On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am thrilled to share that Anna Rubin has been named JCUA’s next Executive Director.

When we began our search, we made a commitment that we would run a process worthy of this historic, vital organization. We engaged DRG Talent to guide us, and our search committee solicited applications from across the country, asked big questions about the kind of leadership JCUA needs, and listened to ideas and feedback from dozens of stakeholders.

We arrived at a clear and unanimous conclusion: Anna Rubin is the right person to lead JCUA’s next chapter. She has spent more than 10 years with the organization — first as an Avodah fellow, then as a staff organizer, as political director, and most recently as Interim Executive Director. She has led our immigration committee, managed our programs team, and worked alongside members and partners to win transformative campaign victories.

Donate to JCUA in Anna’s honor!

More than anything, Anna knows how to organize. That is the through-line of her decade at JCUA. In a moment when our communities and our democracy are under serious threat, what sets JCUA apart is not just that we hold the right positions — it is that we act on them together.

JCUA organizes our members, who take action with our issue committees; our teens, who learn about social justice through Or Tzedek; our clergy, who serve as prophetic voices in their congregations and communities. And we organize our resources: revolving funds through our Community Ventures Program (CVP) for affordable housing and community development projects, and dollars raised from individuals and institutions who believe that pursuing justice is a vital part of what it means to be Jewish. Anna has done it all, and she understands that it is through sustained and relational organizing that we will build a truly just and welcoming future for everyone.

I want to thank my fellow search committee members — Rich Amend, Nia Crosley, Joe Grant, Benetta Mansfield, and Emily Rapport — for leading the search process with care and rigor. Thank you to JCUA’s staff, who kept the organization moving at full strength through a period of transition. And thanks to those of you participated and helped shape this decision.

JCUA was founded more than 60 years ago on the conviction that Jewish tradition demands we show up for each other. I have never been more confident in our collective ability — and in Anna’s leadership — to meet that charge.

With gratitude and excitement,

Sara Cantor (she/her)
Immediate Past President
Search Committee Chair

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A Message from Anna:

I am so grateful to begin this new chapter as JCUA’s Executive Director! I come to this role after a decade here — a decade of big wins and tough losses, moments of hope and moments of uncertainty about how we could move forward as an organization, as coalitions, as a movement, in our collective pursuit of justice.

Alongside this uncertainty, I carry a deep belief that we will reach our promised land. It is because of my years organizing with all of you, through our joy and our despair, that I know our hardest moments can also bring our greatest opportunities for transformation and celebration. Thank you to the members, staff, and Board who have entrusted me with this work. Onward!