jewish students to Judaism by teaching topics relevant to their lives.  Subsequently, she assumed leadership positions in various Jewish organizations, including Lights in Action, which she directed for several years. She also began to lecture and teach in different venues such as CLAL, JCC, and various synagogues around the country.

After graduating from Drisha Institute’s Scholar Circle Program, she began to work as an intern with Rabbi Avi Weiss at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale - The Bayit. Over the seven years that she worked with Rabbi Weiss, she studied under his auspices, eventually gaining the necessary training to serve as a spiritual and halachic leader and was officially conferred in a public ceremony at The Bayit in March 2009.  She and Rabbi Weiss co-founded Yeshivat Maharat in October 2009, when it opened with three students.

Rabba Sara finds joy in helping other people realize their dreams.  She sees herself as an enabler -- providing a credentialed pathway for women to pursue a career that for so many years was not open to them.  

Rabba Sara lives in Riverdale, New York with her husband‭, ‬Josh Abraham‭, ‬and her sons Yonah‭, ‬Zacharya‭, ‬Davidi and Natan.‭

Sarah Levin (she/her) is the Executive Director of JIMENA: Jews Indigenous to the Middle East. At JIMENA, Sarah has conceptualized and developed a number of campaigns and projects for Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews to explore, preserve, protect and share their heritage, identities, and experiences. In partnership with a multitude of organizations and activists, Sarah is proud to continue leading domestic and international efforts to pursue acknowledgement, justice, and redress for Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews.

Sarah produced, launched, and directs JIMENA’s multi-lingual Oral History and Digital Experience Program, JIMENA’s Arabic Outreach Program, JIMENA’s Day School Initiative, and various education, advocacy, social media, and community outreach campaigns. Sarah has produced hundreds of cultural events nation-wide and has developed international partnerships with a multitude of organizations, universities, museums, and public offices. Sarah has also provided briefs on Jewish refugees from Arab countries to the Canadian Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development and the US Department of State. She has also lectured at Ben Gurion University and Bar Ilan University.

Prior to joining JIMENA, Sarah spent six years in Israel where she contributed to social service programs in a variety of capacities through her work at different non-profit organizations, mainly NATAL: Israel Trauma Center for Victims of Terror and War. Sarah is passionate about ecology, human rights, and is an avid organic gardener. A proud mixed Turkish-Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jew, Sarah lives in Northern California with her husband and two sons.

Gamal Palmer (he/him) is a Leadership Development and Diversity and Inclusion Specialist

Principal and Founder of Conscious Builders, a Global Consulting firm helping organizations, companies and networks shift their culture and practices, Gamal is a graduate of Yale, was a student at Oxford University and has an extensive background in organizational leadership and inclusion. Recently, Gamal completed nearly nine years as a Senior Vice President at the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles where he was the only person of color in senior leadership. In his final tenure at the Los Angeles Federation, Gamal served as Senior Vice President of Leadership Development and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).

Gamal has worked with hundreds of leaders, board members, executives, educators and CEOs to help them strengthen and diversify their boards, teams and organizations. He’s worked with large-scale universities, businesses and nonprofits including Yale and Cornell University, Dreamworks, NBCU, Jordan Brand of Nike, Foresite Capital, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Wexner Heritage Fund, Sempra Energy, Live Nation, Intuit, USC Business School, and ITVS, to name a few. Through the Diversity Gym (his signature workshop), he’s worked with thousands of individuals to help them find acceptance and foster inclusion.

Gamal has years of international experience after having worked with social impact entrepreneurs in over 15 African countries, the Middle East, and the US. Gamal has been an International Career Advancement Program (ICAP) at Aspen Institute, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Los Angeles Global Justice, and a Durfee Foundation Springboard Fellow.

Gamal sits on several national boards including UpStart Lab, SRE Network and American Jewish World Service. He brings a deep understanding of the human condition and a unique ability to teach professionals how to leverage their personal stories to navigate and overcome differences. As a speaker, his TedX and many other talks focus on utilizing social impact and stepping into your power.

Dr. Deitra Reiser, (she/her) is the founder of Transform for Equity, LLC, an antiracist repair group that supports organizations and leaders in building the capacity for diversity, racial equity, and belonging. Dr. Reiser partners with organizations across the country using the framework of intersectionality to dismantle systems of oppression. She is passionate about fostering racial equity and justice within organizations with a particular interest in addressing anti-Black racism and anti-Jewish hate. Deitra partners with nonprofits, synagogues, government agencies, and corporations to further racial equity and justice within the organization. She believes that organizations will transform into equitable spaces by first focusing on individual internal change which then drives intentional systemic change. Deitra fosters greater antiracist understanding among individuals and within institutions and supports their continued growth through thoughts and actions. Her focus is on driving the internal work necessary in order to achieve transformational and lasting change. She has partnered with the Union for Reform Judaism, National Park Services, and NCJW along with other organizations across the country. Deitra has over 20 years of experience as a school psychologist and educator.

Deitra is an alumna of Bend the Arc’s Selah Leadership Program and holds a doctorate in Educational Psychology from The University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Stefanie Rhodes (she/her) is currently the CEO OF Slingshot.  She has spent the last 18 years working in Jewish philanthropy including 9 years at the Jewish Funders Network, where she ran the Younger Funders programming and was the founding Director of the Foundation Professionals program. Prior to joining the Jewish professional world, she worked in ad agencies and tech start-ups in the Bay Area.

Stefanie holds a BA in Journalism and a Certificate in Jewish Studies from Indiana University and a Certificate in Jewish Philanthropy from Yeshiva University. She is a Senior Schusterman Fellow and was a member of the inaugural CEO Onboarding cohort. Stefanie is also a member of the board of JOIN for Justice. Stefanie is married to Hue, and together they have two children.

Judith Rosenbaum (she/her) is CEO of the Jewish Women’s Archive, a pioneering digital archive that documents Jewish women’s stories, elevates their voices, and inspires them to be agents of change. She also served for a decade as the Director of Public History at JWA, and has devoted her career to creating a more inclusive, feminist history and harnessing history as a tool for social change.

An educator, historian, and writer, Judith earned a PhD in American Studies from Brown University, with a focus on women, gender, and social movements. As a Fulbright Fellow, she studied women’s collective communities in Israel. Judith teaches and lectures widely on Jewish studies and women’s studies and publishes in both academic and popular journals and anthologies. She serves on the faculty of the Bronfman Fellowship and is a Schusterman Senior Fellow. Judith lives with her family in the Boston area.

Mordy Walfish (he/him) is the Chief Advancement Officer at Leading Edge, where he works to expand Leading Edge's resources and capacity to transform the Jewish communal world.

Prior to joining Leading Edge, Mordy was Vice President for Programs at Repair the World. He is a Wexner Graduate Fellow, Schusterman Fellow, and the winner of the 2015 JPRO Network Young Professional Award.

He has served on the boards of Jewish Queer Youth and Dimensions Educational Consulting and teaches courses in strategic management and leadership coaching. He is based in Oakland, CA.