Joshua is Co-founder/ COO of Jumpstart, a global incubator, think tank, and catalyst for Jewish innovation based in Los Angeles. A start-up veteran with an MBA in nonprofit management who earned his BA from UC Berkeley in Mass Communications (Go Bears!), Joshua has spent the last several years writing, teaching, and advocating for innovation within the Jewish community all over the world. He is recognized leader in forward-thinking use of technology, viral communication, and community-building strategies for emerging organizations. Joshua lives with his wife Stephanie and three children, Elias, Navi, and Sarit in the house where he grew up in Venice, California.

Matt Balaban is the Development Associate and Office Manager of American Jewish World Service. Bio coming soon.

Sara is the founder, director, and one of the educators for Kevah. Prior to her work at Kevah, Sara was the founder and director of the Religion, Politics and Globalization Program at UC Berkeley, and also the founding director of The Curriculum Initiative, an organization that supports Jewish students in private schools around the country. She holds a BA in Religious Studies from Yale University, an MS in International Relations from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, and spent a year studying classical Jewish texts at the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem. She lives in Berkeley with her husband Ken Bamberger, a law professor at UC Berkeley School of Law, and their four children.

Adam is currently the executive director of Urban Adamah in Berkeley. Adam recently completed his tenure as the Executive Director of the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, an eco-spiritual retreat center and community in the Connecticut Berkshires. Adam was also the founding director of ADAMAH: The Jewish Environmental Fellowship. For three years, Adam served as the Director of the Teva Learning Center, the leading Jewish environmental education program in the United States. He holds an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley and a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Brown University.

Dana is an alumnus of the Progressive Jewish Alliance & Jewish Funds for Justices’ Jeremiah Fellowship and is serving as the Chair of the Bay Area Regional Council and sits on the Executive Committee of the National Board of Directors. Dana has a Masters of Science in Social Work from Columbia University and a Masters of Arts in Jewish Studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary. She has worked in the nonprofit management field for fifteen years as a consultant and strategic organizational developer. Past employers include: Team-Up for Youth, Year Up Bay Area, HandsOn Bay Area, Larkin Street Youth Services and Berkeley Hillel. She served as the Board Chair of the Needle Exchange Emergency Distribution in Berkeley. Dana is also an accomplished textile and installation artist whose work has been exhibited in Israel, New York and San Francisco.

Rabbi Menachem Creditor is the spiritual leader of Congregation Netivot Shalom in Berkeley, CA. He is founder of ShefaNetwork.org: The Masorti/Conservative Movement Dreaming From Within, chair of Bay Area Masorti, international cochair of Rabbis for Women of the Wall, and author of TheTisch, an electronic commentary on Jewish Spirituality. Rabbi Creditor sits on the Executive Council of the Rabbinical Assembly and is a member of the Chancellor's Rabbinic Leadership Team at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. A popular speaker at synagogues, college campuses, and various Jewish communities around the country and in Israel on questions of Jewish Identity, Leadership, Inclusion, and Spirituality, Rabbi Creditor's writings have appeared in the Forward, the Jewish Week, J. Weekly, the Jewish Advocate, the Boston Globe, Kolot: Voices of CJ, JewsbyChoice.org, Conservative Judaism, and in several Jewish anthologies.

As the LGBT director, Lisa works to build and sustain a more inclusive and welcoming Jewish community with the San Francisco based Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund. Through her community experiences teaching, organizing and building several nonprofit organizations, Lisa has focused her career on the values of social justice. To develop a deeper understanding of the social and economic issues facing her local community, she is participating in the 2012 class of Leadership San Francisco, a Chamber of Commerce program. She is also a proud member of Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, serves on the board of the National Union for LGBT Jewish University Students (NUJLS) and holds a Masters in Nonprofit Management from Regis University.

Danielle manages the Koret Foundation's programming and grants in the Jewish community, with primary responsibility for the Koret Taube Initiative on Jewish Peoplehood. Among her professional experience, she has conducted program evaluations at the New York City Department of Education and served as a political media and strategy consultant at Terris Barnes and Walters in San Francisco. She is a member of the Slingshot Fund — a pooled fund that highlights, encourages, and provides capacity-building grants to innovative Jewish organizations. Danielle received her undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and an M.P.A. in Public and Non-Profit Management and Policy at New York University's Robert F. Wagner School for Public Service.

Jordan is the Chief Program Officer of Moishe House. After graduating from Brandeis University with an MBA and Master’s in Jewish Professional Leadership he spent the next three years as the Executive Director of Hillel in Orange County, CA. His focus has been in program management and fund raising. During his time at Hillel he doubled the income of the organization and the programs offered to local college students. Perhaps his most formative professional experience was working for the Forest Foundation from its inception including witnessing the birth of Moishe House. He is deeply committed to the mission and culture of Moishe House and hopes to help increase the opportunities young Jews have to build community with their peers. Jordan is very happily married to Rachel Fruchtman and is excited to be back in his hometown of Oakland, CA. He loves snowboarding, cooking, and anything that allows him to be outdoors.

Sasha T. Goldberg is an experienced Jewish scholar, educator, and community organizer. She currently works as the Director of the Bay Area Office of Keshet, and holds a Master's Degree in Judaism from the Graduate Theological Union. Sasha has taught nationally on the intersections of various cultural, social, sexual, and religious identities. Sasha is also an enthusiast of the written word; her most recent work appears in Keep Your Wives Away From Them, and in Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme. Sasha hails from the good Midwestern stock of the United States, and makes her home in Oakland, California.

Eva Gurevich is the Programs and Events Coordinator at the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at the University of California, Berkeley. She is a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute in Photography, where she founded a student group called "The Juicy Jews". As an active participant of many aspects of young Jewish adult communal life in the Bay Area, she also wrote for oy-bay.org. Having a strong interest in the intersection of the arts and the Jewish identity, Eva is currently the Gallery Coordinator at the Contra Costa JCC in Walnut Creek.

Elizheva Hurvich is the Jewish Community Liaison at Contemporary Jewish Museum. Bio coming soon.

For the last three years, he has been working as the Senior Jewish Educator at Berkeley Hillel, and since 2009 as a lecturer at Berkeley Law. David grew up in Oakland, CA, and after college at Wesleyan University, he spent several years studying in yeshivot in Israel. He went on to rabbinical school at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York, and was ordained there in 2007. This summer he received his masters in law at Berkeley, and is currently a doctoral candidate there, writing his dissertation on religious and secular jurisprudence. David was part of Kevah's founding team and now serves as one of its Educational Advisors.

Esther is committed to creating and cultivating collaboration between established Jewish organizations and innovative initiatives. A Los Angeles-based writer, consultant and Jewish communal professional, Esther has written and consulted for many Jewish publications and organizations. A longtime consultant for the ROI Community of Jewish Innovators, Esther also works part-time as Program Coordinator for the NextGen Engagement Initiative at the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. In the last six months, Esther has engaged audiences at the BBYO International Convention, LimmudLA, Jewlicious Festival, TribeFest, the ROI Community Summit, and the LA Jewish Federation’s 2011 Master Class in Film & Television. Jewcy.com honored her in 2010 on their list of favorite Twitterers, with the coveted “Person Who Seems to Know Every Jew in the Universe” award, and in 2011 named her to The Big Jewcy, a list of 100 Jews to watch, giving her the title of “Jewish Engagement Superstar.” You can find her in many online and offline places, including Twitter (@EstherK).

Sarah Lefton is the Founding Director of G-dcast. After years in online publishing at the New York Times and two prominent advertising agencies, she moved to San Francisco to apply her new media credentials to Jewish community building work. Her time at Camp Tawonga (as staff), the JCCSF (as a board member) and two start-up prayer communities has shaped her innovative approach to Jewish education. Sarah was named to the 2009 Forward 50 most influential Jews, and is a recipient of the Joshua Venture Group fellowship for Jewish social entrepreneurs.

Brian Schachter-Brooks is the Music and Meditation Director at Chochmat HaLev. Inspired by Martin Buber’s writing while procrastinating from piano practice at High School Jazz camp, Brian began a quest for finding the inner truths of Judaism, beyond dogmas and tradition. Finding that Truth ironically led him back to tradition. He holds a Bachelor in Music from Eastman and received s’micha as a Jewish meditation teacher from Chochmat HaLev. His band, Captain Zohar, plays original Jewish devotional and concert music.

Roger is the co-founder of East Bay Minyan, a Jewish social entrepreneur and lay-leader. He has been an organizer, officer, and board member of San Francisco's Mission Minyan and served on the board of Berkeley Hillel and as co-chair of the 2010 Hazon Food Conference. Roger organized volunteers to produce organic, sustainable, kosher meat for two earlier Hazon Food Conferences and is the proud “Rebbetzer” of Congregation Kol Shofar in Marin. He is a Senior Research Associate at the education consulting firm MPR Associates in Berkeley.

Rachel is currently the director of Birthright Israel NEXT Bay Area. Raised in a Jewish home, and having attended Jewish day school in San Diego, Rachel has always felt a strong connection to her Jewish identity. When Rachel moved to the Bay Area in 2003 for college (graduating from Sonoma State University in 2006 with a BA Cum Laude in English and a minor in Liberal Studies) she maintained her connection by teaching first through seventh grade students at four synagogues in the North Bay Area while pursuing a career in wine marketing. Traveling to the promised land through Taglit Birthright Israel in 2008 renewed Rachel's spirit and inspired her to get involved with Birthright Israel NEXT Bay Area as a fellow during the pilot year, 2009. With the deep desire to maintain her renewed connection to the Jewish community and with a passion for the mission of Birthright Israel NEXT, Rachel is proud to help alumni and their friends connect to the Jewish scene.

Amy is currently the executive director of the David Brower Center, an innovative green building with offices for 27 environmental and social action organizations with a gallery, theater, and conference center. Amy is a writer, singer, and performer who has devoted her professional and artistic career to creating community. She received the Joshua Venture fellowship for Jewish social entrepreneurs in 2001, and was the founding Artistic Director of The Hub at the JCCSF. Amy was featured as one of the “Heeb Hundred” in that magazine’s Spring 2005 issue, and as a member of the "Forward 50" by the Forward weekly newspaper in 2002. She has consulted with small and mid-sized arts and other nonprofit organizations. Amy is a proud graduate of the Experimental Theatre Wing at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

Lana Volftsun is the Executive Director of the One Percent Foundation, a non profit organization dedicated to addressing persistent global challenges by building a broad-based movement of next generation philanthropists. Lana also founded jenerocity, a giving circle project in Washington, DC, and is on the Board of Slingshot, a collective fund which provides support for a subset of innovative Jewish organizations featured in the Slingshot Guide. In addition, Lana sits on the Issues Committee for the National Center for Family Philanthropy, the UpStart Bay Area's Connect Advisory Group, and the Steering Committee for the Nexus Global Youth Summit. Previously, she facilitated the Jewish Youth Philanthropy Institute (JYPI) program in Northern Virginia and served on the Young Leadership Board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. Prior to joining OPF, Lana worked as a Technology Consultant at Deloitte Consulting. She has a BSBA and Master's Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Washington University in St. Louis.

Julie is the Founding Co-Director of Wilderness Torah. Julie’s passion and gifts lie in creating experiences where people connect, learn, grow, and shine. A born organizer and event planner, she manages Wilderness Torah’s finances and operations, and directs the land-based festivals program — Sukkot on the Farm, Passover in the Desert and Shavuot on the Mountain. Julie worked as an organizer, campaign director, media specialist, and lobbyist in the environmental and social justice advocacy world for nearly ten years before dedicating herself to uncovering Judaism’s earth-based traditions and creates opportunities to bring these teachings to a broader audience. She has a long history of outdoor Jewish experiences from years of Jewish summer camp to working at a plant nursery on a kibbutz in northern Israel. Julie studied ecology and environmental policy at the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment. She’s traveled from Costa Rica to Vietnam hiking and exploring, but is most excited about getting to know her California home through hiking and identifying plants in the East Bay hills. She also practices and teaches yoga (mostly at Wilderness Torah festivals!). Because of her own connection to Judaism and a desire to make it relevant, inclusive, and alive, and her deep love for the natural world, she is extremely committed to creating experiences where people can reconnect with Judaism and the earth.