Building Inclusive Antioppresive Classroom Communities

Speakers

• 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.

• Tani Prell (she/her) Chicago Community Director, 18Doors
  

  Tani Prell (she/her)

  Chicago Community Director, 18Doors

  Tani Prell (she/her) has her life and career centered around Judaism, education, and the arts, with a commitment to equity and belonging as a thread throughout. She is the Chicago Director for 18Doors, formerly Interfaith Family, working to engage interfaith couples in Jewish life and help Jewish organizations on their path of interfaith inclusion. Tani is also a racial diversity, equity, and inclusion educator and consultant. She has her BA in Creative Writing from Macalester College, focusing on Black Literature, and MA in Jewish Professional Studies from The Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning. Tani is a former Teach for America Corps member, high school arts educator, and synagogue education director who has worked extensively with Jewish summer camps, federations and synagogues. Tani serves on the Executive Board of North American Board of Trustees of the URJ. In 2019 Tani was named one of the Jewish Federation of Chicago’s “36 Under 36” and was a 2022 recipient of the WRJ’s Women’s Empowerment Award. Tani enjoys creating art and going to plays, finding Chicago’s best brunch spots, and anything science fiction.