{"id":8766,"date":"2023-08-09T13:26:09","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T13:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/?p=8766"},"modified":"2025-04-11T15:51:21","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T15:51:21","slug":"jcpa-taps-karen-elam-as-new-senior-vice-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/news\/jcpa-taps-karen-elam-as-new-senior-vice-president\/","title":{"rendered":"JCPA taps Karen Elam as new senior vice president"},"content":{"rendered":"

Elam, a former JCRC director, is set to assume her new position at JCPA on Sept. 5, eJewishPhilanthropy and Jewish Insider have learned exclusively<\/em><\/p>\n

ByHaley Cohen<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Jewish Council of Public Affairs has tapped Karen Elam, the founding executive director of the Levine Center to End Hate at the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester, N.Y., as senior vice president, the organization told eJewishPhilanthropy<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The move comes at a pivotal juncture for the umbrella group for 125 Jewish Community Relations Councils across the country as it restructures and implements a new strategic plan focused on building coalitions with other communities, with the goal of \u201cstrengthening our democracy and commitment to an inclusive and just society,\u201d as the organization announced in December.<\/p>\n

The changes included ceasing operation under a \u201cconsensus model\u201d of finding common ground among its 125 national Jewish Community Relations Councils and 16 national Jewish organizations and instead using a coalition model.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are thrilled to have Karen join us,\u201d JCPA CEO Amy Spitalnick told eJP.<\/em> \u201cShe has an incredible track record and so much of that lays the groundwork of what she\u2019ll be doing at JCPA.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Spitalnick said Elam, who is set to assume her position on Sept. 5, is expected to launch coalition efforts focused on combating hate and extremism, as well as protecting and advancing democracy, \u201cspecifically bringing together national and local Jewish organizations and partners across communities in support of those goals,\u201d Spitalnick told eJP.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While there have been senior vice presidents in JCPA\u2019s past, Spitalnick explained that the specific work Elam is slated to do \u2014 leading coalitions focused on combating hate and protecting democracy \u2014 is new.<\/p>\n

Spitalnick added that this is an imperative moment for Elam to step into her position, against a backdrop of ongoing antisemitism and extremism. \u201cIt\u2019s crucial that we demonstrate how interconnected we are with other communities. That\u2019s precisely at the core of JCPA\u2019s legacy and at the core of these coalitions and the broader work Karen will do with us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Spitalnick, who took helm of JCPA in May<\/a>, noted that Elam\u2019s appointment means there are now three women in leadership roles at JCPA. \u201cI\u2019m especially excited about the strong female leadership,\u201d she said, \u201cwith me coming on as CEO, Leslie Dannin Rosenthal [selected as chair last month]<\/a> and now Karen.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

A mother of young adult triplets, Elam has served since 2018 as the founding executive director of the Levine Center to End Hate at the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester, an initiative founded in the wake of the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., the prior year. The Levine Center has reached over 4,000 adults and youth through education and dialogue programs addressing racism, antisemitism, transphobia and other forms of hate. Elam, who has experience working with homeless and LGBTQ+ populations, was a Peace Corps volunteer and subsequently worked as a cross-cultural trainer in Honduras.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In an emailed statement to eJP, Elam expressed excitement about her new role.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m delighted to be joining the JCPA at this moment in its storied history and thrilled at the opportunity to work with respected colleagues in the community relations field as well as national Jewish and non-Jewish organizations,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Elam, a former JCRC director, is set to assume her new position at JCPA on Sept. 5, eJewishPhilanthropy and Jewish Insider have learned exclusively ByHaley Cohen\u00a0 The Jewish Council of Public Affairs has tapped Karen Elam, the founding executive director of the Levine Center to End Hate at the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester, N.Y., […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJCPA taps Karen Elam as new senior vice president - Jewish Council for Public Affairs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/news\/jcpa-taps-karen-elam-as-new-senior-vice-president\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"JCPA taps Karen Elam as new senior vice president - Jewish Council for Public Affairs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Elam, a former JCRC director, is set to assume her new position at JCPA on Sept. 5, eJewishPhilanthropy and Jewish Insider have learned exclusively ByHaley Cohen\u00a0 The Jewish Council of Public Affairs has tapped Karen Elam, the founding executive director of the Levine Center to End Hate at the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester, N.Y., […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/news\/jcpa-taps-karen-elam-as-new-senior-vice-president\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jewish Council for Public Affairs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thejcpa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-09T13:26:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-11T15:51:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/jcpa-social-share2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"627\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"JCPA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"JCPA\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/news\/jcpa-taps-karen-elam-as-new-senior-vice-president\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/news\/jcpa-taps-karen-elam-as-new-senior-vice-president\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"JCPA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/#\/schema\/person\/749a2e6f7fbd5ee92e7a83e5e21c5053\"},\"headline\":\"JCPA taps Karen Elam as new senior vice president\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-09T13:26:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-11T15:51:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/news\/jcpa-taps-karen-elam-as-new-senior-vice-president\/\"},\"wordCount\":538,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"News Clips\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/news\/jcpa-taps-karen-elam-as-new-senior-vice-president\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/news\/jcpa-taps-karen-elam-as-new-senior-vice-president\/\",\"name\":\"JCPA taps Karen Elam as new senior vice president - Jewish Council for Public Affairs\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-09T13:26:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-11T15:51:21+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/news\/jcpa-taps-karen-elam-as-new-senior-vice-president\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/\",\"name\":\"Jewish Council for Public Affairs\",\"description\":\"JCPA is the Jewish community\u2019s primary convener, community relations powerhouse, and policy advocate.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Jewish Council for Public Affairs\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/blue-vertical-logo-transparent-background.gif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/blue-vertical-logo-transparent-background.gif\",\"width\":609,\"height\":358,\"caption\":\"Jewish Council for Public Affairs\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thejcpa\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/#\/schema\/person\/749a2e6f7fbd5ee92e7a83e5e21c5053\",\"name\":\"JCPA\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/992f31856415dfeb7cc551bd92f909c326026c87a6fdf0274a761b0d85cccad8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/992f31856415dfeb7cc551bd92f909c326026c87a6fdf0274a761b0d85cccad8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"JCPA\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/author\/jcpa\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"JCPA taps Karen Elam as new senior vice president - Jewish Council for Public Affairs","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/news\/jcpa-taps-karen-elam-as-new-senior-vice-president\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"JCPA taps Karen Elam as new senior vice president - Jewish Council for Public Affairs","og_description":"Elam, a former JCRC director, is set to assume her new position at JCPA on Sept. 5, eJewishPhilanthropy and Jewish Insider have learned exclusively ByHaley Cohen\u00a0 The Jewish Council of Public Affairs has tapped Karen Elam, the founding executive director of the Levine Center to End Hate at the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester, N.Y., […]","og_url":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/news\/jcpa-taps-karen-elam-as-new-senior-vice-president\/","og_site_name":"Jewish Council for Public Affairs","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thejcpa","article_published_time":"2023-08-09T13:26:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-11T15:51:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":627,"url":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/jcpa-social-share2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"JCPA","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"JCPA","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/news\/jcpa-taps-karen-elam-as-new-senior-vice-president\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/news\/jcpa-taps-karen-elam-as-new-senior-vice-president\/"},"author":{"name":"JCPA","@id":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/#\/schema\/person\/749a2e6f7fbd5ee92e7a83e5e21c5053"},"headline":"JCPA taps Karen Elam as new senior vice president","datePublished":"2023-08-09T13:26:09+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-11T15:51:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/news\/jcpa-taps-karen-elam-as-new-senior-vice-president\/"},"wordCount":538,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/#organization"},"articleSection":["News Clips"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/news\/jcpa-taps-karen-elam-as-new-senior-vice-president\/","url":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/news\/jcpa-taps-karen-elam-as-new-senior-vice-president\/","name":"JCPA taps Karen Elam as new senior vice president - Jewish Council for Public Affairs","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-08-09T13:26:09+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-11T15:51:21+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/news\/jcpa-taps-karen-elam-as-new-senior-vice-president\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/","name":"Jewish Council for Public Affairs","description":"JCPA is the Jewish community\u2019s primary convener, community relations powerhouse, and policy advocate.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/#organization","name":"Jewish Council for Public Affairs","url":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/blue-vertical-logo-transparent-background.gif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/blue-vertical-logo-transparent-background.gif","width":609,"height":358,"caption":"Jewish Council for Public Affairs"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thejcpa"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/#\/schema\/person\/749a2e6f7fbd5ee92e7a83e5e21c5053","name":"JCPA","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/992f31856415dfeb7cc551bd92f909c326026c87a6fdf0274a761b0d85cccad8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/992f31856415dfeb7cc551bd92f909c326026c87a6fdf0274a761b0d85cccad8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"JCPA"},"url":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/author\/jcpa\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8766\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jewishpublicaffairs.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}