Staff

Quinn Diacon-Furtado believes creativity is a spiritual practice. Their work as a writer spans across multiple genres including grants, editorial nonfiction, fantasy, and picture books. Regardless of the forum or topic, Quinn grounds their work in the values of community, inclusivity, and creativity. They prioritize authentic relationships and assets-based thinking as the root of ethical fundraising and network building. Quinn holds a BA in Latin American Studies and Anthropology from the University of Virginia. In 2021, they received their MFA in Children’s Literature from Hollins University. They live with their partner on Mohican lands, also known as Upstate New York

Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife (she/they) sprinkles sparkles, disrupts expectations, and offers blessings wherever she goes. She serves as Oreget Kehilah (Executive Director) of the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute, founder/co-leader of Kesher Pittsburgh, Program Director of the ALEPH Kesher Fellowship, Lead Facilitator for Keshet’s GLBTQ+ Jewish Youth of Colour programming, and member of the leadership team of the JOC Mishpachah Project. Additionally, she delights in serving as a shlichat tzibbur, life spiral ceremony/ritual creatrix, liturgist, songstress, teacher, and public speaker. Her work in these realms is informed by her lived experience as a queer Jewish Woman of Colour and the quandaries she encounters as a scholar of the Orphan Wisdom School. Keshira received Kohenet smicha in 2017 and earned her BS 2000 and MS 2001 at Carnegie Mellon University. Dual-citizens of the USA and Australia and avid travelers, she and her beloved are currently leaning into stillness and sheltering-in-peace on Osage and Haudenosaunee land also called Pittsburgh, PA.

Rabbi Natan Margalit was raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. He received rabbinic ordination at The Jerusalem Seminary in 1990 and a Ph.D. in Talmud from U.C. Berkeley in 2001. He has taught at Bard College, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College. Rabbi Natan is Founder of Organic Torah, a non-profit which fosters holistic thinking about Judaism, environment and society. Natan is a member of the Va’ad (steering committee and core faculty) of the ALEPH Ordination Program. He lives in Newton, MA, with his wife, Ilana, and their two sons.

SooJi Min-Maranda believes in the power of personal stories. Whether providing direct services, advocating for policy change, or fundraising for nonprofit organizations, Ms. Min-Maranda begins with personal narratives that illustrate the need for programs, policies, and resources that raise the voices of those underserved and underrepresented in mainstream society. A seasoned nonprofit executive with 18 years of experience, Min-Maranda brings a for-profit mindset to the nonprofit arena. She advocates for racial justice, strategic partnerships and efficient, effective resource allocation.

Previously, Min-Maranda was the executive director of Temple Beth Emeth, a 600+ member reform Jewish synagogue in Ann Arbor, MI; the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health (ICAH), a nonprofit policy and advocacy organization that focuses on adolescent sexual health and parenting; and Korean American Community Services, a comprehensive social service agency in Chicago. The Asian Health Coalition of Illinois presented her with its Outstanding Community Health Advocate Award in 2008.

She is currently in the seventh cohort of the Schusterman Fellowship and the fourth cohort of the Jewish Women’s Foundation of New York Collective. She recently completed Cohort 3 of Leading Edge’s CEO Onboarding Program for high-level organizational leaders in the American Jewish community. Min-Maranda served on Governor Quinn’s Illinois Human Services Commission from 2010-2012 and is a member of the Selah Leadership Program’s National Executive Cohort 9. She was a 2010 Chicago Community Trust Fellow and a 2010 Chicago Foundation for Women Impact Awardee. She is a 2007 Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership Delegate and a 2006 Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow. A graduate of Barnard College, Min-Maranda holds master’s degrees from Northwestern University and The University of Chicago.

Sam Price began his career as a musician performing with the Bern Symphony, Zurich Opera, and the LA Philharmonic. In 2005, he founded his first company that’s mission was to help under-resourced musicians market themselves and host live-stream events. In 2016, he co-founded a fast-growing, bay area company that specialized in creating young-adult orientated events for performing arts organizations. He continued event managing in 2019, accepting a programming position with the Israel Philharmonic. In his free time, Sam enjoys studying Kabbalah with his wife Isabel, growing his small publishing company, and volunteering with the ADL and Dorot..

Charles “Chuck” Silverstein, PhD, is currently an ALEPH Board member, Treasurer, and Chair of the Finance and Governance Committees and is serving on the IBG. After retiring from a successful career as a fixed-income institutional investor, he earned an MA in Conscious Evolution and a PhD in Transformative Studies at the California Institute for Integral Studies. He is the former Executive Vice President at The Graduate Institute of Holistic Studies where he was also the Academic Director of the MA program in Consciousness Studies and Transpersonal Psychology. His experience at the school included founding and directing a spiritual coaching program, accreditation oversight, as well as finance and IT oversight. Since the late 1990s, Chuck has been steeped
in the traditions and practices of the Jewish Renewal movement. He attended retreats at Elat Chayyim, and has attended all Kallah and Ruach Ha’Aretz gatherings since 2013. He has completed the Nondual Kabbalistic Healing 4-year program and the Age-ing to Sage-ing Legacy program.