Barbara Reiss | Vice President, Consulting Services & Strategic Initiatives
Gale Mondry | Vice President, Development and Operations
Maya Bernstein | Director of Education and Leadership Initiatives
Natasha Aronson | Executive Assistant and Special Projects Associate
Naomi Robinson | Office Manager
Wendy Kenin | Community Engagement Specialist
Toby Rubin | CEO and Founder | This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | 415.536.5918 x305
Toby's first career began as a civil rights attorney in Mississippi, advocating on behalf of students with disabilities in education matters. She continued this work in her own practice when she moved to San Francisco in 1981. At the end of eight years of litigation that included a favorable 8-0 decision of the Rehnquist led U.S. Supreme Court, Toby embarked on a second "career" in non-profit lay leadership. Toby rose to hold the President or Vice-President position in 8 local and national Jewish and secular non-profits and chaired the community-wide Teen Initiative of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco.In 2002, Toby joined the Bureau of Jewish Education staff to direct the ti-ke-a Fellowship for Educators of Jewish teens. While at the BJE, Toby conceived and established two groundbreaking projects for the Bay Area: the Jewish Service Learning Project, (dedicated to helping Jewish community professionals integrate service learning into their program mix) and the Jewish Professionals Co-op, the precursor to UpStart. From 2006-2008, Toby served as Associate Director of the BJE.
Advancement of the Rubin family (husband, Robert; daughters Rachel, Sadie, Eliana; and best pal, Jamba) has been the most successful venture Toby has had to date.
Barbara Reiss | Vice President, Consulting Services & Strategic Initiatives | This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | 415.536.5918 x304
Barbara has over 25 years experience as principal of her own management consulting practice. As a business strategy consultant, coach, and facilitator, Barbara's expertise includes strategy development and execution, business planning and implementation, new ventures and affiliations, and organizational assessment and redesign. She is committed to helping clients develop tailored solutions to achieve business success. Barbara's clients are nonprofit and for profit organizations that include startups, healthcare organizations, and media.
Barbara holds a B.A. and an MPH, with a concentration in management and planning, from UC Berkeley. She serves on the Board of the Northern California Association of Strategic Planning (ASP) and Chair of the San Francisco ASP venue for sustainable business practices, the Board of Huckleberry Youth Programs, and the Advisory Board of Facing History and Ourselves. Barbara enjoys tending to her vegetable gardens, keeps fit with hiking, cycling, tennis, and skiing, and treasures her time with husband Jim, her twin sons Danny and Alex, and beloved dog Toby (not to be confused with UpStart’s CEO).
Gale Mondry | Vice President, Development and Operations | This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | 415.536.5918 x306
A graduate of Brown University and Harvard Law School, Gale began her professional career as a health care attorney, working for 7 years as staff counsel for Stanford University and 11 years as Vice President for Legal Services at California Pacific Medical Center. She left the law in 1994 and became actively involved with various community organizations.
A long-time board member of the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, Gale served as the Center’s board president and then as co-chair of the capital campaign to construct the JCC’s new facility. She is a co-founder and former board chair of Gateway High School, an award winning public charter high school. She has also been a board member of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, and the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.
Gale’s development experience includes working as the Director of Development for Gateway High School and as Director of Major Gifts for Huckleberry Youth Programs. More recently, she was the Chief Program Officer at the Koret Foundation.
Gale and her husband, Bruce, are trying to figure out what to do with themselves now that the youngest of their four children has left the house and started college. You can find them at the ball park for many SF Giants home games.
Maya Bernstein | Director of Education and Leadership Initiatives | This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | 415.536.5918 x303
Maya designs UpStart’s content, which fuses business learning with Jewish concepts, consults to UpStarters on their Jewish and educational programs, and to organizations on leadership and change initiatives, and writes UpStart’s blog on Jewish social entrepreneurship. Her expertise includes teaching, curriculum design, and leadership education.
Prior to her work at UpStart, Maya developed a unique approach to using Jewish text study as a tool for negotiating conflicts in schools and organizations. She served as the founding Regional Director of The Curriculum Initiative’s (TCI) New England and Bay Area Regions, supporting ethics and diversity education, and Jewish life, in independent high schools. Maya began her career in education working with the Jewish community in the Former Soviet Union, has written curriculum for a variety of formal and informal Jewish settings, and is a frequently published author, online and in print, in the field of Jewish innovation and social entrepreneurship.
A graduate of Midreshet Lindenbaum, a women’s Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Columbia University and Harvard's Graduate School of Education, Maya has lived and taught in Belarus, Germany, Israel, and China. She and her husband have three young children, and Maya blogs about the joys and challenges of modern motherhood for Lilith magazine.
Natasha Aronson | Executive Assistant and Special Projects Associate | This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | 415.536.5918 x310
After graduating from University of Michigan in 2009 with a Bachelor's in Psychology, Natasha began her journey out West by going in the opposite direction- moving from quiet Midwest suburb to big New York City. While in Manhattan, Natasha joined the Jewish food movement as a member of Hazon's Food Team. As a Food Programs Fellow, Natasha coordinated Hazon's Jewish Food Education Network and helped planned their first ever Israel Sustainable Food Tour. Her Hazon involvement continues today as their 2011 Food Conference co-chair.
After leaving New York, Natasha landed in San Diego for a summer leading a garden internship for teens in San Diego Jewish Academy's 5000 square foot edible garden and lending an extra pair of hands at Tierra Miguel Farm in their biodynamic, organic fields.
Natasha finally headed north to join UpStart's team and settle in San Francisco, where she believes is the best place for her to grow personally and professionally in the Jewish community. When she isn't planning trips to Northern California or doing Bikram yoga, she spends most of her free time daydreaming about cycling, cooking large meals, and searching for the perfect piece of apple pie.
Naomi Robinson | Office Manager | This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | 415.536.5918 x302
Naomi's professional background combines the business and nonprofit worlds, while her volunteer work ranges from violin performance to adventure sports. She helped establish the Western Region office of American Jewish World Service and served in both fundraising and office management capacities. At Charles Schwab, she worked in corporate human resources, managing employee relocations worldwide. Naomi was on the grant making staff at Koret Foundation and the allocations staff of the Jewish Community Federation in San Francisco. Outdoor activities include her work as program coordinator at the Bay Area Outreach & Recreation Program (BORP), managing all aspects of an adaptive cycling program for children and adults with physical disabilities. Naomi also volunteered as a sea kayak guide for Environmental Traveling Companions.
She studied at Brandeis and San Francisco State University and holds a B.A. in English literature and a graduate certificate in nonprofit human services administration. Naomi's lifelong hobby of playing violin/fiddle in orchestras, rock bands and jam sessions has given her a keen appreciation for the importance of ensemble play.
Wendy Kenin | Community Engagement Specialist | This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | 415.536.5918 x301
Wendy Kenin has twenty years of background in community organizing and social change innovation with a focus on cultural exchange and co-existence. In her previous role as Executive Director of the America-Israel Friendship League San Francisco Chapter, Wendy spearheaded a successful mission which connected progressive Green Bay Area education and youth wellness leaders with their counterparts in Israel. Wendy serves as a California delegate to the National Committee of the Green Party of the United States, as well as the co-chair of Green Pages, the national newspaper of the US Green Party. She has also written for the Navajo Times newspaper about sacred sites and cultural preservation.
Certified in California as an advocate/counselor for domestic violence victims, Wendy is a member of the Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission where she has led initiatives to counter local disparities and teen dating violence and to support human rights for immigrant and indigenous communities. A fan of permaculture and urban agriculture, Wendy serves on the board of directors of the participatory Green Arts organization Tucson Arts Brigade and G.A.R.D.E.N. Inc, as well as the local orthodox-Jewish run cannabusiness Doc Greens Healing Collective.
A doula, Wendy has started up a full-service East Bay Jewish Doula Collective and attends births throughout the Bay area. She is a mother of 4 children ages 3-11 in a shomer-shabbos home. To support the success of her community, in her spare time Wendy offers assistance to emerging and existing Jewish organizations and individuals who are breaking into the online social networking spheres.
