Non-Academic Stuff

Refugee Volunteer Work

I've led the Temple Beth Am Refugee Taskforce for the past several years. Here are a few articles about that work:

• We did two major donation collections and I drove them down to San Diego for newly-arrived refugee families being settled by Jewish Family Services in 2016-2017. See news coverage here and here.

• We organized a series of events featuring refugee speakers and dishes prepared by resettled refugee chefs in 2017, 2018 (and another one ), 2019, and 2020.

• I co-chaired the Los Angeles Jews for Refugees Assembly in 2018. Videos of the speakers are available on the JCARI-LA website.

• The TBA Refugee Taskforce was highlighted in this 2019 LA Times article about Jewish activism to help refugees and asylum seekers.

• Every year I participate in the Jewish World Watch Walk to End Genocide on Team Temple Beth Am (led by Dianne Shapiro).

Neighborhood School Volunteer Work

I was pretty active in the PTA, including a couple years as president (2014-2016), at Carthay Elementary School when it transitioned to become the Carthay School of Environmental Studies:

• Unfortunately we briefly had a principal that wasn't a good fit for the incoming magnet program so we needed to do some community organizing in 2014 to get a replacement. The local press loves conflict! Sample stories here and here.

• Here's a nice local article in 2015 about the new environmental studies magnet program.

• We got funding for an Outdoor Classroom that was completed in 2016.

Habonim Dror Camp Gilboa

I've been a board member of my kids' amazing summer camp since 2018.

• One of my contributions to the marketing as they launched the new website was to write up the Wikipedia entry.

• I'm chair of the Master Plan committee. We selected the architectural team in early 2020 and are about to complete Phase 1 in early 2021.

• Since joining the board I've been riding for our team Go Go Gilboa, led by Mathis Chazanov, in the annual Tour de Summer Camps to help raise scholarship money.