People
Alison Laichter (Co-Founder and Executive Director) is a teacher, urban planner, community organizer, Brooklynite, and has been meditating since she was fifteen. Alison studied Civil Engineering at The Cooper Union and Urban Planning at Columbia University, worked for the United Nations Development Programme, and is currently working as a Community Planner to re-imagine the entire east side of Manhattan for pedestrian and bicyclist safety. Alison has practiced meditation extensively in the Himalayan and Santa Cruz mountains, studied with teachers at Chochmat Ha Lev Jewish Meditation Center in Berkeley, California and Elat Chayyim/Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Connecticut. She has taught religious school in Oakland and New York City, co-piloted a meditation and stress-management program in NYC public schools, and lead meditation classes in Israel. Alison teaches regularly at JMC sits and events and has extensive experience teaching classes and facilitating workshops on meditation for students of all ages throughout the world.
Miriam Eisenberger (Program Associate) is a Licensed Master of Social Work (LMSW) with a specialization in Group Work and Geriatrics. She has been doing social service work for a decade and, in addition to working at the JMC, currently also works as a case manager at a supportive housing building on the Upper West Side assisting seniors in improving their quality of life and level of independent living. Miriam is a native Californian, graduating from UC Berkeley with a focus in Psychology, before heading out to NYC to do a year of service work with AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps, a community she is still active in. She has been meditating since she was 20 years old and became an active member of the JMC after attending their inaugural sit. She is also a Reiki practitioner and a compulsive do-gooder.
Jessica Simkovic (Technical Director and Board Secretary) creates multimedia communications for non-profits and other progressive organizations working to make the world a more just, beautiful, and sustainable place. Jessica is also a mother, birth doula and astrologer with an on-and-off meditation practice since age 13. Jessica designed and maintains the JMC website and blog.
Shuli Passow (Board Chair) is a Jewish educator and communal professional who most recently served as the Director of Community Initiatives at the Jewish Funds for Justice, where she worked with synagogues across the country to support their involvement in congregation-based community organizing. She has taught widely in youth and adult education settings, and is particularly passionate about exploring issues of justice, compassion, environmentalism and economics through Jewish text. A trained yoga instructor, Shuli loves teaching yoga in Jewish contexts, and is a participant in the third cohort of the Yoga and Jewish Spirituality Training, offered at Isabella Freedman by the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. Shuli is currently pursuing rabbinic ordination at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.
Benjamin Ross is currently pursuing a rabbinical degree at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion and is a Wexner Fellow. Previously, Benjamin served as the Chief of Field Operations for Jewish Funds for Justice where he oversaw five national leadership initiatives and launched the Community Organizing Residency. He was a founding member of Congregation B’nai Jeshurun’s synagogue organizing work and served on the synagogue’s Board of Trustees for six years.
Tara Weishäupal (Board Treasurer) works for Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) as a member of the Graduate Leadership Program. She is a program leader for organizational and leadership development focused on evolving D&B’s culture in support of its corporate strategy. Previously, Tara worked for the Birthright Israel Foundation, where she launched the Birthright Israel Alumni Association and raised millions of dollars for new programs. While working for Birthright Israel, Tara studied at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies during the summer of 2005. Tara earned an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. At Wharton, Tara served on the board of the Summer Public Interest Fund, which enables first-year MBA students to pursue summer internships in the public sector by supplementing basic salary needs. Tara also teaches wine tasting classes as a Certified Wine Specialist and enjoys a good game of Scrabble.
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