Daniella Forney is currently the Assistant Director of Education and Teen/Youth Programs at Temple Isaiah of Lafayette, where she helps oversee the preschool-7th grade religious school

(JQuest), 8-12th grade teen school (Noar Night), and the madrachim (TA) program. Daniella graduated from Clark University with a degree in Economics and Business Management and is currently enrolled in the Executive Masters Program in Jewish Education at Hebrew Union College (HUC). After spending time traveling abroad and teaching high school English in China, Daniella worked as a Senior Business Consultant specializing in corporate bankruptcy management and organizational efficiency. Daniella has been an active volunteer in her local community, working with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Berkeley Food Network,

Winter Nights Family Shelter, and has held board positions at East Bay private and public schools. A native of Moraga, Daniella currently resides in Berkeley with her husband and 3 teens. In her free time, Daniella can often be found painting, cake decorating, or scrapbooking.

Sasha is an educator, organizer, and community builder. She is passionate about creating radically welcoming spaces. She has been dedicated to elevating diversity and building liberatory spaces for marginalized communities. Living as an immigrant and a Jewish Woman of Color in Oklahoma sparked her passion for social justice, and living in the Bay Area transformed the way she approached her activism. She brings her experience as a Jewish Educator and trained facilitator to her work with women of color. As an alumna of the Voices for Good Fellowship, Sasha is excited to keep helping Jewish Learning Works support the broader Bay Area community.

Steve Lipson has lived in the East Bay for the past 17 years. He has served as Treasurer and on the board of Temple Isaiah and of the Jewish Federation of the East Bay before it merged with the Jewish Community Federation. Steve graduated from UC Berkeley and earned a M.A. from the University of Chicago in political theory. Leaving academia, Steve has worked as a scrap metal trader for the past 45 years or so. Steve enjoys gardening, hiking in Tilden, and loves to cook. Steve and Judy enjoy the fine arts and are frequent attendees at the opera, symphony, recitals and theater events. Steve and Judy live in Berkeley and have three kids and five grandkids in Boston, Macau and Anchorage.

Emily Simons is a passionate storyteller who inspires others to engage with Jewish values through philanthropy. Emily is the Director of Development at San Francisco Hillel, where she began her professional career eight years ago staffing immersive experiences for college students. She holds a Master of Science in Organizational Leadership & Innovation from Hebrew Union College’s Zelikow School of Nonprofit Management and a Bachelor of Social Work from Temple University. Emily serves on the board of Jewish LearningWorks, is a JCRC Council member, and is an alumna of the Voices For Good Fellowship through Jewish LearningWorks. She is an alumna of Federation Fellows, Jeremiah Fellows, Birthright Israel Fellows, Brandeis Collegiate Institute, and Leadership 365. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA (go Steelers!), Emily moved to California eight years ago and now lives in Oakland (go Ballers!) with her partner, Michael, and their dogs, Pumpkin & Ruthie. In her free time, Emily can be found reading sci-fi novels, building Lego sets, or visiting the local dog park.

Robert has been deeply involved in the educational world for over 20 years as an educator, entrepreneur, and board leader. He is currently Head of School of East Bay School, a middle school in Berkeley with an integrated program of academic, social-emotional, and experiential learning.

Previously, he was the Director of Admissions at Kehillah Jewish High School in Palo Alto, where he also taught courses in the Humanities and World Languages Departments. Prior to his work at Kehillah, Robert worked in the educational technology sector developing platforms to support students through the college exploration process. Robert received his Bachelor of Science in Asian and Latin American Studies from Georgetown University and pursued doctoral studies in Modern Jewish Thought at Stanford University. He received a Fulbright Fellowship to research contemporary Jewish life and thought in Argentina, where he studied at the Marshall Meyer Latin American Rabbinical Seminary. Robert previously served on the board of Teach with Africa and currently serves on the board of the Keys School in addition to the board of Jewish LearningWorks.

In his spare time, Robert enjoys hiking, practicing the guitar, and following the latest trends in architecture and urban studies.

Dena Stein is a passionate advocate for Jewish community and Jewish education with over two decades of experience in philanthropy, leadership development, and relationship building for nonprofits. She currently serves as Senior Director of Development at Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco, where she oversees the organization’s fundraising. Prior to ECS, Dena held key roles at the Jewish Federation Bay Area, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and Jewish Education Service of North America, among other organizations.

Dena’s commitment to Jewish education is both professional and personal. She holds dual Master’s degrees in Religious Education and Jewish Nonprofit Management from Hebrew Union College and a Bachelor of Arts in Judaic Studies and English from the University of Connecticut. She has served locally on the boards of Contra Costa Jewish Day School and Contra Costa Midrasha.

Dena lives in Contra Costa County with her husband, Rabbi Daniel Stein, their two children, and two small dogs.

Diana Wilmot has been in the field of education for 30 years, dating back to her days as a Hebrew school and Sunday school teacher while enrolled as a college student at Northwestern University. Her passion for Jewish education has been woven throughout her educational career, most recently as the Chief Academic Officer and Principal at Yavneh Day School, where both of her children attended and graduated. She continues to be invested in education, particularly focused on evaluating programs and straddling research-based practices that demonstrate a child-centered approach and improve outcomes for students.

Currently Diana serves as the Director, Program Evaluation and Research for the Sequoia Union High School District in Redwood City, overseeing all of the data and programming related to students success. Diana earned a Ph.D. from University of California at Berkeley in Policy, Organization, Measurement and Evaluation and her research emphasized the importance of understanding learning trajectories and designing instruments to better measure the development of students. She lives in San Jose with her husband, Dewey, an independent college-admissions counselor, her son, and daughter who are both in college and her dog, Sunny. In her spare time, she likes to hike, kayak and go on adventures. Diana is a congregant at Congregation Sinai in San Jose.