UpStart Bay Area - UpStart Team

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 | Barbara@upstartbayarea.org | 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 | Gale@upstartbayarea.org | 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 | Maya@upstartbayarea.org | 415.536.5918 x303

Maya designs UpStart’s programs, which fuse business learning with Jewish business ethics, consults with UpStart’s members on their content, and writes UpStart’s blog on Jewish social entrepreneurship. Her expertise includes teaching, curriculum design, and leadership education. Maya is the founder of the Hevruta Project, which uses an innovative approach to text study as a tool for building community and facilitating dialogue in schools and organizations.

A graduate of Columbia University and Harvard's Graduate School of Education, Maya has lived and taught in Belarus, Germany, Israel, and China. Though her two young daughters attempt daily to derail her valiant morning effort to stand on her head, Maya is not deterred, and blogs about the challenge for Lilith magazine.

Naomi Robinson | Executive Assistant and Office Manager | Naomi@upstartbayarea.org | 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 playing and ensemble play.

Wendy Kenin | Community Engagement Specialist | Wendy@upstartbayarea.org | 415.536.5918 x301

Mariana Roytman Schiffner | Marketing-Communications Consultant | Mariana@upstartbayarea.org | 310-927-3726

Graduating Phi Beta Kappa from UCLA, Mariana has spent the last decade creating and managing communications for foundations and Jewish non-profits. After six years as BJE’s Marketing Director, she founded Mariana Projects, which specializes in creative communications strategies for non-profits. Recognized as an emerging Jewish leader by the Professional Leaders Project, Mariana is known for her distinctive flair in organizing events (such as the BJE Feast of Jewish Learning), launching advertising campaigns, and creating Web sites.

You may have seen Mariana in the film 24hoursoncraiglist or in the ABC-7 documentary about the young adult March of the Living delegation that she organized and led. To nourish her creative spirit, Mariana practices yoga, writes a travel blog, davens at the Mission Minyan, and takes Improv classes. Her favorite saying is, “What’s the fun element?”