Ariela Ronay-Jinich (she/her)
Executive Director of Olamim
About Speaker
Ariela Ronay-Jinich, MA.Ed is an educational leader, cultural activist, and researcher in the Bay Area, California. She has been serving Bay Area youth and families since 2005 and has founded and directed a number of innovative Jewish educational initiatives that center community-building, language learning and nature connection (Urban Adamah, Wilderness Torah, Edah, Jewish Outside). Besides working with youth, she has trained over 100 educators in nature-based Jewish learning through her signature program, “Jewish Outside,” founded in 2015. Her recent work has centered her Mexican Jewish identity and has taken on an equity focus, including as Program Manager for Project Shamash, a racial justice initiative of Bend the Arc, and through her qualitative research on Latinx Jewish families. She currently serves as Founder and Executive Director of Olamim, a family engagement program for Latinx Jewish families. Ariela holds a B.A in Education Policy and History from Brown University, and an M.A. in Educational Leadership from Mills College, with a specialization in Early Childhood Education. She received her training in Jewish environmental education at the Teva Learning Alliance and the Eco-Activist Beit Midrash in Israel. She is a Helen Diller Family Award recipient for Excellence in Jewish Education, and is an alumnus of several leadership institutes, including Selah, Rockwood, JECELI, and Torah Trek.