Speakers/Workshops
Kevin Coval - Slam Poetry
Kevin Coval is the author of everyday people (EM Press, Nov.'08) and slingshots (a hip-hop poetica) (EM Press, Nov. '05), named Book of the Year-finalist by The American Library Association. Coval's poems have appeared in The Spoken Word Revolution and The Spoken Word Revolution: Redux (Source Books), Total Chaos (Basic Civitas), I Speak of the City: New York City Poems (Columbia University Press), The Bandana Republic (Soft Skull Press), Chicago Tribune, Chicago Reporter, Cross Currents, Crab Orchard Review, Rattle, 2nd Ave Poetry, The Drunken Boat, and many other periodicals and journals. Coval writes for The Huffington Post and can be heard regularly on National Public Radio in Chicago. Coval has performed on four continents in seven countries including; The Parliament of the World's Religions in Capetown, South Africa, The African Hip-Hop Festival: Battle Cry, Poetry Society of London, University of the West Indies in Jamaica, St. Xavier's College in Bombay, India, and four seasons of Russell Simmons' HBO Def Poetry Jam, for which he also served as artistic consultant. From Jan. 2006 to May 2007, Coval visited 26 states and more than 50 cities during the promotional tour for his first book, performing at over 150 high schools, universities, book stores, theaters, community centers and Union Halls around the country. Co-founder of Louder Than A Bomb: The Chicago Teen Poetry Festival, the largest youth poetry festival in the world, Coval is poet-in-residence at The Jane Addams’ Hull House Museum at The University of Illinois-Chicago and poet-in-residence at The University of Chicago’s Newberger Hillel Center, and teaches at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago.
Rabbi Bruce Elder - Judaism & Social Justice
Rabbi Bruce Elder, Rabbi Marshall's rabbi and honored guest at her Installation Service, was born in Youngstown, Ohio. He graduated from Indiana University, Phi Beta Kappa, with a bachelor's degree in History and Psychology with certification in Jewish Studies.
Upon graduation, Rabbi Elder moved to Chicago where he worked for the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (JCUA), a Jewish social justice organization dedicated to empowering Chicago's diverse communities. His work at the JCUA led him to become a rabbi. He entered Hebrew Union College, the Reform movement's theological seminary, and was ordained in 1996. He served as an assistant rabbi for a 950 family congregation in Cherry Hill, New Jersey before moving back to Chicago in 1999. Rabbi Elder served as associate rabbi of Congregation Hakafa in Glencoe, IL and again on the staff of the JCUA until assuming the position of Rabbi at Hakafa in 2002. He currently serves on the executive committee of the JCUA and is on the board of both the Interfaith Housing Center of the Northern Suburbs and the Good News Community Kitchen. He is a member of the Jewish Values and Ethics Committee of the Council for Jewish Elderly and is a US-Japan Leadership Program Fellow. Rabbi Elder lives in Highland Park, IL with his wife, Rona, and their three sons, Joshua, Noah, and Eli.
Upon graduation, Rabbi Elder moved to Chicago where he worked for the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (JCUA), a Jewish social justice organization dedicated to empowering Chicago's diverse communities. His work at the JCUA led him to become a rabbi. He entered Hebrew Union College, the Reform movement's theological seminary, and was ordained in 1996. He served as an assistant rabbi for a 950 family congregation in Cherry Hill, New Jersey before moving back to Chicago in 1999. Rabbi Elder served as associate rabbi of Congregation Hakafa in Glencoe, IL and again on the staff of the JCUA until assuming the position of Rabbi at Hakafa in 2002. He currently serves on the executive committee of the JCUA and is on the board of both the Interfaith Housing Center of the Northern Suburbs and the Good News Community Kitchen. He is a member of the Jewish Values and Ethics Committee of the Council for Jewish Elderly and is a US-Japan Leadership Program Fellow. Rabbi Elder lives in Highland Park, IL with his wife, Rona, and their three sons, Joshua, Noah, and Eli.
Rabbi Capers Funnye
Capers C. Funnye, Jr. is rabbi and spiritual leader of Beth Shalom B’nai Zaken Ethiopian Hebrew Congregation. Rabbi Funnye also serves as a Senior Research Associate for the Institute of Jewish and Community Research, located in San Francisco, CA. Rabbi Funnye earned a Bachelor of Arts in Hebrew Literature and rabbinic ordination from the Israelite Board of Rabbis, Inc., Queens, NY. Rabbi Funnye also earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Jewish Studies and Master of Science in Human Service Administration from Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, Chicago, IL. Rabbi Funnye has served as a consultant to several institutions, including The Du Sable Museum of African American History, The Chicago Historical Society, The Spertus Museum of Judaica, all located in Chicago, IL; The Black Holocaust Museum, located in Milwaukee, WI; Institute for Jewish and Community Research, San Francisco, CA and the Afro-American Museum, located in Los Angeles, CA. Rabbi Funnye has lectured at numerous universities, synagogues, churches and various community organizations throughout the United States. He has appeared on several national and local television pgrams, and spoken on numerous radio programs both national and local. Rabbi Funnye is involved in a number of boards in the Jewish community; The Chicago Board of Rabbis, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, Akiba Schechter Jewish Day School and Vice President of the Israelite Board of Rabbis. Rabbi Funnye is married and he and his wife Mary have four children and are the proud grandparents of five grandsons.
Michalela Purdue - Understanding Oppression & Racism
Michaela Purdue is the Director of Community Programs with the Jewish Council on Urban affairs. Prior to her work with JCUA, Michaela was a field organizer for Amnesty International, USA, where she mobilized activists and communities on local and global human-rights issues. Through the project United to End Racism (UER) she was a delegate to the national White Privilege Conference for three consecutive years, and led the UER delegation to this conference in 2006. Also through UER she was a delegate to the United Nation's World Conference against Racism, held in Durban, South Africa in August 2001 and has since participated on several delegations to various countries in Africa, training community members in peer counseling and leadership development. Currently she is an executive board member for Beyondmedia Education, a media arts and advocacy organization that collaborates with underserved and underrepresented women, youth and communities to organize for social justice through the creation and distribution of alternative media and arts. She received a bachelor's degree in psychological services and human development and a certificate in learning and organizational change from Northwestern University in 1999.
Jane Ramsey - Judaism & Social Justice
Through Jane Ramsey’s 30 years as executive director, JCUA has become one of Chicago’s most active and important social justice organizations. Jane is a principal organizer of coalitions that bring together diverse groups to address common concerns, including homelessness and community displacement; community reinvestment; police conduct; unemployment; racism and anti-Semitism. She has inspired others as a lecturer and field instructor for the University of Chicago, School of Social Service Administration, where she taught “Organizing Communities and Coalitions for Social Change.” In 1986, she took a leave of absence from JCUA when Mayor Harold Washington appointed her his director of community relations. Jane is also co-chair of the Justice Coalition of Greater Chicago, and has served on numerous boards and commissions such as the Chicago Coalition to Protect Public Housing, Chicago Rehab Network, Public Welfare Coalition, the Commission on Social Action of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now the Union for Reform Judaism) and Women in Charge.
Rabbi Brant Rosen - Judaism & Social Justice
Rabbi Brant Rosen has been JRC’s spiritual leader since 1998. A long-time activist for peace, social justice and human rights, he has traveled on delegations to such countries as Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Russia, and most recently on an interfaith peace delegation to Iran. Under his leadership, JRC recently built their new synagogue building with an environmentally sustainable design. JRC has since received nationwide attention and the first Platinum rating ever awarded to a house of worship by the US Green Building Council. Rabbi Rosen is a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and Past President of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association. He serves on numerous national and local organizational boards, including Brit Tzedek v’Shalom, Rabbis for Human Rights - North America, and Hands of Peace. His writings appear regularly in his personal blog, Shalom Rav, and he is a contributor to the popular Jewish blogs, Jewcy and Jewschool. In 2008, Rabbi Rosen was honored by Newsweek magazine as one of the Top 25 Pulpit Rabbis in America. He lives in Evanston, IL with his wife Hallie and his sons Gabriel and Jonah.
Ralph Martire - Education Reform
Ralph Martire is executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability (“CTBA”). He is a regular columnist the Springfield State-Journal Register, The Joliet Herald News, and The Daily Observer on public policy and good government, and former columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. Ralph served on the budget advisory board to Governor Rod Blagojevich's transition team, where he acted as chairperson of the state revenue subcommittee. Ralph was the principal author of a study CTBA produced that identified revenue enhancement proposals to address the 2002 fiscal crises in the state of Illinois. Ralph received the 2008 Friend of Education Award presented by the Illinois Education Association-NEA, for meritorious efforts on behalf of the students, staff and public institutions across Illinois by demonstrating in both word and deed support for great public schools. Ralph also received the 2007 Champion of Freedom Award, presented by the Rainbow PUSH Coalition to individuals who carry out Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s commitment to equal educational opportunities through their professional and personal activism, and the 2004 Ben C. Hubbard Leadership Award, presented annually by Illinois State University to an individual whose leadership has significantly benefited education in Illinois. Mr. Martire graduated from Indiana University Phi Beta Kappa, with a B.A. in history and received his JD from the University of Michigan. He is married to Mary Kay Martire, and has two children, a son Nicholas, and a daughter Valerie.
Sisters of Mercy - Immigration Reform
Sisters Patricia M. Murphy and JoAnn Persch are Peace and Justice Coordinators for the Sisters of Mercy who serve as advocates for immigration reform and humane treatment of immigrants. They provide support to the immigrant detainees in the Broadview, Illinois detainment center and the McHenry County Jail. Since January 2007 they have been leading a weekly prayer vigil outside the Broadview Detention Center in Chicago. Every Friday they, along with 20 or more interfaith protestors meet, pray and ask for intercession on behalf of those immigrants inside the facility who are about to be deported. In 2008, Sisters Pat and JoAnn and their fellow interfaith collaborators in Illinois lead the legislative effort resulting in the Illinois House and Senate’s unanimous passage of the Access to Religious Ministry Act of 2008. This historic legislation, the first in the country, allows religious to be present with immigrants being held in detention centers throughout the state.
Ethan Michaeli - Housing Justice
Ethan Michaeli is the Executive Director of We The People Media. Ethan is the founder of Residents' Journal and the Urban Youth International Journalism Program. Ethan was formerly an investigative reporter for the Chicago Daily Defender and is a current part-time faculty member in the Journalism Department of Columbia College-Chicago. He is the author of "Another Exodus," an essay published in "Black Zion: African American Encounters with Judaism" (Oxford University Press). Ethan is a 1989 graduate of the University of Chicago with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature.
Tom Walsh - Community Organizing
Tom is the Director, Advocacy and Public Policy for the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs. A veteran of organizing, advocacy and research initiatives related to community development and affordable housing issues, Tom has forged strong relationships with Chicago’s elected officials, union and civic leaders, and media and foundation professionals. He recently worked with JCUA to organize the successful November 2007 DGAP accountability conference. Since then, he has worked on the organizing campaign around the Cook County Bureau of Health budget. Tom is a graduate of Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa.