2023 Puentes Fellows

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Ana Bass (she/her) has been proud of her many heritages since being a camp counselor with Be'chol Lashon in 2019. It meant the world to her to inspire campers to embrace their adoption stories and Jewish identities. She is Jewtina through adoption - her parents are of Ashkenazi background. She was born in Guatemala and adopted at 4 months. Thankfully, her parents have always embraced her and her brother's heritages by incorporating them into holidays, house decorations, family trips to Latin America and even choosing an elementary school that taught Spanish and had a Mexican exchange program with students living in Mexico. She is an artist first, expressing her humor and life frustrations through colored pencil comics. She is constantly thinking of ideas for zines and comic books. She hopes to be a published cartoonist. For work she is a health and fitness professional at a senior retirement community. Ana loves the topics of self care, mental health, wellness, nutrition, creativity, and fitness. Recently she taught a comic book workshop with a fellow cartoonist friend at a Jewish Community Center. She plans to do more artistic endeavors in the future within comics and workshops. She is brainstorming on how she can tie this fellowship in with her artistic path and at work - she is open to the ideas of this 2023 cohort and looks forward to meeting everyone!

Anjelica N. Ruiz (she/her)  is the Director of Libraries and Archives at Temple Emanu-El. She holds a B.A in Criminology from St. Edward’s University, M.S. in Criminal Justice from Texas State University and M.S. in Library and Information Sciences from the University of North Texas. She will begin Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion’s Executive Master’s in Jewish Education as part of cohort 11 this spring. She loves traveling and is passionate about social justice. She completed the Anti-Defamation League’s Glass Leadership Institute in 2016 and is an alum of the Union for Reform Judaism’s JewV’Nation Fellowship in the Jews of Color cohort and Bend the Arc’s Selah Leadership Program in cohort 16. Anjelica loves reading and is a self-professed life-long learner. She also loves writing and is an alumna of the Tent: Encounters with Jewish Culture’s Creative Writing seminar and the Yale Writers Workshop.

Arielle Egozi (she/they) is an award-winning creative, strategist, and author. She advises brands across tech and entertainment on cutting the bs for consumers. She’s spoken on stages around the world on inclusive advertising practices and as a leading voice in the SexTech industry. They are a sex and identity politics writer, and their work has been featured across most major publications. In July 2022, she went internationally viral for posting “sex work” as a LinkedIn professional experience. She is currently working on a forthcoming book and podcast.

Elianna Bernstein (she/her) is a second-year grad school student getting a Master's in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis, MO. She selected the mental health concentration within social work, more specifically child behavioral health. She is originally from California and is missing the sunshine, her family, and her cat! In her free time she enjoys taking walks, baking, mindfulness meditation, dabbling in printmaking and other artsy endeavors, and indulging in anything feline-related. She is from a Mexican/Jewish background and she looks forward to meeting a cohort of like-minded Latinx Jews! 

Elizabeth Martínez-Podolsky (she/her/hers) is a Chicana Jewish mom, wife, educator, and scholar. Originally from sunny South Texas, she moved to the midwest and enjoys the snow. She is a mom to three lively kids, wife to Joseph, and educator and scholar in Higher Education, specially looking at the intersections between Latinx communities and agriculture work. She works full time as a college administrator and is a member of Mt. Zion temple in St. Paul, MN. As a present-day Minnesotan, Elizabeth enjoys being outside to see all 4 seasons, being involved with the Jewish Federation JEDI work, and the local arts scene. 

Jessica Meyer (she/her) is the Religious School Principal at Temple Solel in Northern San Diego County. She has been in this role since June 2022. Prior to taking on this role, Jessica was a public school teacher in San Diego. Throughout her various roles in education, Jessica has always found it important for the children she works with to see themselves represented in literature the students are reading, the teachers in the classroom, and the school leadership.

Laura Hartmann-Villalta (she/her) is delighted to be expanding her leadership capacities and discovering more about her Latinx/Jewish background with the Puentes Fellowship & Jewtina & Co. Born in the Dominican Republic to diplomat parents, Laura grew up speaking Spanish with her Latina Costa Rican mother and White German-American father. She bounced around Latin America and the US as a child and adolescent, and eventually attended St. Louis University's Madrid Campus for her undergraduate studies. Spain is forever in her heart, as is her love for languages, books, and intercultural connections. While based in Washington, DC., Laura teaches at Johns Hopkins University in the University Writing Program. She cares deeply about workers' rights and labor advocacy, particularly in the US university space, reproductive freedom and choice, and changing the narrative of established history through feminist biography -- all driven by Jewish values and her Latina heritage. In her leisure time, Laura learns Yiddish via Zoom classes and participates in jigsaw puzzle swaps.

Lillian Horin (she/her) was born and raised on Tongva land (Los Angeles, CA), and has always been driven by a love of science and medicine. She is currently a PhD Candidate in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences program at Harvard Medical School where she studies how anti-cancer drugs cause disease in non-cancer cells. Previous encounters with the medical industry's neglect for the unique experiences and needs of people of color have only deepened her commitment to making scientific and medical advances accessible to all. In addition to her academic pursuits, Lillian also created a YouTube channel to make the PhD admissions process more transparent for others. Lillian's Iraqi Jewish and Mexican heritage has inspired her to use art as a means of connecting with nature and seeing the world through new perspectives. In her free time, she enjoys collecting Gudetama merchandise and going on hikes with her partner and her rescue beagle Willow.

María Isabel Rosario (she/her) is a member of the Leadership Council at Temple Israel Boston and serves as one of three co-chairs for the Racial Justice Initiative. She is also a member of TI's racial diversity, equity, and inclusion team. Maria is the Lead Community Partnership Specialist at Jewish Vocational Services in Boston, MA where she works to build and maintain partnerships with local organizations to assist JVS’s diverse clients as they work to achieve their goals. She holds a BA in Social Sciences from Harvard University Extension and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the Mountainview Low Residency writing program at Southern New Hampshire University.

Natalie García (she/they) was born in San Jose, CA. Placed in the foster care system as an infant, they were adopted and raised by her parents in a interracial Catholic household. Their spiritual, cultural, and individualistic journey led them to the East Bay where they have put down their roots. Having a strong desire to be in service to others, Natalie works in the non-profit sector, as the Director of Facilities at the JCC East Bay. Intersectionality, relational engagement, and "hineni" are all fundamental aspects in their work. They are passionate about diversity, equity and belonging, with a focus on improving access, representation, allyship, and inclusion for all in their community. Having spent the last nine years in the professional Jewish world, Natalie identifies as Jewish-adjacent. In their work, Natalie has been an active member of JResponse since 2020 and was honored with an invitation to sit on the Advisory Committee for JResponse in 2021. Outside of work, they can be found tinkering on household projects, planning local family adventures with their wife and young child, and discovering local eateries and watering holes.

Santy Barrera (he/him/his) is a seasoned educator with ten years of youth development, community building, and academic work experience. He holds a degree in English & American Literature from Middlebury College where he also focused in Creative Writing and studied Italian. He is the son of Ecuadorian immigrants and is first born in the United States on both sides of his family. As a first-generation student, Santy is passionate about empowering the youth with the resources and information they need as they explore their passion, skills, and ideas in the education system. He also combines his passion for creative writing and social justice to bring visibility to Indigenous people, especially Ecuadorian-Americans, and create spaces for them to represent and celebrate their identities in leadership and education spaces. He currently resides in New York City and is part of a beautiful Jewish community with Ammud.

Sarah Flores Shannon (she/her) is a passionate community organizer and storyteller based in the Washington, DC area. She spent the first 18 months of the pandemic pursuing her conversion to Judaism, fulfilling a long-held dream. Sarah combines her love of ritual and delicious food by cooking her way through the Jewish holidays. She is the proud daughter of a Cuban mother and an Irish American father, and is grateful to have lived in both Cuba and Ireland. A graduate of Smith College, Trinity College Dublin, and University College Dublin, Sarah brings together her academic background in anthropology and sociology to advocate for community-driven social change in her local area. She previously worked at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice and is currently working to win the hearts and minds of donors as the Foundations Relations Manager at the National Council for Jewish Women (NCJW). Sarah loves traveling and regularly reminds herself that there is no prize for efficiently making her way through airport security.