Meet the Tikkun Ha-Ir Team

Staff Members

Three women standing together in a line, smiling in front of a brown brick wall. Brandice is on the far left, her dark hair tied back and wearing a blue sweater. Rhonda is in the middle left, wearing a heather blue-gray and coral Milwaukee shirt. In the middle right is Sami with a gold-tone necklace, black T-shirt, and her hair half-up, half-down.
From left to right: Brandice, Rhonda, and Sami. Photo by Dalilah Bernier.
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.
A headshot of Rhonda, a white woman with a halo of curly hair, wearing a heather blue-gray T-shirt with a coral Milwaukee decal on it, smiling and sitting on a bench outside in front of lush green foliage.

Rhonda Lindner, Jewish Education & WIVEC Interfaith Organizer

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

Rhonda Lindner (she/her) worked for 27 years as a public school teacher, teaching English and Spanish.  For many years she led a highly successful philanthropy and social action service club.  At her former congregation, Makom Solel Lakeside in Illinois, Rhonda participated in many social justice campaigns and served on the education committee of the religious school. She has also coordinated civic engagement campaigns with the URJ RAC-IL in Illinois and Wisconsin. Since January 2022, she has been serving both as an interfaith organizer for WIVEC and as a Jewish educator for Tikkun Ha-Ir. Rhonda moved to Grafton in early 2020 and lives with her husband.

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!

A photograph of a smiling young woman with long, straight brown hair. She sits at a restaurant table outdoors and smiles at the camera. The sunset is behind her.

Anna Sully, Intern

intern@thi-milwaukee.org

Anna Sully (she/her) was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, and is currently living in Milwaukee attending Marquette University. Now in the third year of her undergrad, Anna is working towards a degree in Psychology and English. Her plans after college are not as defined, however, she is interested in traveling as well as nonprofit work, so she is thrilled to be joining what she calls “this remarkable organization.”

 

Maddie Kranitz, Intern

Maddie Kranitz (she/her) is a junior at Nicolet High School. She loves to watch and play sports like basketball, baseball, cross country, track and field, and football. She is an outgoing and hard-working person. Maddie is also involved in many different clubs and activities in and out of Nicolet. Within the Jewish community, she is the Vice President of my chapter, Ahavah, in the BBYO Wisconsin Region, including being on Milwaukee’s Jewish Teen Philanthropy Board. In addition, she is a part of USY within her synagogue and is a Madrichah, an assistant teacher at her synagogue for Sunday School. Within Nicolet, she is in Hebrew Club and Hebrew Honor Society.

Along with the activities Maddie does in and outside of Nicolet, she is taking an internship course this school year and working with Tikkun Ha-Ir. Maddie is excited to be a part of Tikkun Ha-Ir because she thinks it is important for all ages to be involved in social justice however that may be. She looks forward to new experiences and making sure that everyone’s voices are being heard in the upcoming elections later this fall.

Board of Directors

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

Members-at-Large

  • Chelsea Cross
  • Eileen Dubner
  • Jeff Tiell
  • Max Loebl
  • Miriam Horwitz
  • Rachel Howitt
  • Sandra Gines
  • Sherman Pitts
  • Susan Stuckert

Ex-Officio

  • Paula Lorant — Former President

Leadership Council

  • Hazzan Jeremy Stein
  • Janice Letven
  • Jill Plavnick
  • Michael Schaalman
  • Susan Ellman

Sponsor Organizations

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