Adina Alpert - Chair
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Adina Alpert is the National Training Manager at Bend the Arc, where she spends her time thinking about and working on how to give Jewish activists the tools and analysis they need to dismantle white supremacy and build a world where we can all thrive. Adina is a facilitator with a background in education and an alum of the Avodah Justice Fellowship and Resetting the Table Facilitation Training. Her favorite things include unlocking learning for personal transformation, playing with her niblings, being in and near water, and ice cream.
Andrew Kaplowitz - Vice Chair
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Andrew Kaplowitz lives in Waawiyatanong, also known as Detroit, where they work to advance social and environmental justice as co-founder and executive director of the Great Lakes Water Protector Network. Andrew is a gardener, an Ashkenazi Jew in diaspora, and a practicing artist whose work explores questions of belonging and connection. Andrew earned a BA in American Studies and a minor in African American Studies from Northwestern University. Their favorite honorific is “Uncle.”
Solomon Medintz - Treasurer
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Solomon Medintz grew up and lives in Brooklyn, but had a critical, life-changing 2.5 year interlude in Detroit, during which he worked at DJJ as a community organizer. Solomon cut his organizing teeth doing climate justice organizing and, through a roundabout political journey, now works for the New York City government.
Ronit Wagman - Secretary
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Ronit Wagman serves on DJJ’s Fund MI Future team and was previously involved in the 2022 Reproductive Freedom for All ballot initiative. She is a DJJ leader organizer with the Coalition for Property Tax Justice. Ronit also delivers meals for JARC and helped organize local parents through Moms Demand Action to advocate for the Berkley School District to share gun safety information with families. Professionally, Ronit is an independent book editor—formerly in acquisitions at Penguin Random House—specializing in fiction and memoir. She has had the privilege of working with the late U.S. Senator Carl Levin, playwright and cartoonist Jules Feiffer, and bestselling novelist Alka Joshi. She lives in Oak Park with her two sons.
Hayley Sakwa
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Hayley Sakwa is a long-time DJJ member and current graduate student in business and public policy. Born in Metro Detroit and living in Ann Arbor, she's passionate about growing the progressive Jewish community across Southeast Michigan. She's also excited to continue to support DJJ's partnerships with economic and environmental justice organizations in Detroit.
Syma Echeandia
I am an 82 year old retired social worker who worked as a mental health administrator for most of my career. Born in Brooklyn NY. I have lived and worked in many places in the US and in Israel as well. My children are scattered in Florida, California and Israel. When my husband and I retired I made a decision to remain in the Metro Detroit area, in our home in Shelby Township. We chose to do so in part because Congregation T’chiyah has been a been our sustaining community. Most of our friends were made through the congregation. Its activities have been an invigorating part of our lives. I was delighted to be one of the early supporters of DJJ. Lou & I love to travel and enjoy visiting our kids, grandkids and great grandkids. However, we’re delighted to come home and reconnect with our community of friends.
Rachel Leider
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Rachel Leider has over a decade of experience in community organizing and social movement campaigning. Currently she is a MSW student at UCLA pursuing a license in clinical social work and is working as a leadership and campaign coach for organizations working on a variety of issues from climate change, to student debt to housing. Rachel grew up in Metro Detroit and currently lives in LA. She is grateful to have the opportunity to stay connected to Detroit and Michigan through supporting DJJ.
Shandra Bernath-Plaisted
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Shandra began organizing during her time as an undergraduate and spent a decade in the professional organizing world before returning to school to study architecture. Now working for a small landscape architecture and urban design studio she prioritizes community engagement, public good, and sustainability in her design work. After growing up in mid-Michigan she lived out of state for a number of years before moving to Detroit almost ten years ago. She is grateful for the opportunity to support DJJ and continue to deepen her connections to Detroit and MIchigan based organizing.
Abbas Alawieh
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Abbas Alawieh’s work sits at the intersection of social movements and policymaking. A Metro Detroit political and policy strategist and current candidate for Michigan State Senate in District 2, Alawieh formerly served as Chief of Staff to Rep. Cori Bush and senior legislative staffer to Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Rep. Andy Levin. He has played key roles in pushing for policy change locally and nationally, including for a ceasefire in his role as co-founder of 2024’s Uncommitted Movement, for an extension of the federal eviction moratorium during the pandemic, and for a halt to unjust deportations during Trump’s first administration. An organizer and public health advocate by training, Alawieh believes in pushing coordinated strategies from inside and outside institutions of power to save and improve lives. He is a two-time graduate of the University of Michigan, having earned his Bachelor of Science in Sociocultural Anthropology as a William K. Brehm Scholar and his Master of Public Health in Global Health Management and Policy. Alawieh is from and lives in Dearborn, Michigan with his wife Amanda, a civil rights and employment attorney, and their beautiful pup Rocco.
Kendra Watkins
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Kendra Watkins is a rabbinical student at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College currently living in Philadelphia, PA. Prior to rabbinical school, they worked at DJJ as the Program Associate for Racial Equity. They have worked in congregational and non-profit settings and are currently on the faculty of SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva, where they continue to develop their skills as a Jewish educator.
Jeff Jenks
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Jenks served as a Commissioner for the City of Huntington Woods from 1999 -2023 and has held the position of Mayor Pro Tem in Huntington Woods. He has a long background in public service, including volunteering for the Peace Corps in the Philippines in the 1960s. He has been active with the Michigan Municipal League (MML), an organization that advocates and provides education for local government leaders across Michigan. He has been serving on MML committees since 1999, including serving as president from 2009-2010 and has received multiple awards from the organization. Jenks has also played a critical role in SEMCOG, the organization responsible for regional planning in Southeast Michigan, covering transportation, environment, and economic development. Jenks currently serves on the advisory boards for the Council of Asian Pacific Americans, Philippine American Cultural Center of Michigan, and is active with Voices for Earth Justice serving the residents of Brightmoor in Detroit. Additionally, he is a current elected Democratic precinct delegate in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District.
