Jacob chairs the Collaborative for Jewish Organizing and is the Executive Director of Jews United for Justice, which advances economic, racial, and social justice in the Baltimore-Washington region by educating and mobilizing our local Jewish communities to action. In his fourteen years at the helm, JUFJ has grown from a staff of two to a team of more than twenty and is now a key change-making institution in the region. In recent years, JUFJ has led the campaign that won paid family and medical leave for half a million workers in Washington, and played a key role in winning major policing reforms and protections for renters in Maryland, and new funding for early childhood education in DC.

Jacob serves as co-chair of the Working Families Party National Committee and is on the leadership team of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable.

Jacob uses he/him/his pronouns.

Susan directs the Collaborative for Jewish Organizing, which is a network of nine organizing groups that is housed at JUFJ. Prior to this role, Susan was Bend the Arc Jewish Action’s National Field Director, where she developed and led a team of community organizers and developed field units across the US. Susan started at Bend the Arc as Bay Area Regional Director, where she established the organizing model and led the team that contributed to significant campaigns — including on criminal justice reform, tax fairness, and domestic worker rights — while developing hundreds of volunteer leaders. Susan has experience in the consulting, policy, and legal fields.

Susan uses she/her/hers pronouns.

Shira is a Program Associate for the Collaborative for Jewish Organizing. Originally from Berkeley, CA, she now lives in Jerusalem, where she works with activists to use storytelling as a tool for political change. Shira got her start in Jewish communal organizing with J Street U while at the George Washington University, and then as a Montgomery County Organizer with Jews United for Justice as an Avodah Service Corps member. She loves exploring the intersections of Torah and social change, and is an alum of the Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies, the Conservative Yeshiva, and Yeshivat Hadar.

Shira uses she/her/hers pronouns.