Meet The Kaniti Fellows

  • Dr. Beza Abebe is a passionate advocate for diversity, human rights, and social justice, with more than 15 years of international experience across Ethiopia, Israel, and the United States. Born in Ethiopia, she made aliyah to Israel — where she engaged in legal and philanthropic work focused on empowering the Ethiopian-Israeli community — before relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area to continue her academic and community-building work. Her academic credentials include: Doctorate in International Law from Golden Gate University (San Francisco), Master’s in Government & Diplomacy from IDC Herzliya (Israel) , LL.M. from Tel Aviv University (Israel), LLB/JD from Hawassa University (Ethiopia).

    Dr. Abebe’s research explores topics such as the holiday Sigd in America, authentic storytelling, and the preservation of diverse Jewish identities. 

    Professionally, she has worked in advocacy, human rights activism, philanthropy, education, community development, and global Jewish engagement. She serves as a Research Fellow at Be’chol Lashon, where she advances Jewish diversity and inclusive belonging. 

    In her role as the 2023 Ralph Goldman Fellow with Jewish Agency for Israel (JDC), she brought her Ethiopian- and Israeli-Jewish perspective to international humanitarian and community-building initiatives. 

    Driven by her identity as a mother and community member, Dr. Abebe emphasizes the power of cultural traditions—especially food, music, clothing, and heritage—to uplift the Ethiopian Jewish (Beta Israel) experience and shape stronger, more inclusive Jewish futures.

  • Gabriella Cooper (she/her) is part of the Dayenu team as the JOC Caucus Organizer. She is committed to being part of radical change, especially through an intergenerational and intersectional lens. She is also in her second year as a cohort leader at Kol Koleinu through Moving Traditions, last year leading the combined Midwest/Western cohort. She is based in Chicago. When not at her day job, Gabriella is a visual artist and fiction writer who spends a lot of time at Chicago’s art museums.

  • Rebecca Ezersky (she/her), is the Kumi senior manager at Moving Traditions, where she empowers Jewish teens to deepen their understanding of justice, identity and community through experiential learning. Prior to Moving Traditions, she worked at Jewish Life at Duke University as assistant director for student engagement, where she oversaw student engagement strategy, managed student-facing communications and advised student groups. Rebecca holds a Master of Public Administration and a B.S. in Public Policy from the University of Southern California. In her free time, she enjoys exploring local coffee shops, listening to live music and watching competitive cooking shows. 

  • Anjelica N. Ruiz is the Director of Libraries and Archives at Temple Emanu-El in Dallas, TX. She holds a B.A in Criminology from St. Edward’s University, M.S. in Criminal Justice from Texas State University and M.S. in Library and Information Sciences from the University of North Texas and a M.A. in Jewish education from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion. She is an alum of the Union for Reform Judaism’s JewV’Nation Fellowship in the Jews of Color cohort, Bend the Arc’s Selah Leadership Program in cohort 16, and Jewtina's PUENTES Fellowship. She is active with the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and sits on the Commission for Social Action. She is married to Stephen Tinnin and they share three children, Tinnin, Oliver, and Eliza. You can read her personal blog at www.anjelicaruiz.com. 

  • Sabina Spicer is happy to join the Kaniti Fellowship and expand her community of JoC. She grew up in Los Angeles (go Dodgers!) and now calls Portland, OR her home. Her education is a winding road that includes theater and Black Studies, and research in Ghana. Now she is the Program Manager at TischPDX and leads the Cultural Shift program. She has two small (and very loud) kids, a sweet heart of a husband, and Muppet of a dog named Rudi.

  • Zion is a Jewish community builder and educator based in Santa Cruz. Her work focuses on cultivating inclusive spaces for celebration, reflection, and connection. She is passionate about using ritual and storytelling as tools to help people navigate both joy and grief in Jewish life.

  • Adena is a Boston Native and is the Director of Engagement at Congregation Mishkan Tefilah. She is a graduate of Prozdor and has continued her Torah studies throughout her life. She has taught Shavuot Learning, Kosher Kink at Camp Nai Nai Nai, and will be teaching Jewish Astrology at Camp Nai Nai Nai this year. Adena studied psychology and Musical Theatre at Wagner College in New York and grew up attending KI and being in pluralistic spaces. She created the town of  Brookline’s first ever Juneteenth in 2020, and created an award-winning children's show! She has also performed off Broadway, 54 below, Joe’s pub, and on ABC.

  • Sarah Kolker, director of jkid4all a program of Jewish Learning Venture and jkidphilly, is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and Moore College of Art and Design, was born and raised in Philadelphia. She has extensive experience providing healthy creative learning environments for youth in Philadelphia, Jamaica, SF Bay Area, and New York City. Her use of art and social justice-centered educational practices have been employed by both private and public institutions. Sarah continues to support community art with Mural Arts in Philadelphia, which is the nation’s largest public art program that engages the community to ignite change through mural-making.

    Sarah lives in NW Philly with her two children. When she is not busy supporting youth and families, she enjoys spending time in her garden or creating nourishing food in the kitchen and artwork in the studio or in the community.

  • Grace Osborne is a philanthropic and creative consultant with over a decade of experience in supporting arts and culture initiatives. She received her BA from Mills College (summa cum laude) and PhD from New York University. In her spare time, Grace volunteers with nonprofits and communities dedicated to supporting the leadership of Jews of Color and the cultivation of a more inclusive Jewish communal ecosystem.

  • Sara Figueroa (she/her) is an operations and finance consultant based in Portland, OR, where she supports Jewish nonprofits and community organizations through her practice, Fig Leaf Consulting. Among her clients, TischPDX — a Jewish cultural and leadership development organization — is where her work goes deepest: managing finance, HR, payroll, and board governance while also partnering on programs and the organization's transition to independent 501(c)(3) status. She recently completed an MBA in Finance and is beginning an MS in Accounting, with a professional background spanning healthcare, HR, and nonprofit program management.

    Sara's work is rooted in a belief that strong organizational infrastructure is an act of care for community — that when the back office runs well, the people doing the real work can do more of it. As a Jew of Color, she is drawn to spaces where Jewish identity is explored in its full complexity, and she is honored to learn and grow alongside this cohort.