Meet the Tikkun Ha-Ir Team

Staff Members

A headshot of Sami, a white woman with straight black-brown hair half-up and half-down, wearing a colorful necklace and a black T-shirt, smiling and sitting on a bench outside in front of lush green foliage.

Sami Stein Avner, Executive Director

sami@thi-milwaukee.org | (414) 501-3618

Sami Stein Avner (she/her) is thrilled to take on the role of Executive Director at Tikkun Ha-Ir of Milwaukee. She is a native of Mequon, WI and grew up deeply involved in the Jewish community through Milwaukee Jewish Day School, Camp Interlaken JCC and BBYO. After graduating from UW-Madison in 2008, Sami worked at Northwestern University as the Program Manager for the Kellogg Management Education for Jewish Leaders program. She then earned an MBA in Non-profit Management and MA in Jewish Professional Leadership from Brandeis University’s Hornstein Program. While in Boston, Sami was a PresenTense Fellow working to create a young adult Jewish community, as well as a volunteer with the JCRC’s Reach Out! Program. Most recently, Sami lived and worked in Los Angeles running the Diller Teen Fellowship Program, an international program connecting a pluralistic cohort of teens to Tikkun Olam, Jewish Identity, Leadership and Israel. She and her husband and sons are excited to be back in the Midwest and starting this exciting journey with Tikkun Ha-Ir.

Rhonda Lindner, Education Director

rhonda@thi-milwaukee.org | (312) 890-1043

Rhonda Lindner (she/her) began her work as Tikkun Ha-Ir’s Educator in January of 2022.  She concurrently works as the statewide Interfaith Organizer for the WI Interfaith Voter Engagement Campaign (WIVEC), a partner of Tikkun Ha-Ir.  In her time at THI, Rhonda has cultivated relationships with sponsor organizations and partner organizations in the Jewish community, as well as many interfaith and community organizations in the greater Milwaukee area.  She currently serves on committees focussing on voting rights, housing equity, racial justice, Interfaith collaboration, and Jewish engagement.  After 27 years as an English and Spanish teacher in the northern suburbs of Chicago, she says, “her work with Tikkun Ha-Ir and WIVEC is the opportunity of a lifetime, and the fruition of her goals for social justice”.  She currently lives in Grafton with her husband, Rob, and her dog, Joey.  She has two grown children, a daughter in Evanston, IL and a son in Minneapolis, MN.

A headshot of Brandice, a white woman with straight black-brown hair tied back with bangs loose, wearing a bright blue sweater with white accents, smiling and sitting on a bench outside in front of lush green foliage.

Brandice Kirchner, Food Justice Director

brandice@thi-milwaukee.org | (262) 235-2348

Brandice Kirchner (she/her) studied Conservation and Environmental Science at UW-Milwaukee, then went on to get a Master’s of Science in Sustainable Management. She was an environmental educator at an urban nature center, and a focus in programming became cooking with food-insecure children. From there, she worked as a volunteer coordinator and then a partner relation coordinator at one of Milwaukee’s food banks. She was responsible for overseeing the partnerships of over 140 area food pantries and meal programs. Brandice loves the intersection of gleaning vegetables and cooking for the food insecure. Gleaning helps reduces waste, and then alongside volunteers, the produce is turned into healthy and delicious meals for those in need. Brandice describes her role as Food Justice Director at Tikkun Ha-Ir as her “dream job.”

Contact Brandice for Veggie Chop Shop and Gleaning volunteer opportunities and community partnership opportunities!

Board of Directors

  • Tamara Stolle — President
  • Rebecca Chagall — Vice President — Governance
  • Morgan Sweet — Vice President — External Affairs
  • Betsy Kerns — Vice President — Finance
  • Rea Katz — Secretary

Members-at-Large

  • Robin Arenzon
  • Chelsea Cross
  • Miriam Horwitz
  • Sarah Katz Kirchner
  • Jill Plavnick
  • Evan Primakow
  • Phillip Salat
  • Max Seigle
  • Susan Stuckert
  • Morgan Sweet

Ex-Officio

  • Paula Lorant — Former President
  • Rea Katz - Former President
  • Judy Baruch - Founding Executive Director
  • Jill Plavnick - Former Vice President of External Affairs

Leadership Council

  • Linda Bader
  • Robert Ehlrich
  • Susan Ellman
  • Jodie Honigman
  • Nikki Levine
  • Rachel Pressman
  • Sharon Slavin-Brink
  • Shai Wise
  • Mary Wurzburg

Sponsor Organizations

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