The Jews of Color Organizing Fellowship’s Advisory Council is a diverse collection of rabbis, non-profit professionals, JOC leaders, organizers, and educators. This team gathers monthly to guide the development of this fellowship through thoughtful discussions, problem-solving, and tracking progress. We are grateful to have their support and experience on our side.
Jordan Berg Powers (he/him)
Jordan Berg Powers is the Executive Director at Mass Alliance, where he previously served as Deputy Director of Mass Alliance. In his nine years there, he has helped elect new progressive leaders across the state, recruited progressive champions to run, and trained hundreds of grassroots organizers. In 2015 Jordan was recognized for his exceptional work in politics as an inaugural inductee into the 40 under 40 Poly Award. Using his expertise in talking to ordinary voters about progressive policy, Jordan is active in campaigns for saving public education, gender equality and more progressive tax system for the Commonwealth. He conducts trainings across the state on campaign strategy and management, candidate recruitment, progressive messaging and women in politics. Jordan has a Masters in International Politics from the London School of Oriental & African Studies as well as a B.A. in International Development and a B.A. in Economics from American University.
Kelly Whitehead (she/they)
Kelly Whitehead (she/they) is a 4th year rabbinical student and Jewish Nonprofit Management MA student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Kelly participated in the Reform Movement’s JewV’Nation Jews of Color Fellowship, where they learned to create and facilitate Anti-Racial Bias training for Jewish Professionals. They serve on the board of T’ruah: the Rabbinic Call for Human Rights and was selected as one of The Jewish Week’s 36 under 36 for 2021.
Rabbi Aryeh Bernstein (he/him)
Aryeh Bernstein is a 5th-generation Chicago South Sider (rightful land of the nations of the Council of Three Fires), who is a veteran Torah educator, especially in social justice settings. Aryeh is the National Jewish Educator and Chicago Justice Fellowship Director for Avodah, Educational Consultant for the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (JCUA), and frequent Staff Educator for the Jewish Initiative for Animals (JIFA). Aryeh is the author of the 2018 article, “The Torah Case for Reparations”, is a Senior Editor of Jewschool.com, and is a member of the Tzedek Lab. Aryeh studied in several institutions of higher Torah learning and received rabbinic ordination from Rabbi Daniel Landes’s Yashrut Institute.