Meet JCUA’s summer interns!
JCUA develops powerful leaders in the Jewish community by providing training, mentorship, and resources for personal growth. Each summer, it is a pleasure and privilege to welcome JCUA youth organizers as interns who support our grassroots organizing campaigns, community-building, and more.
This summer is no different: we’re excited to introduce you to five teens who are helping to build JCUA’s power in the coming months: Leela Wittenberg Trubowitz, Megan O’Connor, Aviva Rappaport, Ronen Ousley, and Dalya Lessem Elnecave.
Leela Wittenberg Trubowitz (they/them)
How did you get involved with JCUA?
I was introduced to JCUA by the youth director at my synagogue, who thought I’d be a good match for the Or Tzedek program, which I completed my freshman year. Since then, JCUA has become a community I feel I can always rely on to teach and support me. I’m ever so grateful for the chance to be involved with it.
How would your friends describe you?
My friends (who are the most amazing people in the world) might describe me as inquisitive. I like to uncover stories: the stories of places, of people, of things, I’m not picky. This may show up as an annoying and persistent need to badger my friends with questions, so beware.
What are you excited to work on this summer?
I’ve been very active in the JCUA youth organizing community for a number of years now, and I’ve seen the power we have. This summer, I’m looking forward to working on further integrating the youth organizing community with the larger JCUA community.
What’s your favorite thing about Chicago?
Chicago is so, so alive. Each neighborhood is unique, each restaurant has something new to try, and each person I pass on the street has a different story. The city rejuvenates me.
Send Leela a welcome message at leela@jcua.org!
Megan O’Connor (they/them)
How did you get involved with JCUA?
I got involved with JCUA because of a dear friend and another intern this summer, Leela. They came up to me and recruited me for Or Tzedek, which I was very excited to have done last year. The reason I stayed was because I had been wanting an outlet for the injustices I see all over Chicago, a way to stop quietly seething but to actually take action on issues I hadn’t known how to take action on before. JCUA is an amazing resource and organization, and I am very happy to be able to work for it this summer and going forward!
How would your friends describe you?
My friends would probably describe me as a really passionate jack of all trades. You could totally also call it being all over the place – I’ve got a lot of interest in so many endeavors, and I try to give it my all in all of them. I’m very driven, just in a lot of directions, haha.
What are you excited to work on this summer?
This summer, I’m really excited to help carry the torch that is the Bring Chicago Home proposal and learn from the Illinois Green New Deal coalition within the JCUA housing unit. I’m hyped to learn a lot more about the history of housing in Chicago and other countries to strengthen my knowledge to better be able to support these campaigns – and spread the word through canvassing and informative, constructive conversation.
What’s your favorite thing about Chicago?
I love the incredibly strong grassroots presence in Chicago. It has a vibrant arts movement and an amazing culture to it. There’s so much promise in this city, but so many issues in the very foundations of our systems that we have to fully address to make sure every habitant of Chicago has their voice heard, seen, and accommodated. Oh yeah, and the food is awesome.
Send Megan a welcome message at megan@jcua.org!
Aviva Rappaport (she/her)
How did you get involved with JCUA?
I got involved with JCUA around the end of 2020 and towards the beginning of the pandemic. I was stuck at home and all the news seemed to be reporting on were the inequalities of the world. I joined a Fair Tax Campaign text bank and I’ve been a JCUA member ever since.
How would your friends describe you?
My friends would describe me as both busy and passionate about what I do. I talk a lot about groups I am involved in and I try to get them as involved as possible.
What are you excited to work on this summer?
I’m super excited to be a part of the JCUA community this summer and to be surrounded by teenagers who are passionate about organizing. I’m also excited to learn more about JCUA’s involvement in immigration justice.
What’s your favorite thing about Chicago?
My absolute favorite thing about Chicago is the food scene. Chicago’s cultural diversity makes for a myriad of different restaurants and shops specializing in foods from all over the world.
Send Aviva a welcome message at aviva@jcua.org!
Ronen Ousley (he/him)
Ronen Ousley (he/him)How did you get involved with JCUA?
I got involved with JCUA, because it’s a place where I feel comfortable and safe to help my community and do the things I am passionate about. Additionally, the community is wonderful.
How would your friends describe you?
I think my friends would describe me as someone who’s passionate about what they do, as well as someone who is hardworking and kind.
What are you excited to work on this summer?
I am looking forward to working on the Treatment Not Trauma campaign over the summer. The campaign is very close to my heart, and I can’t wait to continue working with the awesome people involved.
What’s your favorite thing about Chicago?
Send Ronen a welcome message at ronen@jcua.org!
Dalya Lessem Elnecave (they/them)
Hello JCUA community! If you do not already know, my name is Dalya and I am one of the organizing interns at JCUA this summer. I will be working to bridge the gap between the wins of our incredible C4 (JCUA Votes) with JCUA’s ongoing campaign work. I am excited to work both with JCUA leaders and elected officials to build more relationships and power to secure even more wins.
This is my second summer interning at JCUA, but my involvement began in the Or Tzedek organizing program in 2021. Or Tzedek was where I first fell in love with community organizing and learned about effective and actionable methods of political change. If you have been a dedicated reader of the JCUA blog for a while, you will know that I have written previously about the way that JCUA youth organizing gave me a platform to fight for housing justice with the incredible Bring Chicago Home coalition. Although Housing and Economic Justice has been my primary focus over the last almost two years at JCUA, I have worked on educational material on the community safety campaign Treatment Not Trauma and worked on the ICIRR platform with the rest of the youth organizing caucus last spring. Point being, I am always excited to talk about any and all of JCUA’s issue area campaigns, even ones that I am less involved with.
Lately as an organizer, I supported youth involvement in JCUA Votes’s Near/Far Northside organizing during the recent election where I served as a member of the political committee. With Bring Chicago Home, I have been attending policy meetings with members of the mayor’s team and planning events like the People’s Hearing back in March.
I love JCUA for all of its incredible campaigns, for all of the wonderful individuals I have met here, and because it has given me a space to pursue both progressive politics and Jewish values. Jewish ritual, learning, and practice and the ways we can use it to improve and empower ourselves and our communities is incredibly important to me. But my favorite part of Jewish organizing is the community and the imperative as a Jewish person and community organizer to continually build and strengthen relationships and community with one another.
Outside of organizing, I spend my time reading law reviews and sci-fi/fantasy (especially N. K. Jemisin and Ursula LeGuin), researching the intersections between politics/law and social psychology, and making and experiencing the magic of live theater.
I cannot wait to continue building strong Jewish progressive community with all of you this summer! Please feel free to reach out to me at dalya@jcua.org.
As always, Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof: Justice Justice You (We) Shall Pursue.
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