Who We Are

Professional Team

Meet our team of bright, passionate and dedicated professionals who infuse their work with a fierce desire to create a better future for our community, our region and our world.

Tyler GregoryChief Executive Officer

Tyler Gregory

Chief Executive Officer

Tye joined JCRC as its fifth executive director in April of 2020. He was previously executive director of A Wider Bridge (AWB), a New York-based partner organization of JCRC that is working to advance LGBTQ equality and inclusion in Israel. During his six years as deputy director and later executive director of AWB, the organization grew from a Bay Area startup to a leading voice for Jewish and Israel inclusion in the fabric of LGBTQ and progressive America. Before AWB, Gregory spent several years working for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in San Francisco. He is a graduate of UC Davis, and a native of San Diego.
Hallie BaronChief Operating Officer

Hallie Baron

Chief Operating Officer

Hallie has more than 35 years experience in marketing, communications, strategy, management and problem-solving. She believes that all problems are really challenges, and that there’s an opportunity/learning experience/silver lining in all of them. Before joining JCRC, Hallie was a marketing consultant for nine years, working with many Bay-Area Jewish non-profits. After a career in the healthcare and financial sectors, she got her start in the Jewish communal world as the Marketing Director for the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Federation. Hallie has a B.S. from the University of Massachusetts and a Certificate of Management from Harvard University. When not working, Hallie spends as much time as possible on her bicycle and in her garden.
Karen StillerSenior Director of Jewish Affairs

Karen Stiller

Senior Director of Jewish Affairs

Karen has been with JCRC since 2002. A native of Buffalo, New York, she moved to the Bay Area in 2000, where she worked in the Preventive Defense Project at Stanford University, a project run by former high-level U.S. Department of Defense officials. Karen started her professional career in social work and nonprofit management, and has worked as Development Director and Manager of a program for formerly homeless families. She has an MSSA with a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Case Western Reserve University. In her spare time, Karen fiddles with photography and enjoys reading, hiking and traveling.
Jessica TrubowitchDirector of Policy and Partnerships

Jessica Trubowitch

Director of Policy and Partnerships

Jessica is the mom of two young boys and enjoys camping with her family. She has a strong background in public policy, advocacy, and policy-making through consensus. Jessica is a California native and has been living in the Bay Area for over ten years. She has a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a Master’s in Public Policy and Administration and a Graduate Certificate in Collaborative Governance from California State University, Sacramento.
Jonathan MintzerDirector of External Relations

Jonathan Mintzer

Director of External Relations

Jonathan leads the organization’s engagement and leadership development efforts with elected and civic leaders across the Bay Area. Prior to joining JCRC, Jonathan served as Associate Regional Director at ADL Midwest in Chicago and worked as an attorney at the Sutton Law Firm in San Francisco, practicing political and election law. In addition, Jonathan took a sabbatical year in Israel to teach elementary school English and work at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. Jonathan graduated with honors from the University of California Hastings College of the Law and the University of Southern California. In his free time, Jonathan enjoys cheering for his beloved Atlanta Braves and USC Trojans, improving his Hebrew, and traveling with his family.
Adriana LombardDirector of Public Education

Adriana Lombard

Director of Public Education

Adriana has worked for more than a decade as an educator, curriculum writer, and educational strategist. She has written an award-winning social justice curriculum for high school students, and most recently created a K-12 curriculum on homelessness for the LA County Department of Education. She is passionate about promoting social justice through systems change and currently serves on the board of a number of nonprofit organizations advocating for education access and anti-racist policies. Adriana has B.S. in Biology and a master’s degree in Public Policy and Nonprofit Management; in her free time she enjoys spending time in nature, writing old-fashioned letters, and woodworking.
Tanya AvrutinDirector of Finance and Administration

Tanya Avrutin

Director of Finance and Administration

Tanya Avrutin joined JCRC in January 2018. She brings many years of experience in public and nonprofit accounting. Previously she worked as the Finance Director at Episcopal Impact Fund and as the Accounting Manager for the Diocese of California. Before that she was the Controller of Presidio Golf Club. She moved from Ukraine to San Francisco with her family in 1989.
Elina SterkinaStaff Accountant

Elina Sterkina

Staff Accountant

Elina Sterkina joined JCRC as its Staff Accountant in 2018. Originally from Ukraine, Elina has been a San Francisco resident since 1999. She holds her B.S. in Finance from Kyiv National Economic University. Prior to joining JCRC she worked as an accountant for several private and public companies and finance institutions. In her free time, Elina enjoys traveling, reading, watching good movies and music shows.
Jeremy RussellDirector of Marketing and Communications

Jeremy Russell

Director of Marketing and Communications

A San Francisco native, Jeremy has been a communications specialist for more than twenty years. Prior to joining JCRC, he managed communications for a trade association. He has also worked as a general-assignment journalist for a daily newspaper, The Billings Gazette in Montana, and been a free-lance writer and illustrator for a variety of publications, including the late San Francisco Bay Guardian. He graduated (with honors) from the University of California, Berkeley with a double major in English and Interdisciplinary Studies, and is an award-winning author.
Briton CamphouseDirector of Development

Briton Camphouse

Director of Development

Born and raised in Virginia, Briton recently moved to the Bay Area with her family to join the JCRC as the Development Director. With ten years of fundraising and nonprofit experience, Briton is passionate about building meaningful relationships with the mission and its supporters. In her free time, you can find Briton on the tennis court, hiking around Marin, or cooking up a new recipe.
Carole-Anne ElliottGrants Manager and Writer

Carole-Anne Elliott

Grants Manager and Writer

Carole-Anne is originally from the Boston area and has made San Francisco her home since 1999. A former newspaper reporter and forever copy editor, she loves learning about people and writing profiles and feature stories. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and History from Allegheny College and a Master’s from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Carole-Anne has extensive volunteer experience in the education sector, having worked with kids at San Francisco’s Mission High, written and edited the newsletter of the San Francisco chapter of Room to Read and, most recently, served two years as an English Educator with the Peace Corps in Moldova. She is happy to be back home with friends and family and to be resuming her loves of running, dance, reading, going to music shows and singing on road trips to Sierra Nevada backpacking trails.
Serena ZhenDevelopment Program Associate

Serena Zhen

Development Program Associate

Serena was born and raised in San Francisco. She has a B.S. in Business Marketing from the University of the Pacific and loves to use her amazing organization skills in fun and creative ways around the office. Before JCRC, she held a variety of positions, including night-shift stocker at Safeway and director at a summer camp. A Chinese American, she enjoys Korean food, Asian television dramas and variety shows, and bonding with her family. She is passionate about singing, volleyball and her Christian faith, and understands deeply how important it is to be open to new experiences. She believes that one must step into a variety of roles in order to grow and learn, and that it’s also just as important to be able pass on the knowledge you obtain along the way.
Julia AbramsonCommunity Organizer

Julia Abramson

Community Organizer

Julia moved to the Bay Area from Atlanta and Columbus, Ohio. She is excited to combine her organizational and communication skills, honed in her past life as a recruiter, and apply them at JCRC. Julia is also excited to engage in work that is more in line with her passion for politics and social justice. She holds a B.A. from The Ohio State University. While not at work, you can find her hiking, rock climbing, or at a concert.
Lisa PecklerJewish Coalition for Literacy Bay Area Director

Lisa Peckler

Jewish Coalition for Literacy Bay Area Director

Lisa’s role as Bay Area Director brings her full circle, since during high school she tutored children weekly at a Chicago community center called Onward House. JCL enables her to weave together many strands in her background – deep Jewish involvement, a career-long commitment to the non-profit sector, community building and fundraising. She was most recently director of institutional giving at GLIDE Foundation in San Francisco, after serving in a similar capacity at Dignity Health Foundation, San José State and the Foundation for Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. She has also worked at the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington (DC) and at the New Israel Fund. Lisa pursued graduate study at Columbia University in Modern Hebrew Literature, and received a Bachelor’s Degree from Smith College with a double major in English Literature and Jewish Studies.
Corinne Jaffe-GellmanJewish Coalition for Literacy Senior Program Manager

Corinne Jaffe-Gellman

Jewish Coalition for Literacy Senior Program Manager

Corinne, a recent transplant to the Bay Area, began her professional career in the healthcare industry. She has considerable experience in program management, strategic planning, marketing and social science research, and grant writing. But it was her role as a lay leader in her children’s school that ignited her passion in education and community building. Being a first generation American, she knows only too well the importance of childhood literacy. Corinne received a BA in Political Science and Economics from San Diego State University and an MBA from the University of Southern California. She sees her position with JCL as an extraordinary opportunity to apply her educational background, and professional and community service experience to an area that she is committed to - literacy and education in underserved communities.
Nieema GallowayJewish Coalition for Literacy Program and Communications Manager

Nieema Galloway

Jewish Coalition for Literacy Program and Communications Manager

Nieema has had the profound experience of working as an educator in youth services and private and public schools in the San Francisco Bay Area. She received her a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of San Francisco (USF). She earned a Master’s degree in Sociology of Education from New York University (NYU) and a Teaching Credential from the University of the Pacific. She taught at The Berkeley School and Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, California. She served as the Site Coordinator for the Up On Top After School Program, a non-profit organization that provides literacy-based curriculum through art and enrichment activities for k-5 elementary students from low-income families in the Tenderloin and Western Addition in San Francisco. Nieema is committed to furthering literacy development and youth advocacy for students in underserved communities.
Carlos MartinezPrograms and Operations Assistant

Carlos Martinez

Programs and Operations Assistant

Carlos Martinez, who has lived in San Francisco for the last five years, is the rare example of a Texan moving to California. He has spent his professional career working for various political campaigns and nonprofits. He spent two years as a campus coordinator for Hillel International, working with students in the Bay Area. He holds a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin and is a native of Fort Worth. In his spare time, he enjoys playing tennis, hanging at Dolores Park, cheering on his Texas Longhorns, and continuing his never-ending quest to find decent barbecue in the city.
Macy KhanguraJewish Coalition for Literacy East Bay Program Associate

Macy Khangura

Jewish Coalition for Literacy East Bay Program Associate

Macy Khangura comes to JCL with nine years of experience working in independent schools in the East Bay and San Francisco. She brings a passion for education and being in service to the young people of her community. Macy is also currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Mindfulness Based Transpersonal Psychology at Naropa University. She intends to bring a compassion-based lens to her work and strives to foster belonging in her community.

Macy lives in Oakland with her partner and a close knit community of friends. She is a music lover and enjoys expressing her creativity through dance. You can also find her exploring all of the beautiful hiking trails that the Bay Area has to offer.
Josh JaffeDigital Marketing and Communications Associate

Josh Jaffe

Digital Marketing and Communications Associate

Josh recently graduated from Berkeley with a degree in Urban Studies and has extensive experience in content creation and MarCom strategy. He has furthered his social media skills via internships with IBM, Warner Music Group, and Foundry10, and has worked for a variety of clients as a filmmaker for the last eight years. Originally from Seattle, he is a lifelong member of the Jewish community. His hobbies include filmmaking, music, cooking, and tennis.