Our People

Our Staff

  • Rachel Nussbaum co-founded Kavana in 2006 and serves as its Rabbi and Executive Director. Thanks to her leadership, Kavana has received lots of recognition for its innovative approach to building Jewish community, and Rachel’s responsibilities run the gamut… from teaching and counseling, to dynamic prayer leadership, to re-working the synagogue model for the 21st century. Originally from Charleston, South Carolina, Rachel holds degrees from Duke University and the Jewish Theological Seminary. She has been a recipient of the Bronfman Youth Fellowship, the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, the AVI CHAI Fellowship, and the Joshua Venture Group Fellowship; more recently she helped to found the Jewish Emergent Network and serves on its executive committee. Rachel resides in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood with her husband Noam Pianko and their three children, and the whole family enjoys the outdoorsy, low-key vibe of the Pacific Northwest.

  • Rabbi Jay Asher LeVine is a life-long learner and seeker of wisdom and beauty. He is married to Rabbi Laura Rumpf and together they have two children, Ami and Nava. Rabbi Jay grew up the son of two music teachers in Willcox, Arizona, attended college at the University of Arizona where he earned dual degrees in Finance and Judaic Studies, and then entered rabbinical seminary at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles. For the past six years, he has served as one of the rabbis at Temple Isaiah in Lafayette, CA. He has been trained in community organizing and mussar facilitation, and is a trained Jewish Studio Project Facilitator, using a Jewish art methodology promoting healing and belonging.

  • Liz is proud to serve as Kavana's Director of Operations. She joined Kavana’s staff in 2010, bringing a background in human development, a certificate in nonprofit management, work experience from the arts and culture world, and personal warmth to bear as she took on the management of Kavana's day-to-day operations and the high-level administration of our organization. Liz has a passion for building authentic community, and this shines through in the work she's done to create and professionalize organizational systems that are people-centered and relationship-based. She jokingly calls herself “an accidental Jewish professional”; although Liz isn’t Jewish herself, after all these years, Kavana has become her community too! She resides on Bainbridge Island -- a short ferry ride away from Kavana's Seattle office -- with her husband and two active boys, and enjoys beach-combing year-round.

  • Rachel Lena Osias, or “RLO '' serves as Kavana’s Director of Education. RLO strives to build communities in which teaching, learning and the pursuit of educational equity are derived from challenging systemic norms and embracing the identities, experiences and stories of all individuals. Her exploration of Judaism and Jewish identity is cultivated through question-asking, relationship-building, story-telling, and play. RLO's professional and educational background has been an intentional interweaving of environmental sciences, educational equity, social and environmental justice, and experiential education. She holds a B.S. in Environmental Science, Technology, and Policy; a K-5th grade Teaching Credential; and a Master’s Degree in Urban Environmental Education.

  • Yoela serves on the Kavana team as the Program & Communications Manager. Yoela has a BA in Religion from Reed College. They are currently working on their Master's Degree in Communication Leadership at the University of Washington where they sink into how organizational processes and communication can improve work. Yoela can often be found with a good book, a new craft, or playing DnD.

  • Eli serves as one of Kavana's part-time Administrative Assistants, supporting Kavana with operations, logistics, and events. A member of the Kavana community since childhood, Eli previously taught classes in Moadon Yeladim and the Middle School Program and is thrilled to take on this new role. He is thrilled to return to the Pacific Northwest after four years in rural Ohio where he received his B.A. in Environmental Studies from Oberlin College. Along with his work at Kavana, Eli is the Tacoma Office of Environmental Policy and Sustainability’s 2024-25 CivicSpark Fellow. He is especially passionate about urban policy, glade skiing, and making elaborate salads.

Our Board Members

  • Steve is from the Seattle area and attended Garfield High School, Whitman College and the Evans School of Public Affairs at the UW. He and his wife discovered Kavana in their search for a community that was a good fit for their energetic young family that was searching for a catalyst for their own self-discovery about their own faith and traditions. Steve is currently on hiatus from his role as a non-profit Executive Director to pursue volunteer travel in Saipan with his family. He is father of two (son, Noah, 11 Anya, 14) and husband to Sarah Bergman Lewis, a pediatrician at Children's Hospital. Steve is also an avid kayaker, aspiring off-hours marine zoologist and is training for an Olympic triathlon.

  • Katie is passionate about building intentional, interdependent community and strives to create spaces where we can all feel comfortable leaning on each other just a little bit more. She joins the Kavana board because this community's value-driven approach aligns with her personal mantra that how we do the work is just as important as what work we do. Raised in Texas, Katie has made Seattle her home so that she may have the privilege of being near the Pacific Northwest mountains, trees, and water every day. Alongside her wife Robin, who introduced her to Kavana, she is proud to be a partner and raise their young daughter Madrone among such a loving community. As someone who is not Jewish, she is deeply grateful for the warm welcome she's received as she continues her lifelong journey to live an open-hearted life. Katie is a writer, an educator, and a people-person. Professionally, she currently works as an educator with young people and is in the midst of a career pivot from non-profit policy work into environments where she can teach and write every day. Her happy places are on the dance floor with her LGBTQIA+ country-western and line dancing community, digging in her garden, and singing nigunim by a campfire.

  • Callista has been an active member of the Kavana community since 2015, when she and her family moved to Seattle from southern Africa. She loves the diversity of our community and that it truly welcomes Jews of color and interfaith families. She also appreciates how much the programs and focus of Kavana are driven by the needs and interests of community members, in partnership with the Kavana staff. Before joining the Board, Callista co-chaired the Communications Committee. Professionally, Callista is the Senior Director of Programs at Reboot Representation, a coalition of major tech companies working to support Black, Latina, and Native American women in computing. Her professional experience includes roles in nonprofit leadership, international development, and management consulting. Callista holds a BA from Stanford University in Human Biology, as well as an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. She is an active community volunteer and served as the President of the Beacon Hill International School Parent Teacher Association for the last two years, where she led a successful effort to raise funds to be distributed equitably across a coalition of Title-1 public schools in South and West Seattle during the COVID-19 pandemic. Callista lives in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Seattle with her husband Peter, their kids, Aviva and Franklin, and their adorably small cat, Mao.

  • Marni discovered Kavana in 2008 when the guy she was dating invited her to a Wednesday night Living Room Learning. Both relationships blossomed, one into a marriage and the other into a Kavana partner household in 2010. As their family grew, they became active participants in Kavana’s family programming, enjoying Shabbat in the Park, Prep & Practice, Kids Club (Moadon) and Havdalah Club. Marni, her husband Dan and two boys live in Northeast Seattle. An aerospace engineering graduate of the University of Michigan and Georgia Tech, her work as an engineer brought her to the Pacific Northwest. In her free time, she enjoys playing tennis and ultimate frisbee as well as family activities including hiking, swimming and visiting state capitols.

  • Seeking a contemporary Judaism that included reflection, discussion, and personal engagement, Dana found Kavana in 2010 and became a partner in December of that year. She was an early host for Kavana's home hospitality program, and still enjoys any excuse to gather in community, especially around food. Dana is a past co-chair of the Communications Committee and has continued to be involved in conversations around how we communicate our information and values. During the first part of her professional life, she worked as an architect in NYC and Seattle, and then spent twelve years teaching an array of fine arts courses as a full-time faculty member at University Prep. She also taught as an adjunct instructor with Seattle University's Master in Teaching program, working for six years with pre-service graduate students. Dana holds a B. Arch from Pratt Institute, an M. Arch from Yale University, and an MIT from Seattle University. She believes the point of our time here on earth is to live a life of purpose, connection, and empathy. She lives in Phinney Ridge with her young daughter.

  • Allan has lived in Seattle long enough that he doesn't know his way around any of the places he used to live. He is an architect, father of two young adults, and still married to Wendy - an entrepreneurial fashion designer who somehow tolerates his poor fashion sense. He has a terrible time writing brief bios in the third person. He’d be happy to tell you about himself in-person, but for now maybe this will help:

    1964-1969 Bethesda, MD 

    1969-1974 Jerusalem

    1975-1982 Bethesda, MD

    1982-1986 Kibbutz Hatzerim & IDF

    1986-1989 Philadelphia (undergrad), summers at Hatzerim

    1989-1993 Seattle (UW grad school), summers at Hatzerim

    1994-2024 Seattle, architecture practice 

    1999 Wendy

    2003 Ben

    2005 Josh


  • Joe & his wife Gaby have been members of Kavana since 2018 when they moved to Seattle to start their family which includes Zadie (4) and Stella (2). Gaby is a Psychiatrist specializing in women's mental health, and Joe is the CEO of Union Studio, a product design & engineering firm specializing in Healthcare technology. Joe is excited to support the Kavana community to continue its mission of supporting a diverse, inclusive, and personalized Jewish experience for individuals and families at all stages of life. As a Jew by Choice, Joe is inspired and energized by Kavana's dedicated perspective to making the spiritual & community aspects of Judaism accessible, personal, and authentic to those who want it.

  • Lesley and her husband Todd have been Kavana partners since 2017. They were seeking a congregation with a strong sense of community, a pluralistic approach to Judaism, and one that was willing to engage with social issues and found them in Kavana. Lesley spent much of her career in software development, largely in Silicon Valley. She has just retired after seven years of teaching Computer Science at UW Bothell, with a particular focus on encouraging women and under-represented communities in technology. Lesley is thrilled to have to be able to devote more time to Kavana and wants to contribute to the vibrancy of a community that has added so much richness to her own life. Boards she has served on include Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, and Palo Alto Community Child Care (overseeing 15 preschool and after school centers). Her family was active in a Palo Alto Congregation similar to Kavana and hopes that having observed their experience with growth and balancing multiple approaches to Judaism will inform her work at Kavana.

  • Yelena has been a proud Kavana Partner for 15 years. She shares her northwest Seattle household with her husband, former board member Steven Neuman, and three kids, Henry (10), Theo (8), and Max (5). In 2022 Yelena worked with the board as a key contributor on the Rabbinic Search Committee, leveraging her recruiting expertise throughout the process. Yelena was born in Odessa, Ukraine, and immigrated to Portland, Oregon when she was three years old with her family. Through Yelena’s grandfather, who secretly practiced Judaism in Soviet Ukraine, she learned about the rich Jewish traditions and strong community, shaping her identity and fostering a profound connection to her heritage. Through this experience, she has a deep connection with her roots and dedication to the community. She is excited to give back to the community that welcomed her and her family.

  • Betsy is married to Kavana partner Stephen Rosenman. Together, they have three adult children. She is delighted to have found a spiritual home that is inclusive, provocative and fun. Betsy represents people seeking political asylum in legal proceedings, writes about immigration and tutors refugees. For some strange reason, she adores ponies and horses.

  • David has been a partner with Kavana for about 10 years but has been involved since its inception. He grew up in Southern California in a liberal but very Jewishly identified family: Hebrew school, Reform Bar Mitzvah, Jewish summer camp and even living in Israel for a year of high school. After college, David moved to Seattle and worked in the Jewish community for years before moving to the private sector. He spent much of his 20s & 30s building his own Jewish community informally. After having kids (Justine, now 13 & Nathaniel, now 9), David and his wife, Sharon, felt compelled to plug back into a more structured Jewish community. Jewishness is infused into every part of their family's backdrop and is not based on prayer as much as on cultural identity, ideals, practices and rituals. They celebrate family Shabbat most weeks and talk about the holidays regularly - especially about Jewish culture and how it fits into their secularly-based lives. David loves Kavana’s range of activities and how they appeal to such a broad swath of the community. One doesn’t have to be a liberal Jew in practice to be comfortable at Kavana, but has to respect the practices of others. That range and respect is what has kept him so connected to this community.