Jeremy Rosenthal
Board Chair
Jeremy Rosenthal is committed to service. He is married to Gwen Shelden Rosenthal, principal at Briskin Elementary School at Temple Israel of Hollywood, and together they have three children: Ezra, Micah, and Eli. Jeremy and Gwen first met as Roshe Edot (unit heads) at Camp Ramah, where Jeremy now serves on the executive board. Longtime members of IKAR, Jeremy and Gwen have been passionate supporters since its early days. They are devoted to tithing their time, expertise, financial resources, and even regularly giving blood, in pursuit of Tikkun Olam, repairing the world. Their engagement with IKAR empowers them to build a transformative community grounded in Jewish tradition and committed to creating a more compassionate, empathetic, and just society. Jeremy is honored to serve as Chair of IKAR’s Board. Together with IKAR’s clergy, Executive Committee, and Board, he strives to realize IKAR’s vision of seeing and holding each individual and the community itself to enable each of us to do our part to repair the world. When not working with IKAR, Jeremy is a partner with Force 10, where he guides companies through financial and operational distress and complex business challenges. He holds a J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, and a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.
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Marta Kauffman
Board Vice Chair
Marta is an Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning television writer, producer and showrunner.  Prior to producing Grace and Frankie, Kauffman was best known for creating NBC’s long-running hit Friends with David Crane (with whom she also created HBO’s Dream On). The iconic series, which ran for 10 seasons, earned 63 Emmy nominations, winning Outstanding Comedy Series in 2002. The Writers Guild of America, West awarded Kauffman and her Friends partner David Crane the 2016 Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for lifetime achievement in television writing. She also earned the 2016 Outstanding Television Writer award at the 23rd annual Austin Film Festival & Screenwriters Conference as well as the Kieser Humanitas Award. Kauffman is a long-time member of the Oakwood School’s Board of Trustees, having served as its Chair for three years. She has also served on the Board of Big Sunday (as its first Chair after becoming a 501c3) as well as currently serving on the board of Jewish Story Partners and The Lung Cancer Foundation of America. As a board member, Marta brings energy and is an avid protector of an organization’s mission. She is a tireless ambassador and a moral compass for the institutions she has served. Marta met Rabbi Brous on a trip to Israel a number of years ago. She had the incredible opportunity to learn from Rabbi Brous and, on many hours on a bus, got to hear her perspective on Israel. A number of years later, Marta was looking for a new spiritual home.  But she was also looking for home that stood for equity and social justice, not just in word but in action.  IKAR was that place. Marta is grateful for having been accepted into this extraordinary community and realizes that the best way to get something out of a place is to put something into it.
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Aaron Applebaum
Treasurer
Aaron grew up in rural New Jersey, attended Williams College in Massachusetts, and started his investment career in Boston.  There, he married Lauren, and after a number of enjoyably cold winters the two of them left for an adventure in LA so that he could join Capital Group’s municipal bond team. As an investor, he focused on investing in not-for-profit retirement communities, municipal electric utilities, and portfolio risk management and later became a diversified portfolio manager. Soon after arriving in Los Angeles, Aaron and Lauren started a family and found their way to IKAR, drawn to its energy, values, and community. Their son, Micah, attended the IKAR ECC, and has remained close with many of his classmates in Limudim. Their daughter, Liora, celebrated her Bat Mitzvah at IKAR in 2022. Lauren was a long-serving board member focusing on IKAR’s educational programs. Aaron tends to think in big picture terms. He continues to ponder macroeconomic conditions, but he is deeply concerned with environmental sustainability issues and believes that large shifts in consumption patterns and rapid decarbonization of global energy systems is necessary to reduce the worst risks of climate change. When not savoring the joys and challenges of parenting, he enjoys exploring outdoors via cycling, backpacking, or backcountry skiing.
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Zach Lainer
Secretary
Zach was first exposed to the “essence” of IKAR through the teachings of Rabbi Brous, as his Jewish Studies teacher at Milken Community High School. A few years later, he attended an IKAR potluck Kabbalat Shabbat at Roxbury Park and was hooked, eventually becoming a member. Zach appreciates IKAR’s unique ability to use social justice as an expression of Jewish teachings and values. Zach is an attorney by training, and currently works as counsel for Lainer Development, a family-run real estate investment and management company based in Van Nuys. Prior to law school, Zach served as an aide to Congressman Howard Berman (the former-chairman of the house foreign affairs committee and long-time representative of the San Fernando Valley) and remains passionate about politics and government. Zach is a proud University of Michigan alum (go blue!) and former CORO Fellow in Public Affairs. He lives in Beverlywood with his wife, Hannah, son, Henry, and dog, Filibuster. Zach is honored to serve on the IKAR board, and is excited to contribute to IKAR’s future as it looks to settle into a new and permanent home.
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Canard Barnes
Canard Barnes, a native Angelino, has deep roots in the Los Angeles community. He was graduated from the Mirman School and later Le Lycée Francais de Los Angeles. Canard received his degree in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.  Some of his personal interests include Pilates, camping, restoring classic automobiles, and Los Angeles regional history. He has held numerous philanthropic board seats for organizations such as Make-A-Wish Greater Los Angeles, California Association of Nonprofits, and Children’s Burn Foundation. Canard also chaired the board of the Center for Nonprofit Management – Southern California.  For nearly 30 years, Canard has been an investment manager engaged by individuals and families – the companies they tend to own or run, and philanthropic organizations serving various constituencies. In 2011, he founded Barnes & Company Investment Counsel, LLC after more than 13 years at Merrill Lynch. Previously, Canard was co-portfolio manager of the TEVIS fund at LBR Capital, LLC.  Canard lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two sons. He maintains fluency in French and is learning Hebrew. He and his family have been members of Ikar since 2022, where he is currently a member of the Building Committee.
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Eric Beckman
Eric joined the IKAR Board in 2018 and is a member of its Finance and Building Committees.  You can find him at IKAR most every Shabbat and holiday, where he enjoys soulful prayer and shmoozing with friends over coffee. Eric is Co-Managing Partner of Breakwater Management, a private investment firm headquartered in Los Angeles.  He was previously a Senior Partner at Ares Management and an officer of Ares Capital Corporation, a publicly traded investment fund.  Earlier in his career he worked at Goldman Sachs and for the City of New York.  He has served on the boards of several non-profits, including the Posse Foundation, where he chaired the L.A. Advisory Board.  In addition to his role at IKAR, he is currently a member of the Advisory Board of the Ziegler School for Rabbinic Studies at American Jewish University.  Eric has a B.A. from Cornell University and a J.D. from the Yale Law School.  He and his family live in Brentwood.
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Mark Borman
Mark is the founder of The Borman Group, LLC, a multi-disciplinary real estate re-development company focused on the preservation of vintage buildings and the revitalization of urban submarkets.   The philosophy of the company is that space, curated correctly, is ideologically transformative with the ability to create generational social and economic equality, and it saves a lot of cool buildings otherwise destined for a wrecking ball. In addition to his passion for real estate, Mark currently serves as a board member of the Epilepsy Foundation of Los Angeles and is the co-founder of The Care and Cure Institute.  He has a B.A. in Real Estate, Finance and Economics from the University of South Carolina.
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Lorne Buchman
Lorne ​​is President emeritus of ArtCenter after a thirteen year tenure as a transformative president of the College. Under his leadership, the College has made significant strides with campus expansion, entrepreneurship and incubator labs, new academic programs, endowment growth, scholarships and financial aid for students, community development and shared governance practices. Prior, Buchman served as president of Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center, where he led the institution in a plan to transform from a graduate school into a multidisciplinary university. He previously served as provost and president of California College of the Arts, where he spearheaded the creation of its renowned San Francisco campus in 1994. During his tenure at CCA, he also oversaw significant enrollment growth, launched initiatives for public programs and community service, and diversified the faculty. A trained theater director and scholar, he is the author of Still in Movement: Shakespeare on Screen and has held a number of faculty and administrative positions at the University of California, Berkeley.  With his PhD from Stanford University and BA from the University of Toronto, Buchman was the principal and founder of Buchman Associates, a private consulting firm he established in 2000 for identifying philanthropic and private investment sources to develop facilities for nonprofit organizations. A key project included his work as the executive director of the highly acclaimed Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley, an international center dedicated to disability rights and universal access. In addition, Buchman is active in community service, including membership on the boards of several art- and youth-related organizations.
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Marissa Gee
When I was moving from New York in 2007, I asked one of the Rabbis at my synagogue B’nai Jeshrun, if he could recommend a synagogue in LA. He obviously did not realize that IKAR is not a “synagogue,” because that’s where they sent me. I’ve been here ever since. My father is not Jewish. Neither is my husband. And yet, both are proud of raising Jewish children and being an active part of their Jewish communities. My mother passed away when I was 10 years old. My father suddenly found himself the non-Jewish parent to two Jewish adolescent girls. Jewish traditions and education could have easily fallen by the wayside. Instead, he made sure we continued Hebrew school and I had my Bat Mitzvah. I grew up in Brooklyn, NY, attending Jewish Day School and Temple Emmanuel of Canarsie. I was on the board of B’nai Brith in HS, Hillel in college, and the Jewish Multiracial Network in my twenties. Next, IKAR! After college, I taught English in Japan for a year before attending NYU School of Law and practicing corporate law for three years. I “retired” from law to first, pursue acting, and then a career in fitness. I currently have my own company that focuses on personal training, coaching runners, and corporate wellness.  In addition to my passion for running and all things fitness, my secret guilty pleasures are musical theater and traveling. I’ve lived abroad in Israel, Amsterdam, Japan, Korea, and Uganda, and have traveled around every continent (except Antarctica) and most of the states. My family includes my husband Kwasi and our daughters, Roslynd and Alayna. My sister and cousin are IKAR-philes too, and fly in for HHD each year.
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Eric Greene
IKAR’s commitment to create an egalitarian community dedicated to meaningful spiritual practice, intellectual honesty and political engagement made it the right Jewish home for board member Eric Greene. A writer and civil rights activist, Eric has had deep ties to the IKAR community since its early days and became a member out of a conviction that institutions doing good work – especially those striving to embody the best values of Judaism – must be supported and encouraged. Eric serves as Associate Communications Director for Diversity and Campus Climate at UCLA working with senior leadership to address ethnic relations, meet the needs of marginalized populations and ensure that commitment to inclusion and equity is embedded in the heart of the university’s polices and strategies. Eris was previously Senior Policy Advisor at the ACLU of Southern California focusing on issue advocacy, ballot campaigns and community coalition work. Later, as Southern California Regional Director of Progressive Jewish Alliance/Bend The Arc, Eric combined his love of Judaism and passion for social justice as he oversaw regional community organizing, policy advocacy, leadership training and coalition-building efforts. Eric studied religion at Wesleyan University and Pardes, was a CORO fellow in New York and worked for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund before attending Stanford Law School. He is a graduate of the Los Angeles Jewish Federation’s New Leaders Project and a trained facilitator with Resetting the Table. In addition to his efforts as an organizer in national and local Jews of Color and interfaith communities, Eric has also served as a consultant working with Jewish organizations on diversity, equity and inclusion strategies. Alongside his activism, Eric has written or contributed to over half a dozen books on race, the arts and politics. His first book “Planet of the Apes as American Myth: Race, Politics and Popular Culture” has been hailed by the Los Angeles Times as “a classic”.
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Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali
A few years ago, Liz discovered IKAR after expressing to friends, Daniel Inlender and Joel Mogy her disappointment in her then life-long shul. Within days, YouTube video links were arriving from Rabbi Brous’s High Holiday services. Watching these thoughtful and inspiring videos, meeting in person with Rabbi Brous, and then reconnecting with Melissa Balaban after many years made joining the IKAR community feel like coming home! Liz was born and raised in Los Angeles. She runs and owns a commercial real estate company in Los Angeles. Liz moved to Israel in 1993 with her husband and two small children, where she partnered in founding BIG Shopping Centers Ltd. (“BIG”), an Israeli public company traded on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange. In 2007, Liz created BIG Giving, a philanthropic branch of BIG Shopping Centers that primarily supports educational, developmental, and co-existence programs for Jewish and Arab children across Israel. Liz remains active in her philanthropy in Israel working with the Tel Aviv Foundation and Babylonian Jewry Museum.  Liz has served as the chair of the board at Oakwood School, a private elementary and secondary school in North Hollywood from 2012-2015, amongst her twenty years as a board member. She serves on the board of The Representation Project whose mission is fight sexism through films, education, research, and activism. Liz is the author of two books, Israel Land and Sixty Seconds of Light. She served on Hillary for America’s National Finance Committee, Biden for President’s National Finance Committee, and, since 2018, as a deputy finance chair for the Democratic National Committee. Liz has hosted, curated, and spoken at over 100 events in support of Democratic candidates and organizations, many of which took place at her Los Angeles home prior to the pandemic. Liz has a wonderful partner Silvio, who is a painter and sculpture. Liz is the proud mother of five diverse, interesting, and incredible young adults who live in the US and Israel.
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Steven Klein
Steven Klein first came to IKAR in 2004 as a single young adult, in a late-20s period of testing and re-exploring his values. Amusingly, he decided IKAR – indeed, any synagogue – was not a fit and instead started a Shabbat study group with Rabbi Daniel Greyber that ran for nine years.  Fast forward another decade, and Steven had learned, in collaboration with his wife, Kristine, that he is a “synagogue Jew.” He finds his life and family deepened in shul community, so much so that Kristine and Steven have joined several synagogues over the years, finding unique value in each. But in 2023, Kristine and Steven were still trying to find the shul that felt like it offered the mix of infrastructure, community, and traditional depth to fit them and their two kids, Eliza and Ronen. Then they had one of those times: it suddenly felt like they kept running into old friends who would say “You should try IKAR.” As a capper, they met Ethan Goldstine at a bat mitzvah, and…  Upon first (re)entering IKAR, Steven immediately ran into an old teacher he hadn’t seen in years, both he and Kristine saw familiar faces scattered across the room, and the Klein kids came downstairs from Limudim eager to sign up. They haven’t looked back.  When Steven isn’t playing with his family, he’s probably trying to crack a better way to tell a story, either as an actor-producer at his production company, Firefly Theater & Films, or through Firefly Fundraising, a fundraising consulting firm he founded that specializes in strategic grants campaigns for nonprofits. Steven grew up in Boston and received his BA from Yale. He previously served on the board of the Silverlake Independent Jewish Community Center and now chairs the board of the La Maida Project, sits on the board of advisors of Endcrawl, and serves on the School Site Council of LAUSD’s Ivanhoe Elementary.
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Dr. Mark Krieger
Originally a New Yorker, Mark has resided in Los Angeles for 28 of the last 30 years. He lives with his wife Kristie, an Academy Award, Emmy Award, PGA Award and BAFTA Award-nominated producer whose working relationship with director Steven Spielberg spans over 20 years, and his son Sam, a student at Harvard Westlake. Dr. Krieger is a pediatric neurosurgeon at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where he serves as the Surgeon-in-Chief and the Senior Vice President of the Department of Surgery. He is a Director and a Trustee of CHLA, and a Director of the Children’s Hospital Medical Group. He is a Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery of the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. He is also a Director of the American Board of Pediatric Neurosurgery. He serves on the Medical Advisory Board of the Make a Wish Foundation. He truly loves making a difference in the lives of children and their families during times of need. He graduated from Harvard College and received his MD degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University.  Mark, Kristie and Sam found IKAR through friends 6 years ago. They love the passion and vibrancy of the community and of the services, and watching Mark’s out of town relatives skeptically approach the service and then fully buy in. The whole experience of Sam’s becoming a Bar Mitzvah brought them close to all that is wonderful at IKAR – the community, the learning, and the passion around the expression of faith.
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Jennifer Leevan
Jennifer Leevan knows a thing or two about bold moves — like purchasing her first home purely for its proximity to IKAR (and its great backyard). She and her partner, Jeremy, are raising their 3.5-year-old son, Emmett — a huge fan of IKAR’s ECC – and are eagerly awaiting the arrival of a new addition to the family in March 2025.  Since joining IKAR in November 2016, Jennifer has wholeheartedly embraced its unique blend of deep spirituality and social justice. You’ll often find her in the “prayground” on Saturdays, and she’s always ready to host a Shabbat dinner or throw an impromptu backyard taco party. By day, Jennifer is a Chief of Staff at The Walt Disney Company, where she plays a pivotal role in steering the strategic vision and operational excellence of Disney Branded Television, one of the industry’s most influential divisions. Working closely with the executive leadership team, Jennifer helps streamline business processes, enhance creative content, and foster cross-functional alignment. Her leadership has been instrumental in the success of numerous high-profile projects, contributing to Disney’s continued dominance in children and family programming.  Jennifer holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Television Production & Journalism from New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Thrilled to serve on the IKAR board, Jennifer is dedicated to making the world a bit brighter — one episode, one Shabbat, one act of justice at a time.
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Julia Moss
Julia has considered herself an IKARite for more than 13 years. A lifelong Angeleno, Julia was first introduced to IKAR when she was living in Washington, D.C. During a trip home, her brother told her to “come check out this camp-like Shabbat” and she was instantly hooked. Julia likes to say she was the first ever “IKAR From Afar” member because she started coming home so often to attend IKAR that she was asked to serve as the co-chair of the Purim Justice Carnival despite living 3,000 miles away. When she moved back to Los Angeles in 2012, Julia instantly made IKAR her home and has “grown up” in the community: from Tribe (though it wasn’t formalized when she joined) to her aufruf at the JCC to Bite Size Shabbats to the Early Childhood Center to Limudim.  When Julia isn’t at IKAR, she works as a Learning and Development Specialist in the life sciences following nearly 15 years as a Jewish communal professional for such organizations as the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, Jewish Journal, and The Miracle Project.  Julia is honored and thrilled to be on the IKAR board and to be raising her children in a community where Judaism is lived, not just learned.
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Sophie Pritzker
Sophie most recently served as interim CEO for Keith McNally Restaurant Group, a family company based in New York where she spent seven years working in various operational and corporate roles.  She received her B.A. from the American University of Paris, where she studied Political Science and Philosophy. Sophie serves on the board of Edible Schoolyard NYC, a non-profit dedicated to nutritional education for New York City public school students. Originally from downtown Manhattan, Sophie lives in Los Angeles with her husband and three daughters. She converted to Judaism with support (and sponsorship) from Rabbi Brous, the IKAR community, and education through AJU.
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Michelle Rosenthal
Immediate Past Board Chair
Michelle moved to Los Angeles in the summer of 2008 and she and her husband Isaac started exploring different synagogues for the High Holy Days. From the first time she came to IKAR, it felt like the right place to put down Jewish roots in Los Angeles. Her relationship with IKAR has evolved and deepened over the years, from Friday night services after work to baby namings and Bite Sized Shabbat services for her two daughters, to becoming part of IKAR’s wonderful Early Childhood Center community.  Michelle has worked at the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company since 2007 and specializes in organizational topics such as leadership development, change management, and talent strategy.  Prior to joining McKinsey, she worked at a women’s microfinance bank in rural India as part of a Fulbright fellowship, after graduating from Yale. She is honored to be part of IKAR’s board.
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Hannah Roth
Hannah grew up in Syracuse, NY. When she was 8 years old, her family took a sabbatical to Israel where they connected more with their Judaism, leading the family in the years that followed towards a modern orthodox practice. Upon finishing high school, Hannah attended seminary at Midreshet Lindenbaum and then went on to get a film degree at NYU. Hannah’s parents and two brothers moved to Israel as she was starting university and she has had the good fortune to travel back and forth regularly.  She moved to Los Angeles with her wife Kathleen from New York City at the end of 2006 and they got married during the legal “window” before Prop 8 passed in 2008. Hannah and Kathleen started coming to IKAR in 2009 on the suggestion of a variety of friends’ suggestions. After being elated at finding parking easily at the JCC on a Friday night only to find out that services were at Roxbury that Shabbat, they made it in time for R’ Sharon’s drasha and to watch services end while young children danced in the center of the room and knew right away that this was the right community for them and for their future family to be a part of. They now have two boys, Noah and Enzo who are both alums of the IKAR ECC and who have both spent lots of time dancing in the center of the room at IKAR. Hannah is active on the Hesed committee (never shying away from a dairy/gluten free menu request) and Hannah is a regular morning minyan member. Hannah has been a talent manager at Framework Entertainment since 2021 following two decades as a talent agent at Buchwald in both their NY and LA offices.
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Elizabeth Saiger
Elizabeth Saiger joined IKAR upon moving to California 8 years ago from New York. She has had 3 children go through the IKAR Early Childhood Center and was involved in the Parent Advisory Council and the formation of the Prayground. She loves her continual work with the Hesed committee and is always looking for new ways to connect and support members. She is a Texan but spent summers at Camp Ramah in Ojai where she met her husband David.  Elizabeth is a systems thinker, lover of connecting and an organizer. Professionally she works in academic operations in the field of Education Reform and is currently the Director of Academic Operations at Ednovate Charter Schools, a network of high performing charter high schools.​​Elizabeth is honored and thrilled to be joining the IKAR board and asked to join in honor of her late grandfather and many other family members who are leaders in the Jewish community.
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Noah Schechter
Hello! My name is Noah. You might remember me from nearly dropping the Torah during hagbah, or the Simchat Torah where I predicted Hillary would handily win the 2016 election — emblematic, I’m sure, of the steady hands and prescient vision I hope to bring to the Board. I first came to IKAR for Kol Nidre in 2015, and very nearly arrived in a blue shirt. Thank god, someone had produced a snazzy video of YKs past, and I realized you people weren’t kidding about the dress in all white thing. I rushed home to change, ate a sandwich in my car, and 25 hours later left Neilah knowing I’d found my new spiritual home. In the years since, I’ve been lucky enough to read Torah, write and organize Purim spiels, and serve as a leader within the Tribe community. Mostly, though, I think of myself as a Shabbos morning Jew. Friday night’s are cool, too.  These days, I work as a writer-producer on NBC’s The Blacklist and live in Hollywood with my wife, Kirie. IKAR is, hands down, my favorite part of living in Los Angeles.
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Tzivia Schwartz-Getzug
Tzivia fell in love with IKAR and its deep commitment to justice and spirituality during IKAR’s early days- but distance kept them apart. When her family finally agreed to attend IKAR’s High Holy Days services a few years ago, they fell in love with the community and the family became members. Tzivia quickly began to immerse herself in all things IKAR — trekking from Sherman Oaks to attend services regularly, participating in social justice actions and learning opportunities, co-chairing the IKAR membership committee and hosting house parties with Steve for Valley IKARites. An L.A. native, Tzivia is a lawyer with a degree in Jewish Studies from UCLA. She has spent most of her career working in the Jewish community on issues of social justice. Tzivia was the founding Executive Director of Jewish World Watch, the Western States Civil Rights Director for the ADL and the Jewish Community Relations Director at the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. Tzivia also enjoyed four years working as the community liaison on DreamWorks’ “The Prince of Egypt.” Today Tzivia works in philanthropy with several clients: she is the West Coast Director for the Jewish Funders Network; Sr. Advisor to CANVAS, a Jewish arts and culture funding collaborative; the U.S. Program Director to the Social Venture Fund for Jewish-Arab Equality and Shared Society; and the Executive Director of the Jewish Venture Philanthropy Fund, an L.A.-based giving circle. In her “free” time, Tzivia also serves on the boards of Camp Ramah in California and NewGround – a Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change, participates in two book clubs and lives for spending time with friends, family and, especially, Steve and their kids, hiking, traveling, going to theater and concerts and enjoying each other’s company.
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Karl Thurmond
Karl is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School. While at Harvard Law School, Karl received the Williston Prize for best contract negotiation and was an Ames Moot Court Finalist. He specializes in business trial work, business litigation and business counseling, and was appointed to the Judicial Appointments Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He has been named one of America’s Top 100 Bet-the-Company Litigators the past five years, named a “Southern California Super Lawyer” eighteen times, and selected one of the Top 100 Black Lawyers in the State of California by the National Black Lawyers Association the past ten years. Karl is passionate about giving back and the value of a Jewish education. His daughter Abigail attended Jewish day schools from the time she was 1 ½ until she was 18 years old. Karl served as the Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees and a member of the Executive Committee of Milken Community School, the Co-Chair of Milken’s Annual Giving Fund and Capital Campaign, and the President of the Board of Regents of Temple Emanuel Academy Day School. And in an attempt to provide other Jewish students with the benefit of a Jewish education, Karl has endowed a scholarship at Milken Community School. Karl is also passionate about politics. As part of this passion, Karl served as Co-Chair of City Attorney Mike Feuer’s Campaign for Mayor of Los Angeles, and currently serves as Co-Chair of the Finance Committee for Adam Schiff’s US Senate Campaign and Co-Chair of Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager’s Finance Committee. Karl’s greatest legacy passion is working to address the problem of people experiencing homelessness. He is trying to tackle this problem by serving as Co-Chair of Adam’s US Senate Campaign’s Advisory Committee on Affordable Housing and Homelessness, and serving on the Board of Directors of Volunteers of America Los Angeles, which is one of the largest non-governmental providers of homeless and head start services in Los Angeles County. And when he is not pursuing his passion for Jewish education or politics, Karl can be found most mornings running the Janss Steps at UCLA, and lately, thinking about how to help IKAR support its audacious and meaningful vision.
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Ethan Goldstine
Past Board Chair
Ethan first came to IKAR in its early years but remained on the fringes until falling in love with core IKARite Lirona Kadosh, who — along with IKAR– drew him into the community. After brief careers in film production, radio and computer consulting, Ethan has been creating websites since the early esoteric days of the Internet. He founded the website for KCRW and co-created one of the first online serials. Since 1998, he has been a partner at kapow, inc. which specializes in online design, development and consulting for major non-profits and cultural institutions. Ethan is a proud native Angeleno and an alumnus of Sinai Temple Religious School, LA Hebrew High, LA Ulpan and Camp Ramah, as well as Beverly Hills High School and Yale. He’s happy to have found such a warm and welcoming Jewish community that so beautifully blends action, progressive ideals, serious discourse and casual attire.
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Adam Scott Weissman
I joined IKAR in 2016 after attending services on and off for a few years. When my then fiancee, now wife, Christy told me she was far more comfortable visiting IKAR than attending services at the shul I belonged to at the time, that sealed the deal. Within a month of joining IKAR, I was leading canvasses for Minyan Tzedek Community Organizing’s election work. IKARites have a way of pulling you in and making you want to get involved. I haven’t looked back since. In 2017, I joined the Community Organizing Steering Committee and have been a co-chair. The inextricable link established at IKAR between living a Jewish life and working for justice in the community is why I joined and why my involvement has deepened over the years. In my work with Minyan Tzedek Community Organizing, I’ve helped lead campaigns to make California a sanctuary state, reform policing, eliminate cash bail, steer tax revenue away from prisons and back into communities, and build more affordable housing. I was born and raised in Dayton, OH, where both my parents served as longtime board members and sometimes presidents of the synagogue I grew up attending. At the same time, my religious education was broad. My mom’s a Jew by choice, a choice that wasn’t finalized until I was 9, and many of my extended family members are devout Roman Catholics. I attended Catholic school through the 8th grade, had a baptism & a bris, a first holy communion & a bar mitzvah. By the time I became bar mitzvah, I was all in for Judaism and Catholicism was in the rearview mirror, but these early formative experiences and the lessons I’ve drawn from being exposed to multiple faiths makes me especially passionate about IKAR Organizing’s interfaith work with LA Voice. I’m a graduate of University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts (Fight On!). As an undergrad, I organized two Hillel alternative spring break trips (one with the school’s NAACP chapter) to rebuild in Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I was also the Obama ’08 campaign’s Southern California campus organizer.  After toiling for nearly a decade mostly as a writer’s assistant, I’m now a working TV writer and have written for shows including CSI:NY, Proven Innocent, and currently ABC’s The Good ​​Doctor. I also teach creative writing to teen boys incarcerated in Los Angeles Central Juvenile Hall, as well as formerly incarcerated adults through the Inside Out Writers program. I live in Burbank with my wife Christy, our son, William and dog, Leo.
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Adam Miller
Past Board Chair
Adam has been a member of the IKAR Board since 2005. Professionally, Adam is the founder and President/CEO of CornerstoneOnDemand, a publicly held enterprise software company. Adam is extensively involved with the Cornerstone OnDemand Foundation and the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network. He has also done work with Heal the Bay. He has a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. and M.B.A. from UCLA.
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Sarah Wick
Sarah currently serves as the COO of Lowercarbon Capital, a climate tech VC that backs companies that help reduce CO2. Prior to that, she was COO at Crooked Media for over six years, a political media company that is devoted to helping progressives get elected through producing podcasts like “Pod Save America,” and its political activism arm “Vote Save America.” Sarah holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Harvard College in English. Born and raised in Los Angeles, when not working, Sarah can be found working in her garden, reading, or engaging in the task of trying to train her dog which she calls a “lab” but in whose face you can clearly see the pitbull. Sarah is grateful to Jody Uttal, her mom’s best friend and fellow lover of mystery books for introducing her extended family to IKAR, where her mom and sisters also remain enthusiastic and active members. She is also grateful to Rabbi Brous, who married her and her husband Robert several years ago and turned their tiny outside, afternoon, end-of-COVID wedding into something timeless and transcendent. She lives in the Franklin Hills with her husband and daughter, Violet.
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