A compassionate advocate for underserved populations, Karen Govern serves as  CEO of STARability, an organization in Southwest Florida that supports people with disabilities by providing life-transforming opportunities that emphasize teamwork, as well as connection to the community to build awareness and respect for individual abilities.

Judith Rosenbaum is CEO of the Jewish Women’s Archive, a pioneering national organization that documents Jewish women’s stories, elevates their voices, and inspires them to be agents of change. An educator, historian, and writer, Judith is a  Fullbright recipient, with BA in History from Yale University and a PhD in American Studies from Brown University. She regularly publishes in both academic and popular journals and blogs including Tablet, The Forward, and HuffPost, as well as in several anthologies, including Gender and Jewish History, Women of Katrina, The New Jewish Canon, and The Women’s Passover Companion: Women’s Reflections on the Festival of Freedom.

This episode features Abby J. Leibman, President & CEO at MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger. MAZON is a national organization fighting to end hunger among people of all faiths and backgrounds in the United States and Israel. Toward that end, MAZON channels support from the Jewish community to end hunger in every community — a recognition that struggle is universal, and that human connection runs deep.

Rick Hart is the Assistive Technology Instructor at Lighthouse of Collier, an organization that offers programs and services to help the blind and visually impaired become independent. Inspired in part by his own visual impairment, Rick demonstrates a true passion for assisting those with vision loss to enhance their lives through the use of technology and adaptive skills.

Rabbi Marla Feldman is the executive director of the Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ). Drawing from her own experience, as well as her professional work, Rabbi Feldman discusses the issue of gender equality within the Jewish community and society. Rabbi Feldman previously served as Director of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism and Director of Development for the URJ.  Ordained at HUC-JIR, Rabbi Feldman is also a lawyer, having completed her JD at the University of Florida.

Rabbi Jonathan Crane discusses the ethical choices we face every day and how those choices impact the world around us. He is the Shinazi scholar of Bioethics and Jewish Thought at the Emory University Ethics Center, a professor at the Emory School of Medicine as well as a professor of religion. Ordained as a rabbi at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, the Reform Seminary, he holds a Ph.D. in religion from the University of Toronto, and a Masters in Philosophy in Gandhian Thought from Notre Dame. A frequent lecturer on Judaism, ethics, and bioethics, his books include: Eating Ethically: Religion and Science, and Judaism, Race, and Ethics: Conversations and Questions.

Abigail Pogrebin passionately fulfills the Jewish mandate to repair the brokenness in our world through her work as a true renaissance individual. A former Emmy-nominated producer for 60 minutes, she is an accomplished journalist, noted author, writer for the Forward, podcast creator, Broadway actor, and interviewer for the Streiker Center and the Manhattan JCC.

Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster is the original #tomatorabbi creating partnerships between the Jewish community and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. Now the Executive Vice President at the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, she works with faith and values-based investors to catalyze their assets for social change. Previously Rachel worked at T'ruah where she was the lead strategist on human rights campaigns and organized more than 2,000 rabbis and cantors.

Drawn to marine life as a child, Dr. Greg Tolley discovered his passion at a young age. Now the Executive Director of the Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), he is an expert in the field of marine science and water conservation. Dr. Tolley shares his passion for protecting our most valuable natural resource and what we can do as individuals to help these efforts.

Eric Ward shares the inspirational story of his efforts to address White Nationalism. An outspoken advocate against hate, Ward embedded himself within the White Nationalist movement in the Pacific Northwest, risking his very life as a man of color. That experience provides remarkable insights into the links between White Nationalism and anti-Semitism, as well as what we can do to address racial injustice in our country.  Recorded in Fall 2020.