BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND STAFF
SPACER
BOARD MEMBERS
President
Barry Kaseff
Immediate Past President
Karen R. Glickstein
Vice President
Daniel Singer
Secretary
Lisa Schifman
Treasurer
Stewart Stein
Allison Berey Lisa Bernard Alan Edelman Rabbi David Glickman
Edward Goldstein Paul Greenwood Ann Isenberg Harvey L. Kaplan * Jason Krakow *
Micah Levine Sharon Lindenbaum * Howard Mayer Kathi Rosenberg Neil S. Sader
Gavriel Schreiber Matthew Siegel David Soffer Sheila Sonnenschein Gail Weinberg Gary Wolf *
ADVISORY BOARD
Erwin Abrams Michael Abrams * Alice Jacks Achtenberg * Richard Atlas ^ Irv Belzer
Bert Berkley ^ William S. Berkley Steven Bernstein Stevi Brick Phillip Brown
The Honorable Arthur Federman Mark Gilgus * Clint Gillom Dr. Kurt Graham
Bob Grant Rick Hellman Reverend Dr. Vernon Howard Lynn Intrater Sanford P. Krigel *
Adele Levi Frank Lipsman * Sharon Loftspring Rabbi Arthur Nemitoff
Joel Pelofsky Juan Rangel David T. Rudman, M.D. * The Honorable Howard Sachs ^ *
Scott Sher, M.D. Michael Sokol, M.D. David N. Sosland Phyllis Stevens Susie Swift
Amy Strauss Tranin Patricia Werthan Uhlmann Gregory Wolf Jerome T. Wolf * Leonard Zeskind
Past JCRB|AJC chair * Past AJC president ^
STAFF
Gavriela Geller, Outgoing Executive Director
Gavriela Geller, a native of Kansas City, is the Executive Director of JCRB|AJC. She previously worked for AJC’s Belfer Institute for Latino and Latin American Affairs (BILLA), managing a grant from the Ford Foundation. In that capacity, she implemented programs across the country to advance immigration reform and strengthen Latino-Jewish relations. She also served as AJC’s immigration policy analyst, identifying advocacy opportunities and representing the organization on national immigration coalitions. Gavi then directed the policy and advocacy efforts of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of St. Louis. She has also worked at the National Immigrant Justice Center helping detained and LGBTQ immigrants as part of Avodah: The Jewish Service Corps. Gavi holds an M.A. in Jewish Cultural Arts from the George Washington University and is fluent in Spanish.
Neta Meltzer, Interim Executive Director
Neta joined the JCRB team as the director of community and government relations in November of 2023. Most recently, Neta served as the national vice president of community engagement with Zioness Movement, and was regional director of communications and marketing for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains prior to that role. She has also held roles in community education and outreach, volunteer program management, and resource development, and worked to create and enhance a variety of collaborative, enduring partnerships.
Throughout her career, Neta has focused on Zionism and antisemitism, as well as gender-based issues including reproductive health and rights and sexual violence prevention and response. Neta has contributed to national and local publications including The Forward, The Times of Israel, and the Kansas City Star, and spoke at the 2019 Denver Womxn's March about Jewish inclusion in the progressive movement.
Neta was born in Tel Aviv and is a native Hebrew speaker. Her grandparents were among founding members of Kibbutz Gal-On in Israel, and their values and lived experiences profoundly impacted her understanding of justice, dignity, and self-determination.
You can find Neta cooking vegan meals for her family, making progress on her never-ending reading list, and humbly trying her hand at gardening.
Hillary Thomas, Director, Strategy and Development
An Overland Park native, Hillary holds an M.Ed. from Rockhurst University and a B.A. in Political Science from Kansas State University. Hillary has nearly a decade of experience in non-profit and development work. Outside of JCRB|AJC, Hillary serves as an elected City Councilmember in the City of Mission and on the Board of Climate Action KC. In her personal life, she loves spending time with her two young daughters, husband, and rescue dog.
Sarah Markowitz Schreiber, Director, Education and Programs
Sarah is originally from Oakland, California and has family from Kansas City. In May 2020, Sarah earned her M.A. in War and Society from Chapman University. Her masters’ thesis explored Jews’ reactions to the pogroms perpetrated by their Lithuanian neighbors in Kovno, Lithuania in June 1941. She graduated from Loyola Marymount University in 2018 with a B.A. in Political Science and minors in Jewish Studies, International Relations, and Classics & Archaeology. While at LMU, Sarah was a research assistant for the Director of Jewish Studies, a Jewish Studies/Hillel Engagement Fellow, and a founding member and President of Students Supporting Israel at LMU. In 2016 she was a Summer Goldman Fellow for AJC’s Los Angeles Regional Office. In Summer 2017 she began to serve as a Volunteer Intern at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles and ultimately volunteered 300 hours. She has also worked at Be’chol Lashon and the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism.
