Announcing the 2021 Ko’ach Fellows
We are thrilled to introduce the members of our inaugural 2021 cohort of the Ko’ach Fellowship! These incredible fellows span generations, continents, racial and ethnic identities, and areas of leadership expertise.
Each member of this cohort brings extensive leadership experience and insight that we will be collectively building upon while they integrate the fellowship’s curriculum into their lives and ultimately, become more deeply grounded in their innate brilliance, visions, and power.
To learn more about the inspiration and reason for the creation of this flagship leadership program in addition to what’s listed on the Ko’ach Fellowship Overview, as well as leave a note of “mazal tov” to the fellows, check out this blog post!
Meet the the 2021 Ko’ach Fellows!
Jonathan Cohen he/him/his
Miami, FL
Jon merges his dedication to community building with his personal mission for LGBTQ+ rights and representation as Keshet’s Director of Community Mobilization. By applying his own experiences, he revels in the opportunity to organize diverse communities through an intersectional Jewish lens.
After graduating from Florida State University, Jon engaged his passions for the Jewish community and service as a Repair the World Fellow in Brooklyn, leading young professionals in hands-on service through Jewish values. After his time as a Fellow, he served as the Interim Director of the Jewish Volunteer Center at the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, executing community-wide service events and organizing a young professional volunteer movement. He then went on to become the Program Manager for Repair the World Miami, launching Repair’s 6th Fellowship city and spearheading programs and partnerships through local and national initiatives.
Gina Drangel
she/her/hers
Kew Gardens, NY
Gina Drangel is a 2018 JewV’Nation fellow of the Union for Reform Judaism Jews of Color Cohort. She holds a Master’s Degree in vocal performance from the Aaron Copland School of Music and an accounting degree from Queens College. She currently works full-time as an accountant in New York City. Gina is an active congregant of the Reform Temple of Forest Hills in Forest Hills, NY where she has been a member since 2005. She is currently on the board of trustees,and a proud member of the RTFH choir. She recently became the racial equity team leader of the Diversity Team of RTFH.
Kiyomi Gelber she/her/hers
San Francisco, CA (Ramaytush Ohlone Land)
Kiyomi is the daughter of a Japanese-American mother and Jewish-American father. She graduated from Pomona College in 2007 with a degree in Environmental Analysis: Race, Class, Gender and the Environment. She has worked at the intersection of experiential education and social justice at nonprofits including Mission Graduates, New Door Ventures, Amigos de las Américas, the Mosaic Project and Kiva. After participating in the Dorot Fellowship in Israel, Kiyomi attended graduate school at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Kiyomi is currently an Assistant Director at Camp Tawonga, a residential Jewish summer camp located just outside of Yosemite National Park, where, in addition to staff hiring, training and at-camp directing, Kiyomi leads racial justice transformation work. Kiyomi is also a member of the Jewish Community Federation of the Bay Area’s Racial Justice Task Force and offers consulting services through Tawonga Institute. Kiyomi is happiest when it is sunny, loves dancing, going on runs and swimming in natural bodies of water and is currently trying to learn to play guitar!
Keshira haLev Fife she/they
Pittsburgh, PA
(Osage + Haudenosaunee land)
Keshira haLev Fife is a Kohenet (Hebrew Priestess) and a queer Jew of Colour who sprinkles sparkles, disrupts expectations, counters oppression and offers blessings wherever she goes. She serves as a community weaver, shlichat tzibbur, lifespiral ceremony/ritual creatrix, teacher, liturgist, and songstress. She is Oreget Kehillah (Executive Director) of the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute, founder/co-leader of Kesher Pittsburgh, Program Director of ALEPH’s Kesher Fellowship, and Lead Facilitator for Keshet’s LGBTQ+ JYoC programming. Dual-citizens of the USA and Australia and avid travelers, she and her beloved are currently leaning into stillness and sheltering-in-peace on Osage and Haudenosaunee land also called Pittsburgh, PA.
Robin Harrison
he/him/his
Westminster, CA
Robin is a Compton-born and raised product of a large, tight-knit Baptist family. During his college years, he sought both a greater education, and a spiritual foundation that suited his needs and strengths. He graduated from Cal-State Dominguez Hills with a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts. It was here that he also met his wife of 31 years, Mulu. They have two 20-something daughters, Robin and Candice. Robin is also in his 25th year as an elementary/middle school teacher in Los Angeles. He is an active Board and choir member of Temple Beth David of Orange County, where he and his family have been members for 10 years. He is also a proud alum of the URJ JewV’nation Fellowship. Robin is currently in his first year of rabbinic training at Academy of Jewish Religion, Los Angeles.
Sasha Hippard she/her
Chochenyo Ohlone Land
(Oakland, CA)
Sasha Kaori Hippard is an educator, activist, and creative collaborator committed to working towards a more just, anti-racist, and sustainable food system to nourish our communities, our hearts, and our bodies. Before working in Young Adult Programming at Urban Adamah, she was working in several Oakland School District locations, teaching urban permaculture, art, and cooking skills. She has worked in farming and landscaping in the United States, Japan, Spain, and Bosnia. She is a graduate of Smith College, B.A. Sociology and International Relations and the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, Theatre. A fourth-generation San Franciscan born in Sendai, Japan, the Pacific Ocean is her favorite place to be.
Tani Prell,
she/her/hers Chicago, IL
Tani’s career has been centered on education, Judaism, and the arts, with a commitment to equity and belonging present throughout. She is the Chicago Director for 18Doors, formerly Interfaith Family,and a diversity, equity, and inclusion and anti-racism educator and consultant. Tani is a former synagogue education director and fundraiser at the Art Institute of Chicago. As a former Teach for America corps member, teacher, and department chair, Tani focused her curriculum on restorative justice through the arts. Tani serves on the board of trustees for the Union for Reform Judaism, is a member of the URJ’s Commission on Social Action, and active on the Religious Action Center of Illinois’ core team. In 2018 Tani was a JewV’Nation and fellow and named one of the Jewish Federation of Chicago’s “36 Under 36.” Tani has her BA in Creative Writing focusing on Black Literature, and she is a recent graduate student from Spertus where her capstone focuses on how Jewish organizations can become anti-racist institutions. In her spare time, Tani enjoys science fiction, Dungeons and Dragons, and making and enjoying as much art as possible.
Bryant Heinzelman he/him/his
Bellingham, WA
Bryant Heinzelman comes from an interfaith-multi racial background, is a veteran of the United States Army, and a graduate of the Military Intelligence Cryptologic College of Corry Station, Pensacola. After a particularly difficult deployment to Iraq he shifted his focus from intelligence analysis to Jewish community building, interfaith outreach, and social justice initiatives. Bryant’s work as a Jewish Educator, and former Director of Teen Engagement, intentionally reflects his intersecting identities, actively empathetic perspective, and the knowledge that allies change history when working together, and regress in periods of conflict or silence. Bryant is a Diversity Equity and Inclusion consultant working primarily with North American Jewish organizations and the URJ (Union for Reform Judaism), a 2018 URJ Jew V’ Nation Fellow, bluegrass hobbyist, outdoor enthusiast, and a seahorse breeder. Bryant believes that to live as a Jew of Color is to live with the inherited memories of slavery and Jim Crow, and the knowledge that a journey towards freedoom may take numerous generations and countless alliances.
Rebecca (Becky) Jaye she/her/hers
Valladolid, Spain
Becky Jaye is a rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, on the New York Campus. Becky is proudly from Brooklyn, New York, where she grew up in an interfaith, biracial home. It was the blessing of witnessing and experiencing her parents’ respect and honor for each other’s faiths that led to Becky’s interest in studying world religions.
Becky studied for her B.A. in American Studies at Yale College and thereafter, completed a two-year fellowship in Zhuhai, China, for the Yale-China Association. Upon returning to the United States, Becky attended Yale Divinity School to pursue religious studies, earning an M.A. in Religion. Right now, she is continuing her rabbinical studies in Valladolid, Spain, where she is able to reside with her partner Miguel in his hometown. As a student at HUC, Becky strives towards helping her classmates, colleagues and professors actualize a safe and respectful campus environment. Outside of her studies, Becky is a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion facilitator for Jewish and non-Jewish organizations in North America. She is also the rabbinic intern at Temple Emanu El of Westfield, New Jersey.
Evan Traylor he/him/his Washington D.C.
Evan Traylor is a first-year rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Originally from Oklahoma City, he graduated from the University of Kansas studying political science, Jewish studies, and leadership studies. Prior to rabbinical school, Evan worked at the Union for Reform Judaism for four years creating new projects and initiatives in college and young adult engagement. He currently serves on the leadership team for Jewish Social Justice Roundtable and the Commission on Social Action for the Religious Action Center. Evan is a proud alum of University of Kansas Hillel, URJ Kutz Camp, Greene Family Camp, and served as North American President of NFTY. He currently lives in Washington D.C.
