Our Team

Amy joined the JCA team in November, 2023. She leads JCA’s coalition work on the intersections between the criminal and immigration justice systems, and public and community safety. Amy has 5 years of experience with political and issue campaign deep canvassing and grassroots base building.

Brandon joined Jewish Community Action in January 2020 after several years working in progressive issue advocacy and electoral politics in the Twin Cities. Having seen a childhood friend become radicalized online in the early 2010s, Brandon had been personally researching hate/extremism for many years before working on JCA's Combating Antisemitism and White Nationalism campaign. Over the last three years, he has developed/co-developed numerous trainings examining contemporary antisemitism's origins, mechanisms, motivations, and intersections with other forms of marginalization and oppression. Through JCA's programming, he has trained several thousand people and brought crucial analysis to dozens of community organizations, government offices, and religious congregations. Brandon is a board member of OPEIU Local 12, holds a B.A. in History and Anthropology, and a Masters in Public Policy, specializing in Elections Administration.

Tova is Jewish Community Action’s Congregational Organizer. They joined the team in April 2022 with the goal of nurturing mutually supportive relationships with synagogues across Minnesota. They work with lay leaders, rabbis, and community members to both engage with JCA’s campaigns and support the powerful social justice work that synagogues are doing within their own membership. Most recently, Tova has been involved in connecting social action committees at different synagogues and has been supporting St. Paul congregations in organizing towards reparations for Black descendants of chattel slavery. Tova grew up just outside Madison, Wisconsin and graduated from University of Minnesota: Twin Cities with a BA in Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies and Studio Art. They are always looking for ways to infuse organizing work with art, creativity, and ritual.

Joining the JCA team early in 2019, Chris spent over 2 decades in employment and community leadership positions allowing her mastery of organizing (finances, documents, facilities and inventory - but ironically not community organizing), strategic planning, and workflow analysis to shine. Outside of the office, Chris is keyed into the Minnesota farm-to-table community, dabbles in what can loosely be defined as “gardening”, and has become an exceptional cheesecake baker.

Lauren is a 16 year veteran of Jewish Community Action. She leads the Vic Rosenthal Tzedek Institute, and has been responsible for training hundreds of Minnesotans as grassroots community organizers. Lauren also supports grassroots fundraising at JCA, and coordinates our annual Freedom Seder.

Ian is the Housing Justice Organizer at Jewish Community Action, where they work alongside members in the Twin Cities Metro to support tenant rights, show up meaningfully to coalition spaces, and push for a more just housing system. They grew up in the unschool community just north of Chicago and attended Antioch College, where they were deeply engaged in student organizing. Prior to starting at JCA, they were involved in employee organizing in the publishing industry.