Inside the Activists’ Studio NY
Panelist Bios
Abby Bellows is in her third year working as a Community Organizer with the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition. She develops relationships and leadership in churches and other institutions, strengthening community by fighting for social justice. Before rabble-rousing as a day job, she studied Political & Social Thought and Jewish Studies at the University of Virginia, and was a spokesperson of the Living Wage sit-in. A lifelong leader in independent Jewish communities, Abby co-chaired the 2008 National Havurah Committee Summer Institute, a retreat of spirited learning, friendship, and scrumptious singing. Abby has been part of AJWS' Volunteer Summer, Jewish-Black dialogue, Jewish-Muslim dialogue, and other cross-cultural programs.
Daniel Marks Cohen - From 2005 until this year Daniel Marks Cohen was a Vice President and Development Specialist at ING Clarion Partners, part of ING Real Estate, one of the world’s largest real estate investment managers. Prior to ING, Dan was at the New York City Economic Development Corporation for three years, working to rebuild the city with Federal financial assistance after 9/11. And from 1998 to 2003 he was the Director of Acquisitions for the Hudson Companies, an affordable housing developer, where he began his real estate investment career. Dan is currently negotiating a partnership opportunity with an established developer to construct a new project in lower Manhattan at this time next year. Among a number of political and social organizations Dan is involved in, he is a member of the New Generations steering committee for the New Israel Fund; he is on the board of Democratic Leadership for the 21st Century; and he is the Chairman of the New York Alumni Association of Coro, a civic-engagement organization, and in that capacity Dan serves on the Board of Directors of the Coro New York Leadership Center.
L. Batya Schwartz Ehrens is an immigration attorney specializing in business immigration at Pollack, Pollack, Isaac, & DeCicco, LLP in New York, NY. She advises large and small corporations on visa strategies and immigration compliance. She also represents investors, executives, and artists seeking green cards and visas. Ms. Schwartz Ehrens has authored several articles and lectured at financial institutions on the topics of employment-based immigration options, E-Verify, and I-9 Compliance. She currently serves as the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) New York Chapter New Members Division co-chair. An active voice for immigrant rights, she has also published articles on grassroots advocacy and has served as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society Young Leaders New York Chapter co-chair and Education and Advocacy chair. Ms. Schwartz Ehrens was named an AILA Pro-Bono benefactor in 2007 for her contributions to immigrant and refugee communities.
Sam J. Miller is a writer and a community organizer. His work has appeared in literary journals such as Fiction International, Fourteen Hills, and The Minnesota Review—who nominated him for a Pushcart Prize. In 2008 he was awarded a Literary Fellowship and Residency from the Bronx Writers Center. For the past four years he has been an organizer at Picture the Homeless, a grassroots group founded and led by homeless people organizing for social change. In that capacity he has organized a campaign that has led to the passage of state legislation regarding vacant property, and coordinated the writing of a major report that has been made required reading in urban planning courses at Columbia University—and been banned in New York State prisons. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Jews for Racial and Economic Justice.
Panel moderator Cynthia Greenberg is an independent consultant to progressive groups across the country. She was the founding director of the Jewish Social Justice Network (housed at the Jewish Fund for Justice), previously served as both acting and associate director at Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and has over a decade of other experience in the Jewish community including at Americans for Peace Now and the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco. A longtime organizer and activist, she organized the First North American Rabbinic Conference on Judaism and Human Rights for Rabbis for Human Rights-North America and the recent Jews Uniting to End the War and Heal America conference. An alum of leadership run by the Rockwood Institute and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, her writing has appeared in several books including Nice Jewish Girls: Growing Up Jewish In America. She currently serves on the boards of Kolot Chayeinu/Voices of Our Lives Congregation and NYC's acclaimed Circus Amok, a political theater troupe with which she also performs.