Experience

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Independent Public Historian, Storyteller & Research Consultant | 2017 –Present

• Leads oral history, storytelling, and research projects for cultural and community organizations.

• Collaborations include curriculum design, audio reporting, transcription, public history consulting, interviews and ethnographic research.

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Director, Jewish Community Relations Council of the Birmingham Jewish Federation, Birmingham, AL (June 2024 - Present)

• Facilitates interfaith and intergroup dialogue, translating diverse perspectives into collaborations that strengthen civic and cultural relationships. Develops messaging strategies and educational programming to elevate community priorities across sectors.

• Educates and advocates against antisemitism, and on issues of importance to the Birmingham area Jewish community. 

• Continues to oversee collaborative efforts, development, research and docent training for the Beth El Civil Rights Experience. 

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Director of Programming and Engagement, Temple Beth El, Birmingham, AL (August 2021- May 2024)

Engagement and Collaboration Coordinator, Temple Beth-El, Birmingham, AL (August 2020 - August 2021)

• Directed engagement, communications, and program strategy for a 300+ member congregation, developing responsive initiatives that deepened participation and community connection.

• Led the Beth El Civil Rights Experience from initial concept through collaborative production with 1504; conducted historical research, incorporated community feedback, co-taught docent training, fundraising and grant applications, and built external relationships.

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Host, Southern Jewish Voices (Levite Jewish Community Center) | Sept. 2022 - Present

• Conducts monthly interviews, identifying and collaborating with interviewees in advance. 

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Research Assistant, Red Record, University or North Carolina Chapel Hill (January 2020 - July 2020)

• Assisted in research on victims of racial terror lynchings for digital mapping project. 

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Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, (September 2019 - July 2020 ) 

• The Emergence of Modern America (AMST 101) with Dr. Sharon P. Holland (Fall 2019) 

• Introduction to the American South: A Cultural Journey (AMST 211) with Dr. Bernard Herman (Spring 2020)

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Oral History Project Lead, Red Mountain Park, Birmingham, AL (January 2019 - June 2019) 

• Conducted oral history/research on community/industrial histories pertaining to Red Mountain Park.

• Used research for blog posts, installation of historic markers and new audio for TravelStorys App. 

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Research Fellow, Jefferson County Memorial Project, Birmingham, AL (September 2018 - June 2019) 

• Researched victims of racial terror lynchings for public-facing report, ran small-group discussions, conducted outreach and coordinated with neighborhood coalition on remembrance project.​

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Youth Food and Farm Forum Coordinator, Alabama Sustainable Agriculture Network (July 2018 - December 2018

• Piloted ASAN's first youth programming/Youth Food and Farm Forum. 

• Managed Youth Council with goal of youth-directed education. Led virtual classroom focused on food systems learning and leadership development. 

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History Intern, Institute of Southern Jewish Life, Jackson, MS (May 2018 - August 2018)

• Synthesized archival/secondary sources; generated content for "Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities."

• Conducted original research and oral histories on Florida Panhandle Jewish History. 

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Baker, Birmingham Breadworks, Birmingham, AL, (September 2017 - May 2018)

• Worked with sourdough and pastry at a locally- owned bakery. 

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Teaching Farm Fellow, Jones Valley Teaching Farm, Birmingham, AL (July 2016 - June 2016)

• Maintained educational "Farm Lab" at Pre-K-5 public school.

• Wrote and taught standards-based classes and after-school programming. 

• Developed and ran two semester-long Youth Farmers Market programs. 

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Urban Agriculture Intern, Services for the Underserved, New York, NY (May 2015 - September 2015)

• Conducted consumer engagement programs in urban agriculture site for adults with mental illness and developmental disabilities; facilitated workshops, worked one-on-one with consumers, implemented garden design strategies and measured impact of engagement strategies. 

 

Teacher and Curriculum Intern, Bubble Foundation, New York, NY (January 2015 - May 2016)

• Teacher: Taught nutrition/horticulture standards-based programming for elementary-aged students. 

• Curriculum Intern: Developed fourth/fifth-grade horticulture-focused "GROW" curriculum using New York State standards.

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Intern, Foodfight, New York, NY (May 2013 - September 2013) 

• Increased nutrition awareness in NYC public schools through teacher training workshops.

• Worked with social media to promote Foodfight's mission. 

• Assisted in organizing Annual Benefit and Teacher's Conference. 

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Fellowships, Grants and Awards

Jewish Folklife Fellowship, Alabama Folklife Association (Fall 2023 - Present)

Research Fellowship, Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture at the College of Charleston (January 2023)

(Beth El Civil Rights Experience) Project Completion Grant, Southern Jewish Historical Society (2022)

(Beth El Civil Rights Experience) Media Grant, Alabama Humanities Alliance (2022)

(Beth El Civil Rights Experience) Major Grant and Media Grant, Alabama Humanities Alliance (2021, 2022) 

Graduate Travel and Research Grant, Carolina Center for Jewish Studies, UNC-Chapel Hill (2020)

Student Recruitment Grant, Carolina Center for Jewish Studies, UNC-Chapel Hill (2019) 

Grant Recipient, Young Farmer's Conference, Stone Barnes Center for Food and Agriculture (2016)

Grant Recipient, Southern Foodways Alliance Oral History Workshop (2016)

Grant Recipient, Dean's Award for Graduating Seniors, New York University (2016)

• Received funds to conduct original research/travel to Israel for a study on pork consumption and production. 

Grant Recipient, Jewish Studies Fund, New York University (2015) 

• Received funds for an independent oral history project on changing perceptions and realities of Jewish life in 20th-century Arkansas. 

Grant Recipient, New York University Green Grants (2015)

• Received funds for re-design/renovation of Community Agriculture Club's educational farm space. 

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Professional Development 

"Community Across Conflict," professional development training with Resetting the Table (Spring 2025)

Torah in Action Fellowship, Uri L'Tzedek (Summer 2021) 

"Developing Exhibitions," American Association for State and Local History (Spring 2021) 

"There's Nothing Virtual About Online Relationships: Creating Community Through Social Presence," Jewish Education Project (February 2021) 

"Yiddish II," Workers Circle (July 2020)

"Make That Audio Doc," Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University (October 2018 - December 2018)

Reading and Writing Hebrew, Knesseth Israel, Birmingham, AL (September 2017 - December 2017) 

Southern Foodways Alliance Oral History Workshop, Atlanta, GA (July 2016) 

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Presentations

Scholar-in-Residence, National Council of Jewish Women "60th Anniversary of Selma Experience" (March, 2025)

Keynote speaker, Martin Luther King. Jr Unity Breakfast (January, 2025)

Panelist on "Black Jewish Relations: Today's Reality and Tomorrow," Jewish Federations of North American General Assembly (November, 2024) 

"Southern Jewish History Out-of-the-Box." American Association for State and Local History (September, 2024)

"A Case Study of the Holocaust and Human Rights: Frederick and Anny Kraus in Birmingham, Alabama, 1954-1970." Southern Jewish Historical Society (October 22, 2022)

"Community Memory and Justice Work." American Association of State and Local History (September 25, 2021)

"Micanopy to Miami: Florida's Many Jewish Foodways." Delray Beach Public Library (May 4, 2021)

"Introduction to Oral History." UAB Department of History HY 300 (March 4, 2021)

"Israeli Cookery: Using Cookbooks as Primary Sources." Food and American Culture, UNC-Chapel Hill (May 4, 2020)

"Restaurant Culture in a Post Pandemic World." Carolina Public Humanities, panel discussion. (April 29, 2020)

“Shalom Y’all: The Jewish South and Lived Religion.” Jewish Folklore and Ethnography, UNC-Chapel Hill (January 23, 2020)

“Shalom Y’all: The Southern Jewish Imaginary.” Introduction to Southern Cultures and Literature, UNC-Chapel Hill (January 21, 2020)

“Complicating Southern Jewish Stories.” The Emergence of Modern America, UNC-Chapel Hill (October 23, 2019)

"Researching and Remembering Victims of Lynching: An Introduction to the Jefferson County Memorial Project." Birmingham Southern College (April 23, 2019) 

"Oral History, Radical History." Lawson State Community College (May 21, 2019)

Presentation on congregational history with Congregation Or VeShalom, Atlanta, GA (May 21, 2019)

Panel discussion on "Sustainable Meat Consumption," NYU Sustainability Summit (2015) 

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Publications

• “BBQ and the Jewish South,” Southern Foodways Alliance (forthcoming).

• "An Orthodox Jewish Congregation Keeps on (Food) Truckin' in Birmingham," audio podcast, Gravy, September 24, 2025.

• "A Year, Then a Life in Alabama," Alabama Humanities Alliance. 

• "Return and Repair: The Rise of Jewish Agrarian Movements in North America,” Agriculture and Human Values, September 2024.

• “The Jewish Legacy of “Bombingham”: Exploring the Causes and Consequences of the Attempted Bombing of Temple Beth-El in Birmingham, Alabama in 1958.” Southern Jewish History (Fall 2023), pgs. 117-138.

• “Remembering Sol Kimerling and Weld’s No More Bull,” Alabama Heritage, Winter 2023.

• "Sowing an Agricultural Jewish Identity," Southern Cultures, July 1, 2021.

• Series of oral history features for Red Mountain Park, "Ervin Batain," "Juanita Hixon," and "George M. Jack Neal Jr." 

• “William Wardley,” Jefferson County’s 30 Residents, June 2019. 

• “Daytona Beach, FL,” “Gainesville, FL,” “Micanopy. FL, “Orlando, FL,” Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities, June 2019. 

• “Shucking for Schools,” Good Grit, September 14, 2018. 

• “Navigating a Jew(ish) (Food) Identity,” My Jewish Learning, August 6, 2018. 

• “Reimagining Southern Classics By Putting Plants First,” Stone Pier Press, May 7, 2018.

• “Building BLOX,” Good Grit, May 1, 2018. 

• “My Year of Low Impact Living,” Stone Pier Press, February 9, 2018. 

• “Going Whole Hog in Israel,” audio podcast, Gravy, June 15, 2017 

• “Rolled Cabbage to Osceola,” Confluence: Writing, Art, and Research from NYU Gallatin, February 18, 2016.

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Community Activities 

FBI Community Engagement Council (Spring 2025 - Present) 

Core Coalition Member, Jefferson County Memorial Project (May 2023 - Present) 

Steering Committee Member, Jewish Community Relations Council (2022-2023) 

Irondale Memorial Coalition, Birmingham, AL (June 2019-April 2021) 

• Worked with local coalition to apply for and install historic marker dedicated to William Wardley; one of the thirty victims of lynching in Jefferson County.

Life Skills Educator, AlaQuest, Birmingham, AL (November 2018 - May 2018)

• Taught monthly lessons on social-emotional learning to fourth grade students.

Head Gardener, Trattoria Centrale Rooftop Garden (June 2017 - January 2019)

• Piloted, managed and maintained experiential urban garden sourcing to local Italian restaurant. 

Coordinating Team Member, NYU Sustainability Summit (September 2014 - May 2015)

• Event planning, outreach, promotion. 

President/Urban Farm Liason, Community Agriculture Club, New York University (September 2013 - May 2016)

• Maintained educational farm space, led student workshops, managed volunteers, connected students to local urban agriculture projects, managed budget, planning and grant proposals. 

Writer, NYU Spoon, (September 2013- May 2014)

• Authored pieces for "Drinks" and "Food For Thought" sections of online magazine. 

Head Coordinator, NYU Community Supported Agriculture (September 2012-May 2014)

• Developed and expanded a CSA program geared towards NYU students. 

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Professional Affiliations

• YWCA of Central Alabama, Board Member

• Southern Jewish Historical Society, Board Member (Membership Chair) 

• Jewish Community Relations Council Director's Association 

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Skills

• Hebrew (reading and writing), Yiddish (beginner) 

• Facilitation & dialogue

• Oral history and community research

• Cross-sector collaboration

• Program design & project planning

• Experience with self-hosted websites/blogs, design (Adobe InDesign and Canva), social media outreach, and event/conference planning (including virtual).

• Audio production and editing (Audacity, Hindenburg PRO). 

• Curriculum development (elementary) and online education (high school, undergraduate). 

• Restaurant/service industry experience: front of house and back of house.