JCLP Alumni
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Class of 2018
Jacob Ehrlich
Jewish Communal Leadership Program Class of 2018
Jacob Ehrlich lives in Detroit and works as Operations and Engagement Manager for Congregation T'chiyahas well as the Music Enrichment Specialist at Jewish Hospice & Chaplaincy Network. Originally from Westhampton, NY, he holds a BA from Hampshire College, where he studied comparative religion and completed a thesis project exploring the philosophical and sociological resonances between Jewish and Hindu devotional movements. For his field placement, Jacob worked with the Jewish Hospice and Chaplaincy Network, working to address the psycho-social and spiritual care needs of clients and their families as they navigate the end-of-life. As an activist and aspiring spiritual leader, Jacob appreciated the unique opportunity that JCLP affords to integrate social justice, spirituality, and Jewish learning into the practice of micro- and macro-level social work, and enjoyed two fulfilling years of intensive learning and fellowship.
Leah Josephson
Jewish Communal Leadership Program Class of 2018
Leah Josephson lives in Durham, North Carolina and is a consultant with Emergence Collective, a capacity building consultancy she founded with a group of former and recent Michigan graduates, where she helps organizations measure and communicate their impact. As a JCLP student, Leah appreciated the opportunity to connect with community members and local organizations working at the intersections of Judaism and social justice, including through her management field placement with Jewish Family Service of Metro Detroit. Prior to graduate school, she worked as a fundraiser and communications strategist for nonprofit and political organizations, including at North Carolina Hillel as Director of Development. Leah was also active with the Carolina Abortion Fund, where she served as Board Chair, and was co-founder of Moishe House Triangle. In 2015, she completed the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies summer program in Jerusalem, Israel.
Class of 2017
Annie Shapiro
Jewish Communal Leadership Program Class of 2017
Annie Shapiro is the Policy Manager at Fair Food Network in Ann Arbor, MI. In this role, Annie leads public policy engagement in Michigan. She completed a dual degree in Social Work and Public Health. During her time in JCLP, Annie enjoyed thinking critically about the inclusivity of the Jewish community and how to engage those who are marginalized or on the fringe of the community. Originally from the Twin Cities, she received a B.A. in International Affairs and History from the George Washington University. Following graduation, Annie worked in DC on international HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment for the government. Annie is passionate about working to create a more equitable health system in the U.S. Annie's field placement was at Jewish Family Service of Metro Detroit where she worked on health and wellness and healthcare navigation. Annie hopes to continue conversations about the intersection between the Jewish community and social justice movements and think of innovative ways to energize the Jewish community around increasing equity in our communities and nation as a whole.
Avery Markel
Jewish Communal Leadership Program Class of 2017
Avery Markel is the Director of Community Engagement at the Jewish Grandparents Network. She lives in Louisville, KY and will be relocating to Grand Rapids, Michigan in the summer of 2024 with her husband, daughter, and their menagerie of pets. A metro-Detroit native with stops throughout the midwest and mid south, Avery's interest in social work sparked during her year in Chicago with AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps, and led her home to Michigan to matriculate in JCLP. While in the program, Avery studied Interpersonal Practice and completed field work at Jewish Family Service of Metro Detroit. JCLP continues to provide a space for Avery to learn about the ever changing landscape of Judaism in America and explore roles she may play in the field.
Haley Schreier
Jewish Communal Leadership Program Class of 2017
Haley Schreier is the Assistant Director at Michigan Hillel. She is an Ann Arbor native and a super alum (she has her undergrad and MSW from Michigan). Her field placement through JCLP was at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, where she learned about organizational management and change, as well as community organizing. She considers herself an educator, an activist, and a mentor, and loves sharing her passion for Jewish life and learning. Every day, she enjoys helping students and supporting staff to discover how Judaism can intersect with a multitude of other identities.
Lauren Rouff
Jewish Communal Leadership Program Class of 2017
Lauren Rouff is a school social worker in Dearborn, MI and during the summer is the camp social worker for Camp Tamarack. Originally from West Bloomfield, Michigan, she graduated from the University of Michigan with a BA in Communications and Spanish. Before coming to the School of Social Work, she worked as a Program Associate for Hillel of Metro Detroit, working with Jewish college students around the Detroit area. Lauren is a long-time Tamarack Camps camper and counselor, and served on their Young Adult Advisory Board where she gained non-profit leadership skills. Her JCLP field placement was with Jewish Family Service of Metro Detroit where she worked in various day schools facilitating social skills groups. She enjoyed being able to learn about so many different organizations and individuals by being part of the JCLP.
Mariel Schwartz
Jewish Communal Leadership Program Class of 2017
Mariel Schwartz is a social worker with Seasons Hospice and Palliative Care in Detroit, MI. She previously worked as a geriatric social worker at Jewish Senior Life of Metropolitan Detroit in Oak Park, MI. She grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and graduated with high honors from Lehigh University with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in Economics. Following college graduation, Mariel relocated to Washington, DC to work first for United States Congressman Jason Altmire and then for the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation. Mariel was also a member of the Jewish Women International's Young Women's Leadership Network and volunteered weekly with the Jewish Social Service Agency by visiting hospice clients in their homes. Mariel enjoyed learning about community organizing and social justice work in the American Jewish community. As a Geriatric Care Management intern at Jewish Family Service of Metro Detroit, Mariel connected older adults with a myriad of resources available specifically to the geriatric community. As a Wexner Graduate Fellow, Mariel will furtherexplored explore the intersection of Jewish life and aging. She is passionate about understanding how the Jewish community can enrich the lives of older adults. In her spare time, she enjoys attending a book club and visiting Jewish communities around the world.
Mel Rivkin
Jewish Communal Leadership Program Class of 2017
After completing the Jewish Communal Leadership Program in 2017, Mel Rivkin moved to Chicago to pursue a career in social work. While at U-M, Mel's JCLP experience focused on Management of Human Services and integrated macro social work practices. Mel Received their Professional Educator's License from Loyola University in the Spring of 2020 and has been a School Social Worker with Chicago Public Schools since the Fall of 2020. Mel works on being in community with other marginalized individuals and communities both personally and professionally, along with creating affirming spaces for neurodivergent approaches to academics in schools. Mel also continues to explore their Jewishness from artistic and social work lenses. In their free time they create art, dance, and hang out with their pup Taz.
Sharon Alvandi
Jewish Communal Leadership Program Class of 2017
Sharon Alvandi works with the Parenting in Context Lab at the University of Michigan where she gathers data about parenting education programs designed for fathers who are expecting babies. She also works for B'nai Brith Youth Organization's Perlman Camp as a part of their inclusivity initiative's staff. Over the 2017 summer, she worked to ensure that campers received appropriate accommodations for differing abilities, consulted with camp staff on mental health and behavior management, intervened, and counseled individuals in crisis, and worked with the general Perlman Camp community to expand BBYO's vision for inclusivity. She also attended the National Havurah Committee's Summer Institute as a Zeitler Fellow. Originally from a Persian-Jewish community in New York, Sharon earned her Master of Arts in Teaching from Bard College and helped found a progressive middle school in the Bronx. While a JCLP student, she interned at a battering intervention program and a prison re-entry program as a group facilitator and a programming organizer. In her free time, Sharon worked to create brave spaces for youth from metro Detroit and nearby suburbs with the Student Youth Dialogues program at the University of Michigan Program on Intergroup Relations. She also worked with young Jewish students at synagogues in Ann Arbor and engaged in discussions with communal leaders about their perspectives on faith identities interwoven in social justice work. Sharon hopes to continue to focus on the interplay between gender and trauma, crisis intervention, and communal healing in social work practices.
Class of 2016
Alli Rosen
Jewish Communal Leadership Program Class of 2016
Alli Rosen has returned to her hometown of Richmond, VA after more than 3 years of working with Bay Area Community Resources as both a Senior and Regional Supervisor for the BAYAC AmeriCorps department where she was responsible for recruiting, hiring, training, and supervising 25 AmeriCorps volunteers working at youth-serving partner organizations around San Francisco. Alli graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BSW from James Madison University. Following graduation, she completed two years of AmeriCorps National Direct at LIFT-Chicago where she managed a community resource center helping community members achieve economic stability and well-being. Alli worked in food and environmental education with Hazon in the Bay Area, contributing to her dual passions for food justice and health equity across race and place. She completed her MSW field work at Fair Food Network and Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice.