Building Inclusive Antioppresive Classroom Communities

Speakers

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  Rachel Hall (she/her) Program Manager, Audacious Hospitality / REDI (Racial Equity, Diversity, Inclusion), Union for Reform Judaism
  

  Rachel Hall (she/her)

  Program Manager, Audacious Hospitality / REDI (Racial Equity, Diversity, Inclusion), Union for Reform Judaism

  Rachel Hall (she/her) serves as a Program Manager for the Union for Reform Judaism’s (URJ) Audacious Hospitality team, where she reviews URJ content and programing through an anti-oppressive lens, striving to make our organization as inclusive as possible. Rachel is an openly queer Jewish woman from a working-class background who believes our early experiences with race, economic class, gender, ability, and access to power and privilege shape us individually as well as how we relate to various communities. Rachel has over 15 years of nonprofit experience related to racial equity, diversity, and inclusion, with 10 years focused on nonprofit management and leadership development. Rachel has a BA from Clark University in Psychology and Communications & Culture, with a focus in Women’s Studies. She received her MA from Simmons College in Cultural Gender Studies, focusing on race, class, gender, and systems of oppression.

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  Tani Prell (she/her) Creative Director, Be'chol Lashon
  

  Tani Prell (she/her)

  Creative Director, Be'chol Lashon

  Tani Prell’s (she/her) life and career have been centered around education, Judaism, and the arts, with a commitment to equity and belonging as a thread throughout. Tani is the Creative Director for Be’chol Lashon, a national Jewish nonprofit focused on raising awareness around global racial and ethnic Jewish diversity. She is also an anti-racism educator and consultant. Tani is a former arts educator, synagogue education director, and Chicago Director for 18Doors-formerly Interfaith Family. She has her BA in Creative Writing from Macalester College, and MA in Jewish Professional Studies from The Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning, where her capstone focused on how Jewish nonprofit boards might diversify to reflect the diversity of our Jewish population. In 2018 Tani was named one of the Chicago Federations 36 Under 36 and was a 2022 recipient of the WRJ’s Women’s Empowerment Award. Tani serves on the Executive Board of the Union for Reform Judaism, where she is involved in aiding the Reform movement’s commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion. Tani is especially interested in the intersection of race, the arts, and Judaism.