Jonathan Rosenthal
Pronouns:he/él
I grew up in various suburban communities: New York, Chicago, New Jersey, and Washington DC. My family was of Jewish heritage, but with no Jewish rituals or overt connections to being Jewish. I moved to Maine to attend Colby College. I dropped out after 2 years to be an activist in Boston.
I then worked as a warehouse worker, buyer, and co-manager of a cooperative food warehouse. Three of us from the coop created the fair trade company Equal Exchange, which I co-led and then led. I later collaborated with my EE co-founders to launch and lead a fair trade fruit company, Oké USA. I have consulted with fair trade and cooperative organizations in many countries.
Frustrated with the lack of interest in the fair trade community in embracing antiracist work, I shifted movements to be the Executive Director of the New Economy Coalition. Most recently, I was the interim executive director of the Cornucopia Institute, a nonprofit defending family-scale organic agriculture.
I am a member of Congregation Dorshei Tzedek and have leadership roles in the Tikkun Olam steering committee, the Sindyanna Jewish/Palestinian olive oil project, the Israel-Palestine Peace Committee, the Antiracism Working Group, and a group bridging the political divide re: Palestine/Israel, Israel Connects. I also serve on various boards: The Coffee Trust, The Southwest Georgia Project/New Communities Inc, and The Center for Cooperative Development and Solidarity in East Boston. I am married to Ora Grodsky and we have two amazing adult daughters.
I am looking forward to getting to know the BWC community and working with the staff, board, and members to provide a smooth transition to new leadership.