Selah Leadership Program Participants
Sarah Adler-Milstein
Sarah Adler Milstein is the Field Director for Latin America and the Caribbean for the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC). For the region, she oversees the WRC’s investigative and advocacy work in labor rights in the apparel industry . Previously, she served as the Caribbean Field Representative for the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Puerto Rico and was instrumental in establishing the Alta Gracia factory, the first living wage, union factory in the global south.
Orli Bein
Orli Bein is Regional Co-Director of the New Israel Fund for the San Francisco Bay Area. The leading civil, social and human rights organization in Israel, NIF works to strengthen Israel's democracy and to promote freedom, justice and equality for all Israelis. Orli previously led young adult initiatives for the 20s and 30s community both as NIF’s New Generations Director and as SF Hillel’s Graduate Program Director. Orli is a Bay Area native with Israeli roots, having lived half of her childhood in Haifa. She holds a BA and MA from U.C Berkeley in Middle East Studies and Folklore.
Ali Cannon
Ali Michael Cannon worked as a non-profit manager for 20 years. He has spent the past five years as a School District Administrator, managing state and federal grants that improve the lives of youth without equal access to education. Ali is a writer, organizer, activist, and public speaker. As a recognized leader in the transgender community, he speaks frequently on diverse panels and has organized numerous conferences and events for the Jewish, LGBT and Queer Jewish communities.
Julia Caplan
Julia Caplan, MPP, MPH, is the Project Director for California’s Health in All Policies Task Force. Ms. Caplan has been a life-long Jewish social justice activist, has twenty years’ experience in community building and social change leadership, and has worked to support youth leadership, reproductive rights, economic security for seniors, and protections for consumers of financial products. Ms. Caplan holds masters’ degrees in public policy and public health from UC Berkeley.
Kim Carter
Kim has worked in labor for 15 years. She is currently with a public employee union. She is responsible for coordinating campaigns and contract negotiations. Her past positions were as the Organizing Director for an education union, Deputy Director for a Statewide Union, and Regional Field Education Director for a National Union. Kim has served on the boards of non-profits including California Prison Focus, the Reg. Council of Bend the Arc, and with the American Diabetes Association.
Talia Cooper
Talia Cooper is the Director of Jewish Youth for Community Action (JYCA), a youth empowerment and activist organization for high school-aged teens. She has been an activist since her own participation in JYCA. Serving her sixth year on staff, Talia is leading her community through a major expansion process. A musician as well, she performs solo and with the internationally renowned Jewish women’s a capella group Vocolot. She also leads music at Kehilla Community Synagogue.
Diane Fisher
Diane Fisher is director of the Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley, a position she has held for seven years. She is a member of Congregation Shir Hadash where she has taught Dalet Hebrew and participates in the Food Justice Committee. She has degrees in music and computer science, previously teaching piano and working on diagnostic medical ultrasound software.
Amie Fishman
Amie Fishman is the Project Director of a national collaboration between City College of San Francisco and Transitions Clinic Network - a community-based national clinic network focused on providing a culturally-relevant, accessible medical home to people coming out of prison. Active in local struggles for racial and economic justice since 1998, for the past 11 years she worked as a staff organizer at Catalyst Project, a center for anti-racist political education and movement building.
Susan Freundlich
Susan Freundlich currently serves as Director of Advancement at the National Writing Project. She has dedicated her career to working for social justice and human rights, and has deep experience in progressive philanthropy, fundraising and organization development. Susan has a background as a language therapist working with deaf people of all ages, starting with toddlers. She taught American Sign Language at Northeastern University, and is regarded as one of the primary initiators in the movement to make social and political issues accessible to deaf people through sign language interpretation in concert halls and theaters.
Abby Friedman
Abby Friedman has over ten years of experience working with parents, students and schools in both the Bay Area and New York City. She is currently the Director of the Family & College Resource Center at Coliseum College Prep Academy in Oakland, CA, and the Manager of the Family Engagement Leadership Initiative at the Oakland Schools Foundation. Abby is passionate about creating pathways to college for low-income students. She lives in Berkeley with her husband and two children.