We are welcoming two new PET members to the team! Michael Spaeth and Jessie Schwalb bring their community connections, organizing skills, and knowledge of the political environment to DJJ's Political Evaluation Team! We are grateful for their commitment and contributions to DJJ! Please see their bios and the rest of the PET team's information below!
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We are excited to introduce you to DJJ's Political Evaluation Team, also known by the acronym of PET. DJJ established this group years ago - some may remember other animal names such as MEOW and CAT. PET helps DJJ to navigate political decisions in our work by grounding in DJJ's Mission, Theory of Change and Core Principles. PET was established in reflection of DJJ's values of collaboration, transparency, and democratic leadership.
Some of PET's work includes assessment of new organizing partners, sign ons to partner's letters, and advisement on various topics, such as which community members to honor for their contributions to the organization. PET guides our political work and serves as a check and balance for the organization. DJJ is immensely grateful to the brilliant folks who contributed to this team in the past and those on the team today. Interested in learning more about PET or being a part of the team in the future? Reach out to Lisa at [email protected].
Jessie Schwalb
she/her
Jessie Schwalb is an advocate and writer currently living on the East side of Detroit. She grew up attending and subsequently worked as a counselor and lead counselor at Camp Tavor, a social-justice oriented, progressive Jewish sleep-away camp based in Michigan. As the policy and advocacy socialist at United Way for Southeastern Michigan, she collaborates with nonprofits across Southeast Michigan to promote politics that advance economic justice and racial equity. She grew up in the Ann Arbor Jewish community and currently works as an educator at Dor Hadash.
David Finkel
he/him
David is editor of the Detroit-based social justice magazine Against the Current. He's a member of Jewish Voice for Peace-Detroit. He also feeds a small colony of four outdoor cats!
Michael Spaeth
he/him
Michael Spaeth is a children’s librarian in Oakland County. Previously, he worked at nonprofits in DC and southeast Michigan, and he completed a year of service in Chicago with Avodah, the Jewish Service Corps. He has a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) from Wayne State University and a B.A. in Political Science and Communication Studies from the University of Michigan.
Michael has been involved with DJJ since moving back to southeast Michigan in 2021. Outside of work and DJJ, Michael enjoys playing jazz saxophone and spending time with his dog.
Julie Hurwitz
she/her
Julie is in private practice in Detroit, Michigan, a partner in the firm of Goodman Hurwitz & James, P.C., where she specializes in civil rights, police and government misconduct/§1983 litigation. She is an active member of the National Lawyers Guild, Jewish Voice for Peace and is on the boards of the NLG/Maurice & Jane Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice [Sugar Law Center] in Detroit, the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights (MCHR), and the Peoples Water Board. She has spoken, taught and written extensively on issues pertaining to civil rights, civil liberties and representing victims of constitutional violations. She is also one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs arising from the Flint water crisis, having argued successfully in the Michigan Supreme Court that the State could be held directly liable for damages for violating the substantive due process clause of the Michigan Constitution. Since she first started practicing law in 1982, she has represented political activists who have been arrested for acts of civil disobedience, starting with the mass arrests at Williams International – the producer of nuclear weaponry -- in 1983; to the newspaper strike supporters in the 1990’s; to the “Homrich 9,” arrested in July 2014 protesting the Detroit mass water shut-offs; to the Michigan Poor Peoples Campaign in 2018 where, over 5-weeks of “Moral Mondays” thousands of activists around the country engaged in civil disobedience to protest a wide range of injustices; to the summer 2020 anti-police brutality/anti-racism protests which resulted in the entry of a preliminary injunction and 7-figure settlement. Ms. Hurwitz is a 1978 graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, with a bachelor’s degree in Economics, and a 1982 J.D. graduate of the University of Michigan Law School.
Shandra Bernath-Plaisted
she/her
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.
