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JCA
Staff
Lauren Bastien,
Community Organizer
Lauren joined Jewish Community Action in the summer of 2007. She
grew up in Minnesota and graduated from the University of Minnesota with
a bachelor's degree in History.
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Lauren works on youth organizing and immigrants’ rights organizing at
Jewish Community Action. In the fall of 2009, Lauren helped Jewish
Community Action launch the Seeds of Justice Fellowship. The fellowship
helps Jewish high-school students from around the Twin Cities learn
about the connections between Jewish ethics and social justice, and
community organizing, while working on local racial and economic justice
campaigns.
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Adele
Brown,
Senior Organizer
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Adele came to the staff in
March 2001, having been co-chair of JCA’s Gateway Inter-faith Table
(GIFT) for Affordable Housing.
She holds a master’s degree
in Hospital & Health Administration, and a bachelor’s degree in Biology
from Macalester College. Adele is a member of Mount Zion Hebrew
Congregation (Reform), where she chairs the Tzedek Committee. She also is a
member of the national Commission of Social Action of the Union for Reform
Judaism.
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Carin
Mrotz,
Operations Manager
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Carin joined Jewish Community Action in the spring of 2004. Originally from south Florida, Carin received her bachelor’s degree
in Religion from the University of Florida. Since moving to the Twin Cities in 1997, Carin
has worked as a teacher and trainer, and prior to joining the staff of JCA, she
was the Evening School Director at a local private college. In 2006, she
completed her master's degree in public and nonprofit administration at
Metropolitan State University. Carin is unaffiliated and organizes
JCA's Indie Jews initiative.
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Lyudmyla Petrenko, Community
Organizer/Programmer
Lyudmyla works for both Jewish Community Action and the Sabes JCC, and
has been on staff since June 2009.
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Originally from Ukraine, Lyudmyla
earned a bachelor's degree in Communication from Bethany Lutheran
College and a master's degree in Speech Communication at Minnesota State
University, Mankato, where she was a member of the National Scholars
Honors Society and taught Speech 100. Through VOICE: Community Building
Initiative, Lyudmyla engages immigrant senior citizens from the former
Soviet Union. She is fluent in English, Russian, and Ukrainian.
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Vic
Rosenthal,
Executive Director
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A founding organizing committee member and past
board president of JCA, Vic also was executive director of the Minnesota Senior
Federation for nine years. Vic has been a community organizer for more
than 30 years—much of that time working on behalf of affordable and
accessible healthcare and the concerns of senior citizens. He is the
recipient of a Bush Leadership Fellowship, which he used as a time to
study Jewish history and literature and to become more involved with
Jewish Community Action.
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Vic was also a recipient of the 2004 Leadership for
a Changing World award from the Ford Foundation. He earned his master's
degree in Public Administration at Rutgers University and his
undergraduate degree at the State University of New York at Binghamton.
Vic is chair of the social action committee and a member of the Temple
of Aaron (Conservative).
Melissa
Rudnick,
Community Organizer
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Melissa joined JCA's staff in
December 2006, after serving on JCA's Board of Directors. Melissa has
organized professionally since 2000, including with the AFL-CIO/Stamford
Organizing Project, HOME Line, and Grassroots Solutions. Melissa grew up
in Minneapolis at Temple Israel, graduated from South High School and
received a bachelor's degree from the University of California at Santa
Cruz.
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David
Snyder, Community Organizer
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David joined JCA's staff in August 2005 as a community organizer.
He grew up in Minneapolis, was a
founding member of Shir Tikvah and is a proud graduate of South High. David received a bachelor's degree from Goucher
College and a Master's Degree in Political Science from Johns Hopkins
University, where he played a key role in a successful multi-campus living wage
campaign. David then spent four years as a
Union organizer with the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union (now
UNITE HERE) in Baltimore, before moving back to the Twin Cities.
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Velva Stewart, Community Organizer
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Velva joined JCA's staff in
May 2011 as a community organizer, thanks to a generous grant from
Atlantic Phalnthropies, administered by the National Communty
Reinvestment Coalition. Velva will continue her role with the NCRC
(Northside Community Reinvestment Coalition). She organizes specifically
with older residents around issues of foreclosure prevention and
financial education, among other issues. Velva has lived in north
Minneapolis since the late 1960's, and has been deeply involved in
community work throughout her life. She retired from a position with
Hennepin County in order to organize with JCA and the NCRC.
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All photos © 2009, Victor Bloomfield
(except Kami and Velva)
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