COEJL is guided by its Governance Committee which brings together prominent Jewish environmentalists, including veteran leaders and cutting edge activists. The Governance Committee meets every other month. Members also serve on the following subcommittees: Communications, Executive, Finance, and, Policy and Program. Several Governance Committee members are leaders with other major Jewish organizations including the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA,) COEJL’s parent organization.
Co-Chairs (2011-2012)
- Mitchell Thomashow, Ed. D., President Emeritus, Unity College
- Rabbi Steve Gutow, President and CEO, Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Members (2011-2012)
David Bohm, Treasurer, Vice President, Jewish Council for Public Affairs
David Bohm is an experienced litigator working with health care, government, and business clientele. He handles matters involving employment, trademark, copyright, trade secret, and complex contracts, and represents clients before various administrative agencies. He is skilled in mediation and arbitration techniques as an alternative to litigation. David has argued before the Supreme Court of Missouri, the Missouri Court of Appeals, and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. He has assisted in briefing cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal Circuit Courts of Appeal. Since joining the firm, he has drafted several bills, which have been enacted as state statutes, including the Mo. Religious Freedom Restoration Act and a law permitting social service agencies to act as guardians for disabled individuals. David received the Albert “Red” Villa Human Rights Award from the St. Louis Civil Rights Commission in 1992, the Jurisprudence Award from the Anti-Defamation League in 1994, and with his family, the 2008 Netzach Award from the St. Louis chapter of the American Jewish Committee.
Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb, Rabbi, Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation
Fred Scherlinder Dobb has been Rabbi of Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation (www.adatshalom.net) in the Washington DC area since 1997, during which time the synagogue has more than doubled in size, built its 2002 EPA Energy Star Award building, and recently installed a 43kw solar array and a thriving organic garden. A long-time Jewish environmental educator and activist, Fred has been a lay-leader with the Coalition on the Environment Jewish Life for some fifteen years, and while on sabbatical in 2003-04 he joined the COEJL staff. Fred is currently the Chairperson of Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light (www.gwipl.org) , and a co-Chair of Religious Witness for the Earth. He has written and spoken widely on the intersection of Judaism and ecology, though between synagogue and family commitments (Sara in first grade and Gili in pre-school) it remains an avocation. Fred received a Doctor of Ministry from Wesley Theological Seminary in 2009, having written on eco-theology and greening congregations; he serves on the Reconstructionist Movement Advisory Committee, and is a Past President of the Washington Board of Rabbis.
Terry Gips, President, Sustainability Associates
Terry Gips is a widely published ecologist, agricultural economist, green business consultant, Natural Step facilitator, speaker and author with more than 25 years experience in global environmental leadership, government policy, sustainable development, business management and consulting. He is the President of Sustainability Associates, which works with business, communities, government agencies, educational institutions and nonprofits to improve performance and strategic position, reduce costs, and achieve ecological soundness and social responsibility through leading edge sustainability thinking, eco-auditing, technical consulting, organizational learning, team building, public policy, strategic marketing, and capital formation. He presently is President of the Alliance for Sustainability and a board member of Business for Social Responsibility–Upper Midwest, Jewish Community Relations Council of MN and Dakotas, and the Twin Cities American Jewish Committee, as well as many other environmental, governmental and Jewish organizations.
Rabbi Steve Gutow, President and CEO, Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Rabbi Steve Gutow is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the public policy and community relations coordinating agency of the American Jewish community. In this position, Steve has mobilized the Jewish community and advocated that the government end the genocide in Darfur, reform immigration policy, support Israel, protect individual rights, maintain and enhance anti-poverty programs, and create a sustainable environment. Steve has also worked diligently to foster a stronger bond among the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths. For his leadership, Steve has been named among the 20 most influential American rabbis (Newsweek, 2009 and 2010) and in 2007 to the Forward 50 (The Forward, 2007.) Steve serves as COEJL’s co-chair.
Irwin Lowenstein, President, Rethink Advisors Inc.
Irwin Lowenstein is a veteran Project Manager and Architect with a valuable interlocking network of skills and 25+ years of experience helping clients make capital projects a success. As President of ReThink Advisors, a full service project management and representation firm, Irwin is dedicated to protecting the interests of Owners and Tenants during design and construction. He has special expertise working with clients in the non-profit and institutional sectors. Irwin is compelled by and believes in the concept that the environmental cause should be thought of not only as a policy and technical issue but, just as importantly, as a values and moral issue. Irwin serves as a trustee of the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland.
Rachel Jacoby Rosenfield, Director, Jewish Greening Fellowship
Rachel Jacoby Rosenfield is associate director of community engagement at American Jewish World Service. She is also the co-founder and former director of the Jewish Greening Fellowship, an initiative of the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, which aims to cultivate environmental change leadership among Jewish communal professionals, reduce the environmental impacts of Jewish organizations in the New York area, and generate meaningful responses to global climate change while strengthening Jewish life. Rachel has served as an educator, organizer and advocate in the field of Jewish service-learning in for more than a decade. Rachel formerly served as director for program development and Jewish life at the Riverdale Y where she developed innovative programming including an agency and community-wide greening initiative. She is a graduate of the Muehlstein Fellowship for Jewish Professional Leadership, a Mentor for GreenFaith’s Certification Program for Houses of Worship, and Chair of the GreenFaith Initiative at the Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale.
Rabbi David Saperstein, Director and Counsel, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Rabbi David Saperstein is a rabbi, lawyer, and Jewish community leader. He has served as the director and legal counsel at the Union for Reform Judaism’s Religious Action Center for 35 years. Newsweek has called him the most influential rabbi in America and the Washington Post described him as “the quintessential religious lobbyist on Capitol Hill.” Long involved in environmental issues, David was the founding chair of the Interfaith Coalition on Energy and a founding board member of the National Religious Partnership on the Environment and COEJL. As an attorney, he has taught First Amendment church-state law and Jewish Law at Georgetown Law School for 30 years. In 1999, David was elected as the first Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (created by an act of Congress) and in 2009 was appointed to the first White House Advisory Council on Faith Based and Neighborhoods Partnerships, where he served on the taskforce on environmental issues.
Mitchell Thomashow, Ed. D., President Emeritus, Unity College
Dr. Mitchell Thomashow is the President Emeritus of Unity College in Maine, a small environmental liberal arts college whose mission entails stewardship, sustainability, and service. As a college president, Mitch integrated concepts of ecology, sustainability, natural history, wellness, participatory governance, and community service into all aspects of college and community life. He served as President of Unity from 2006 to 2011. Mitch is the founder of Whole Terrain, an environmental literary publication, originating at Antioch New England Graduate School, and “Hawk and Handsaw,” a journal of creative sustainability, published at Unity College. He serves on the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). He is on the advisory board of Orion Magazine. Mitch is a founding member of the Council of Environmental Deans and Directors (CEDD), a national organization that supports interdisciplinary environmental studies in higher education. He serves on the Steering Committee of the American Colleges and University President’s Climate Commitment. Mitch serves as COEJL’s co-chair.
Ari Wallach, Founder, Synthesis Corp.
Ari Wallach is the founder and managing partner of Synthesis Corp. Synthesis Corp. works with governments, NGOs, foundations and select corporate clients to provide turnkey solutions that drive top-line growth through sustainable social impact. Synthesis Corp. recently worked with the United States Department of State on the creation of a cutting-edge web 2.0 platform called OpinionSpace. Current clients include CNN, Friendfactor.org and a start-up foundation. Ari is the co-founder of 2008’s The Great Schlep, which had over 25 million views online and started a national conversation about race during the 2008 presidential campaign. Ari is also the founder of INFORUM – one of the nation’s largest non-partisan public affairs forums for young people. His work experience runs the gamut from the Democratic National Committee to the United States Institute of Peace and from Deepak Chopra to sustainability related projects for the State of Israel.
Amalia Waxman, Director, International and Market Affairs, Pfizer, Inc.
Amalia Waxman is an international strategic public affairs professional who specializes in international public health policies and Corporate Social Responsibility. In the past few years her work focused on food and nutrition policies, public health policies, multistakeholder dialogue, and corporate accountability. In this capacity she worked as a consultant with international and national food manufacturers, Israeli Ministry of Health, WHO and international NGOs. Amalia headed the Division of International Affairs and Public Relations of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, was a legislation and policy coordinator for the Israel Women’s’ Network, and during the early 90s she was parliamentary aide to a Member of Parliament in Israel. Amalia Waxman is a board member, on behalf of IFM of ISDI. She is also an executive board member of the Abraham Fund Initiative, an American-Israeli NGO. Amalia holds a Masters degree in political science from the University of Toronto and has a BA in political science and history from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
