JEWISH COMMUNITY ACTION 2016 ANNUAL REPORT 2020-2021
A Message from our Board Chair, David Brauer Dear Jewish Community Action members and leaders, When Jewish Community Action was founded 26 years ago, no one could imagine us without the leadership of founders, Frank Hornstein and Rachel Breen. Then, for over a decade, no one could imagine JCA without longtime executive director Vic Rosenthal. Earlier this year, I and other board members were forced to imagine our organization without another justice visionary: current executive director Carin Mrotz. Carin has been more than JCA’s leader: she’s been our public face, our institutional memory JCA Board Chair David Brauer (she joined as a staffer in 2004), our teacher, and more than occasionally, our rockstar. Her piercing determination shares face time with a broad grin after she’s cracked up an entire room with a quip. So your board chair may have felt his heart drop a few ribs when Carin let us know it was time to pursue other dreams. But JCA has always pursued justice together, with you as members, and our staff, and allies. It wasn’t long before I began to draw strength from the very thing Carin has built: an organization with more members than ever, more campaigns than ever, and more support than ever.
Imagine running a successful campaign for rent stabilization in both Twin Cities, winning fights on affordable housing and tenants rights around the metro, securing hate crime legislation as part of a multi-ethnic, multi-religious alliance, and beginning an education program to fight antisemitism at a time like this. We all stand on the shoulders of ancestors, and while Carin’s far too young to be called that, our next executive director inherits this — an organization not in crisis, but blossoming. Carin has given us the gift of time to find her successor: we are currently circulating our job description; if you, or someone you know is interested, you can read it here. People have until January 10 to apply, and we hope to announce the new E.D. around Passover. Tell your networks! In the meantime, Carin is still managing an excellent staff that will continue their great work. And during the past year, JCA’s board has been graced by three new leaders: Sara Greenhalgh, Dylan Fresco, and Diana Siegel-Garcia. They’ve brought different life experiences and new perspectives to us, and are another source of strength. Last year, I wrote of JCA’s strength amid withering challenges; this year, I’m feeling excited about meeting our next great leader and their vision. I’m also deeply grateful to everyone here, but especially the woman with the razor wit and the unbreakable determination. Sincerely, David Brauer
This has all happened through a wrenching couple of pandemic years that has profoundly changed work and frankly, people’s sense of where they should be in life.
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