Beyond Listening: Fostering Belonging through Relationship-Based Engagement

Sarah Fredrick (she/her) is Gather, Inc.'s Director of Trainings. She previously served as GatherDC's Northern Virginia Community Director, where she led grassroots young adult engagement and strategy development. Sarah is a relational engagement expert specializing in facilitation and coaching. She is passionate about collaborating with organizations, individuals, and communities to re-envision more meaningful, accessible, relational approaches to Jewish life. Sarah lives in Washington, D.C., where she also works as a freelance musician. 

Rabbi Jennifer Ossakow Goldsmith is the Managing Director of Professional Development and Growth (National) at The Jewish Education Project in New York. Born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Jennifer received her BA from the University of Michigan and rabbinic ordination and MA in Religious Education from HUC-JIR. Jennifer’s ongoing study of leadership theory drives her commitment to helping Jewish leaders harness their resources to create meaningful change. Prior to her time at The Jewish Education Project, Jennifer worked as the Director of Life-Long Learning at Larchmont Temple helping engage families at every age and stage of their Jewish journeys. Her current work concentrates on fostering and spreading educational innovation that helps learners thrive through consulting, grant initiatives, online resources, professional networks, leadership development, and coaching. She facilitates workshops and seminars on innovation in part-time Jewish education and leadership across the country.

Eliana Rubin (she/her) is a queer and trans artist and educator. She aims to help people better understand themselves and the world around them through Jewish, theatre, and inclusive education. Eliana is a proud employee of The Jewish Education Project, serving as Education Manager, Inclusive Models. She is a graduate of HUC-JIR, where she received her Master of Educational Leadership. Eliana also received her BFA from NYU / Tisch (ETW). Eliana is a musician, playwright, and screenwriter, and enjoys intertwining her artistic and Jewish passions through her creation of Jewsicals (Jewish musicals), short musical numbers centered around Judaic texts. She will never say no to a bag of movie theater popcorn.