Don’t miss this sneak peek at JWI’s new weekly news roundup! Every Friday morning we’ll be joined by editors from The Forward and the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, as well as special guest news writers and news makers, to discuss what’s happening in the world and how it affects women. We’ll start with a 10-minute news roundup, then take a 20-minute deep dive into a top-of-mind issue for the week.
This week we’ll explore Kamala Harris's VP nomination with guest expert Tema Smith - diversity advocate, writer, Jewish community builder, and director of professional development at 18Doors.
Stay tuned: The series will launch in full on September 11th, the Friday after Labor Day.
Journalists. Activists. Feminists. Panelists.
This week’s guest expert:
Tema Smith is a diversity advocate, writer, and Jewish community builder. She is currently the Director of Professional Development at 18Doors (formerly InterfaithFamily) an organization that empowers people in interfaith relationships to engage in Jewish life and make Jewish choices, and encourages Jewish communities to welcome them. This comes after seven years as a synagogue professional, most recently as the Director of Community Engagement at Holy Blossom Temple, Toronto’s oldest synagogue.
Tema is also a contributing columnist at The Forward whose writing has been published in MyJewishLearning, the Globe and Mail, and the Canadian Jewish News. Tema is dedicated to building a meaningful and inclusive Jewish community through research, training, writing and relational engagement work.
Over the past ten years, Tema has worked to advance the conversation on racially diverse Judaism, working with organizations like Be’chol Lashon and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, and conducting trainings for local Jewish organizations like the Downtown Jewish Community Council, housed at Toronto’s Miles Nadal JCC.
Before beginning her career in Jewish communal service, Tema was a graduate student in Religion and Politics and Early Judaism under the supervision of the former Canada Research Chair in Modern Jewish Thought at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
Laura E. Adkins is the Opinion Editor of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and an adjunct professor of journalism at Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women. She was previously the Deputy Opinion Editor at the Forward, the editor of Jewish Insider, and an assistant blogs editor at The Times of Israel. At the Forward, she wrote about kosher wine, orthodoxy, data and built interactive maps — though usually not all at the same time.
Laura’s writing has appeared in the Washington Post, The New York Times, SELF, Glamour, and elsewhere. Laura is an avid marathoner and makes a mean garlic za’atar challah.
Jodi Rudoren became Editor-in-Chief of The Forward, the nation's oldest independent Jewish news organization, in September 2019 after more than two decades as a reporter and editor at The New York Times. She is helping lead a transformation of the storied 123-year-old institution, a nonprofit that went digital-only in early 2019.
At The Times, Jodi served as Jerusalem bureau chief from 2012 through 2015, covering two Israeli elections and two wars in Gaza. She previously covered the 2004 American presidential campaign, and served as Chicago bureau chief, education correspondent and education editor, and deputy on both the Metropolitan and International desks, before joining the masthead as Associate Managing Editor for Audience Strategy.
A longtime digital innovator, Jodi was executive producer of the multimedia series "One in 8 Million," which won NYTimes.com's first Emmy Award, in 2009, and served on the 2020 committee about the newsroom of the future. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Fuller Project, a nonprofit newsroom doing groundbreaking investigative work on issues that affect women.
Jodi grew up in Newton, Mass., and graduated cum laude in 1992 from Yale University, where she was Managing Editor of The Yale Daily News. She and her husband, Gary, combined their surnames in 2006 and live in Montclair, NJ, with their twins.
Meredith Jacobs (moderator), JWI's CEO, is an award-winning journalist and former editor-in-chief of Washington Jewish Week. She is the author of The Modern Jewish Mom’s Guide to Shabbat: Connect and Celebrate—Bring Your Family Together with the Friday Night Meal (HarperCollins) and co-author, with her daughter Sofie, of the bestselling series of interactive journals, Just Between Us (Chronicle Books). Prior to joining JWI, she founded ModernJewishMom.com, the first Jewish parenting website (now part of Kveller), and was the host of the WYPR radio show, Connecting Family and The Jewish Channel television holiday specials, Modern Jewish Mom.
Jacobs assumed the role of CEO after serving as JWI’s chief operating officer for six years; in that role she managed communications, branding, messaging, and development. She has shepherded the development of numerous JWI leadership initiatives, including the Jewish Communal Women’s Leadership Project; Men As Allies: Leading Equitable Workplaces ; and the Young Women’s Leadership Network. Jacobs also works closely with JWI’s philanthropic partners, Sigma Delta Tau national sorority and Zeta Beta Tau national fraternity, developing initiatives like the award-winning Green Light, Go! and Girls Achieve GrΣΔΤness. A sought after speaker, moderator and writer, her opinion pieces appear frequently in outlets such as JTA, eJewishPhilanthropy, and Washington Jewish Week.