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”.