Where did you grow up? What motivates you to volunteer with JVP? What is your personal story as it relates to who you are as an organizer to the extent you want to share it? 

I grew up in an atheist Jewish home in Southern California with an upper class, pro-Israel family. But in high school, a Muslim friend refused to give up on conversations with me and opened my eyes to the human rights abuses and injustice of Israeli apartheid and occupation. Since then, I've continued to educate myself about the real history in Palestine and to see that Judaism and supporting the state Israel are not one and the same, that the liberation of Palestinians is deeply interconnected with the liberation of all people. I also got involved with various organizations that funnel support and resources to social justice movements, both as a chapter organizer and as a fundraiser, as a way to fight for economic and racial justice. I had heard of JVP but didn't know much about it. Then, on October 7, 2023, I happened to be in New York visiting family, and when Israel began its assault on Gaza, I joined a massive march on Washington DC co-led by JVP. After that, I came back to Portland and got connected with Portland JVP. I'm motivated to be involved 1) as an organizer-fundraiser who believes in collective liberation and can't stand idly by while such injustice is carried out in the name of "fighting anti-semitism", and 2) as someone who has felt disconnected from my own Jewish lineage thanks to Zionism until I found other anti-Zionist Jews. It means a lot to me to find Jewish community with others who share my values.

I'm interested in being on the Coordinating Committee because I believe that offering facilitation, coordination, and administrative support, as unsexy as it is, is a deep offering of love to movements. I have been in a position of leadership for a local chapter of a national organization before, and know how much labor goes into infrastructure and organization behind the scenes that paves the way for meaningful work and others' leadership development. Knowing that the Coordinating Committee holds so much of that for JVP Portland, and seeing how capacity is so needed right now, I feel I am able to offer that support and help bridge the gap from the first Coordinating Committee to the next -- while also bringing my own passion and perspective as someone who deeply believes in the power of community organizing and solidarity.

In 2015, I helped launch the Portland chapter of Resource Generation, which is a national organization focused on organizing young people with class privilege ages 18-35 to redistribute wealth and fight for economic justice. As a chapter leader for 5 years, I held a lot of administrative tasks, developed agendas, and ran meetings while also investing in 1-1 organizing and leadership development conversations with others in the chapter. In 2017-2023, I joined the board of Social Justice Fund, where I had the opportunity to deepen my political education around Black Liberation and also gained experience in developing organizational policy. A lot of my organizing experience revolves around fundraising: for example, I was the Development Director at a youth nonprofit called Next Up, which required managing fundraising campaigns and organizing people to participate. From these experiences, my understanding of leadership involves a lot of behind the scenes work, coaching, asking questions, making asks (and following up), and providing support.

Our movements are interconnected. The struggle for liberation in Palestine is connected to Black Lives Matter movements here, the struggle for trans rights is connected to ending patriarchy and violence against women. I strongly resonate with JVP's Points of Unity and share its belief in the power of organizing in solidarity, a viewpoint that sees our struggles as shared, recognizes how white supremacy and imperialism and capitalism are intertwined, and uplifts a goal of collective liberation in deep collaboration with and following the leadership of people who are most impacted by these systems. I try to embody these values by organizing in spaces that uphold and put in practice explicit anti-oppression values, in which racism and other systemic oppressions are openly discussed, and in which people bring a mindset of personal accountability and commitment to growth. I support political education and deep personal & collective work to unpack white supremacy and ableism through creating, participating, and facilitating in these spaces. We all have the capacity to make mistakes and cause harm -- but I believe in the power of accountability & repair to deepen relationships and move forward, and have put that belief into practice in my personal and organizing life.

I haven't been part of JVP Portland for very long, it's been about 1 year. But I hope to hold and be part of the infrastructure that supports JVP's amazing organizers and leaders to work and collaborate well together.