Joy Friedman  

​Joy Friedman, a community organizer living in Los Angeles, aims to “create political power for social change by reaching across lines of difference for the sake of the common good.” As Director of Organizing for the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC), she leads a team of organizers who engage 850 congregations, 2,000 rabbis, and 1.5 million Reform Jews - members of the largest Jewish denomination in North America. Joy and her team inspire and train Reform Jewish leaders and their constituents to mobilize with allies - churches, mosques, broad-based organizations, and advocacy coalitions – for various causes including voting rights, immigration reform, affordable housing, criminal justice reform, and more. Before RAC, Joy was a community organizer for Faith in Action in Kansas City, MO and worked with the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization in Massachusetts. Growing up Jewish in Lawrence, Kansas means that Joy is “keenly aware of life as a minority; she also knew from the youngest age that relationships with people from different backgrounds and perspectives matter.” Joy is a Fellow of the second class of the Civil Society Fellowship, a Partnership of ADL and The Aspen Institute, and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.