Meet Kulanu Canada’s Dedicated Board Members
Jennifer Badani (Board Member)
My interest in Kulanu stems from my involvement in issues of Jewish diversity since 2009. I bring to the Board of Directors over ten years of experience in public relations and in marketing. My work has made me familiar with using print media, radio, and television to get across a message, and I am eager to put those skills to work to tell Canadians about Kulanu and about the many Jewish communities around the world.
Karl Baca (Yochanan) (Board Member)
Yochanan grew in Toronto, but is originally from Latin America. He is devoted to helping “Bnei Anusim (the descendants of the jews forced to convert in christian persecutions)” and to live out their unique calling and build authentic community through the practical application of Scripture in an approachable winsome manner. As a professional web developer he is a contributing main content producer and Israel advocate at Jews for Judaism Toronto Chapter. He is Director of an outreach-only program called Punto Breslev, where he teaches Tanach, and anti-missionary lectures in Spanish. Beyond his work in Jewish philanthropy, Hebrew language teaching and travels to Israel, Yochanan is deeply involved in his community. He is on the Philanthropy Committee for Bais Dov Yosef congregation. Yochanon states “that being part of Kulanu Canada is an opportunity for me to shine a bright light on the transformative impact of a Jewish outreach experience and raising funds for the field.”
Michael Bass (Treasurer)
Michael, born in Johannesburg, active in anti-apartheid activities in South Africa, emigrated to Canada in 1977. He has been active in supporting Israel and researching campus antisemitism, including presenting to the Knesset, universities and intel groups in Israel. His volunteer roles have included fostering young children, serving on as a board member of the Gross Family Center for study of Antisemitism and the Holocaust, and on the Steering Committee of End Jew Hatred Canada, as well as similar groups in Canada and the US. Michael is a Certified Public Accountant who has held senior financial positions with Canadian and US corporations.
Marisol Diaz (Board Member)
Marisol Diaz is a U ofT Research analyst, educator and author. She grew up in a tigh-tknit Sephardi Jewish family from the Dominican Republic and the US that not only included her grandparents but also her great-grandparents. She was a member of Pioneer Women, an international Jewish organization established in the early 1920s and a National Council of Jewish Women of Canada events host. She is a contributing writer and Israel advocate at Jews for Judaism. Marisol has worked extensively in the non-profit sector, politics, and international relations in New York, RI and NC (USA), the Netherlands and Spain. Marisol states, “I believe that Kol Yisrael Areivim Zeh Bazeh – all Jews are responsible for one another, and I am humbled, honored and thrilled to be able to contribute to the further strengthening of an already impressive jewish diversity community through Kulanu Canada.”
Doris Strub Epstein (Vice President)
Born in Hamilton, Doris has many years of experience as a multimedia journalist. She has worked in radio, television and print journalism and written on a variety of topics especially the crucial issues in Canadian and Jewish life today. Dance has been a life-long avocation for her – she has taught international and Israeli folk dancing. She is also Co Chair of the Canadian Institute of Jewish Research in Toronto.
Andria Spindel (Chair)
My involvement in Jewish diversity followed years of travel from the Canadian Arctic to Africa and Israel. I read about Kulanu on line in 2007 and invited the founding president, Dr. Jack Zeller, to speak to our congregation, Darchei Noam. I have since served on the Kulanu board as a Canadian member, and in 2012 I began the process of incorporating Canadian Friends of Kulana, which has become Kulanu Canada. We engage Toronto’s Jewish community to help isolated and emerging Jewish communities so that they can be fully educated and integrated into the global Jewish world.
Jacob Steinberg (Board Member)
Over the years, I have worked in Africa, South America, Eastern Europe, and Asia. I had the opportunity to visit small and isolated Jewish communities, and to see first-hand their struggle to maintain a meaningful Jewish life. While working in Suriname, I decided to get involved in supporting the small local Jewish community, the oldest existing Jewish community in the Americas. Being part of Kulanu Canada is an opportunity for me to help other small Jewish communities around the world meet their unique needs.
Cathy Zeldin (Secretary)
My interest in Jewish diversity came from extensive travel, my interest generally in diversity and working as a high school teacher and guidance counsellor at a highly diverse inner city school. After learning of the Ethiopian Jews, then the Nigerian Jews, I began reading about other isolated, emerging and re-emerging Jewish communities until I came across Kulanu while attending a talk on Suriname several years ago. Intrigued, I offered to volunteer and presently am on the board as secretary. In this role I am able to help support small global Jewish communities, continue to learn and educate others.