Aaron Greenberg

Aaron Greenberg is Deputy Director of the Hospitality Training Academy, the workforce development and apprenticeship arm of UNITE HERE Local 11 and its contributing employers. Previously, he served as Executive Director of the American branch of Bibliothèques Sans Frontières, and a campaign and research lead for UNITE HERE Local 11. A third generation Angeleno, he learned to organize on the other side of the country: at Yale, he spent five years as co-chair of the graduate teacher union, UNITE HERE Local 33, and, separately, was elected to three terms on the New Haven city council. He holds a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Chicago and Ph.D. in political science from Yale. 

What’s your favorite LA institution: Schwartz Bakery 

Sara Harris

Sara Harris is the Director of Strategic Initiatives at Genesis LA, a nonprofit loan fund that finances and supports equitable, community-driven development projects across LA County.

Prior to joining Genesis LA, Sara was the Economic and Community Development Policy Deputy for LA County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell. Her work focused on strengthening tenant protections, increasing affordable housing investments, and supporting street vendors and small businesses in LA County’s Second District. Sara was previously a consultant for the Bridgespan Group, collaborating with nonprofit and philanthropy clients to develop impactful strategies and operating models.

Sara holds a BA from Dartmouth College. She is on the board of the Community Ownership for Community Power Fund, a community-governed fund supporting the acquisition of land and housing by community ownership organizations across California. She is also on the board of Office of People, an LA-based urban planning and policy non-profit. She lives in Echo Park with her partner.

What’s your favorite LA institution: Elysian Park

David Levitus

David Levitus is the Founder and Executive Director of LA Forward and LA Forward Institute, affiliated nonprofits which work to practice democracy locally and make Los Angeles County a fair, flourishing place for everyone. He holds a Ph.D. in History from USC, with a focus on American politics, local government, and metropolitan development, and a B.A. from NYU where he majored in History and Economics. David is a board member with LA Voice Action and a graduate of Coro Lead LA. He lives with his wife and two kids in Sawtelle, where he spent two years on the West LA Neighborhood Council. He comes from a long line of Jews who gave a damn about dignity for every human being and made sure they did something about it.

What’s your favorite LA institution: Mar Vista Farmers Market

Yael Maizel

Yael Maizel has spent her career working on democracy and human rights through a Jewish lens. Most recently, she served as West Coast Director at J Street, where she led the congressional advocacy, candidate engagement, organizing, and fundraising strategy across the region. Earlier in her career, Yael lived in Israel and worked with a number of social change organizations, including the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. She is a graduate of the New Leaders Council Fellowship, the JOIN for Justice, and the NIF/Shatil Social Justice Fellowship. She lives in Beverly Grove with her husband and two kids.

What’s your favorite LA institution: Hollywood Bowl

Kate Pynoos

Bio: Kate Pynoos serves as the Deputy Chief of Staff to Los Angeles City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez. In her current role, she oversees the legislative, housing and homelessness teams for the Councilmember. She has worked to pass an increase in the City’s Living Wage, which will bring LAX and hotel workers’ wages to $30 per hour by 2028. She led the office’s efforts to pass the Sanctuary City Ordinance, preventing any city resources from being used to support immigration enforcement. She has also worked to advance fast food workers’ rights and crack down on wage theft.  

Kate is a third generation Angeleno living with her husband David and daughter Jo in Hollywood. She holds a BA from Barnard College and a JD from UCLA School of Law. 

What’s your favorite LA institution: The Hollywood Farmers Market and the Original Farmers Market on Fairfax!  

Rachel Sumekh

Rachel Sumekh is an economic justice advocate supporting financially vulnerable Jews and community members at a national level. In LA, 33% of Jews struggle to make ends meet. 

Rachel is an Iranian Jewish entrepreneur. She learned how to make change happen as the Founder of Swipe Out Hunger where she was CEO until 2022. Swipe Out Hunger began in 2010 with a few friends at UCLA and its network has since scaled to over 900 universities, serving millions of nourishing meals. The organization is the leading nonprofit ending college student hunger. Rachel wrote the Hunger Free Campus Act which has been introduced in 22 states, sending over $100+ million to anti-hunger programs on campus. 

Rachel’s work landed her on the Forbes' 30 Under 30 list and recognized as a White House Champion of Change. Rachel is an Avodah alum and serves on the board of the Los Angeles Community College Foundation and Reboot, a Jewish arts and culture nonprofit.

What’s your favorite LA institution: Canter’s Deli

Emma Taylor

Emma Taylor is Deputy Director of Outreach for the California State Assembly Democratic Office of Communications. She previously spent 5 years at the State Assembly; first as a Field Representative, and then District Director for Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian in the Southeastern San Fernando Valley, and then spent 3 & half years leading Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman's field team. Emma has lead teams known for their exceptional customer and constituent services, successful strategic outreach and deep relationships in their districts and beyond. With over 8 years of field work, Emma is thrilled to be able to use that experience to help all 60 members of the Assembly Democratic Caucus. Previous to her time in government, Emma was Research Assistant to retired State Senator and activist Tom Hayden until his death in 2016. Hayden’s 18 years in the California Legislature inspired Emma’s service to California.

Emma hails from Cleveland, Ohio and earned her BA in History from the Ohio State University before moving to Los Angeles in 2012, and relocating to Sacramento in 2025. She loves to find connections with other Ohio transplants across California and is passionate about supporting independent bookstores, local journalism, and media literacy for our youth.

What’s your favorite LA institution: Echo Park Lake

Brooke Wirtschafter

Brooke Wirtschafter is Director of Community Organizing at IKAR, a Jewish community in Los Angeles. As an organizer, she works with community members to build effective teams, develop leaders, identify shared goals and work toward a better, more just  city, county, and state, alongside partners from across Los Angeles. She has worked in coalitions advocating for immigrants' rights, justice system transformation, environmental justice, climate action, and affordable housing. Brooke has served as a member of the City of Los Angeles Human Relations Commission and  as a board member of Sympara, a faith-based civic place-making nonprofit. She has been a NewGround Fellow and a JOIN for Justice community organizing course instructor. She holds a B.A. from Barnard College and an M.A. from San Francisco State in History. Her college thesis was about Jewish women in NYC organizing a boycott when the price of chicken got too high. She’s been interested in Jewish organizing ever since. 

Brooke lives in the West Valley with her husband, Jonathan, and is happy to have raised 3 kids who are now adults in LA. 

What’s your favorite LA institution: Topanga State Park