Our People
Our Team
Dr. Sara Shapiro-Plevan, Ed.D.
Sara seeks to understand the way relationships influence and improve our practice, help us to understand our work, and engage effectively with others as we build equitable, just communities and workplaces. It is in this relational space that Sara has come to appreciate the roles gender, power, and privilege play in understanding work and learning, on the way to building equitable Jewish workplaces. Sara supports Jewish organizations as they develop cultures rooted in equity, support alignment with vision, and shift from hierarchy to flatter, networked organizational relationships. Sara also coaches individuals and teams as they imagine change, inextricably intertwined with the continuum of relationships and connections that make up our communities and workplaces.
Sara holds an EdD from The William Davidson Graduate School of Education of the Jewish Theological Seminary where her research focus was on the social networks of Jewish educators, as professionals and as alumni of particular learning programs. She holds a BA in Near Eastern and Jewish Studies from Brandeis University and an MA in Jewish Education from JTS, and was a fellow in the Senior Educators Program of the Melton Center for Jewish Education in the Diaspora at Hebrew University. Sara is a Certified Salary Negotiation Specialist (CSNS) and holds Advanced Career Facilitation for the 21st Century (ACF21) certification, as well as a certificate in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace from the Muma College of Business at the University of South Florida. As a complement to her work, Sara is receiving coaching certification from CRRGlobal (ICF), with a focus on organizational and relational systems. She serves on the board of Camp Ramah in New England, and is both a proud alumna and parent of a staff member. Sara happily uses sports metaphors in her work (albeit often incorrectly), thanks to her husband and son, who are both Knicks and Mets fans.
Reach Sara Shapiro-Plevan here.
Sara Beth Berman
Sara Beth is proud to partner with the Gender Equity in Hiring Project. Sara Beth, a writer, podcaster, and storyteller, has spent her career as an Experiential Jewish Educator and Consultant, working on curriculum development, teen programming, professional development, and programmatic initiatives. Her decades of work in the Jewish nonprofit sector has prepared Sara Beth to train people in all levels of their careers to negotiate, self-advocate, and ask good questions. Sara Beth currently serves as the Director of Youth and Family Education at Temple Shaaray Tefila in New York City. Sara Beth worked on a remote educational startup at The Jewish Education Project, ran the Newish Jewish Professionals Institute & the Graduate Fellowship at UJA-Federation NY, served as the Nadiv Educator at URJ Camp Coleman and Davis Academy in Atlanta, and as the Associate Director of Storahtelling. She has spent time working for the Foundation for Jewish Camp and other summer camps after beginning her career in Human Resources at Penguin Group (USA). Sara Beth is a graduate of the University of Florida (BA) and the Davidson School of the Jewish Theological Seminary (MA). Sara Beth is a Certified Salary Negotiation Specialist (CSNS) and holds Advanced Career Facilitation for the 21st Century (ACF21) certification, as well as a certificate in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace from the Muma College of Business at the University of South Florida.
Reach Sara Beth Berman here.
Firesenay Mengesha
Firesenay is a researcher, writer, and cultural worker based in Atlanta, Georgia. She attended the University of Tennessee and obtained a bachelor's degree in Microbiology, and also holds certification in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace from the Muma College of Business at the University of South Florida. . She has spent the last few years traveling around the world exploring the themes of culture, global foodways, and communal gatherings through research and public activations.
Food is one of Firesenay's biggest passions in life. She has been cooking since a young age and loves bringing together a community of people through a family-style dinner at a long table. Food has always been the lens through which Firesenay explores culture, and she enjoys learning about a group of people through what they eat. She seeks to expand her knowledge at the intersection of nature and culture in order to be an advocate for a more sustainable and equitable future for all.
Reach Firesenay Mengesha here.
Advisory Circle
Our Advisory Circle draws on a non-hierarchical model that weaves together a network of advisors who share in organizational decision-making. Together with our professionals, our Advisory Circle offers advice, sets goals and designs outcomes, while engaged in a reflective, collaborative and strategic process. Advisory Circle members are experts in their various domains, engaged in Jewish professional and communal life, members of our networks, and deeply involved in striving for gender justice and equity. As such, they offer their wisdom and advice to set our course for the future.
The GEiHP Advisory Circle addresses questions that guide us toward integrity and justice in our work. We practice this governance process grounded in seeking advice from those affected, not just our leadership, and from experts. We take a multitude of perspectives into consideration, accessing collective wisdom on our journey toward action. This process dismantles typical power structures and distributes leadership and power to anyone who seeks initiative and advice. We believe that this exemplifies our feminist values in action, as a radical partnership and collaboration that will lead toward more equitable hiring, employment and workplaces, and model how we can work together in more equitable ways, too.
To be fully equitable, we must embrace a full reflection of the Jewish community in the voices, profiles and people who are a part of our Advisory Circle. We are not there yet. We hold open seats around our Circle for communities, perspectives, opinions and people who are not yet represented in our work. If this is you, we invite you in.
