Our Staff

Jodi Falk (she/her) joined the Jewish Federation of Wes ern Massachusetts as director of the Rachel’s Table (RT) program in 2019 and, due to RT’s growth, has led the transition of RT to its own nonprofit entity in 2023. Over the past four years, Jodi has tripled the service area of food rescue, exponentially increased the amount and variety of food served, and with advisory support and focus digitized RT’s operations for maximum impact. Along with 300+ committed volunteers and a dedicated and talented staff, Jodi has initiated food justice initiatives such as Growing Gardens, which enables sustainable and self-determined options for food security and optimal nourishment for any of RT’s 65+ agencies. Recently, Jodi was awarded the honor of being one of BusinessWest’s 2022 Women of Impact as well as the Springfield Symphony’s Fearless Woman Award for Authenticity in 2023.   

Jodi comes to Rachel’s Table with years of leadership and fundraising in the arts, community engagement, and social justice activism. In addition, Jodi comes with personal experience of food insecurity as a past recipient of the WIC (Women, Infants and Children) food supplement program when her son was young. 

Researching and working with diverse communities in South Africa, Israel and Brazil, and in our own western MA backyard, Jodi earned a PhD that focuses on community activism and socially engaged arts. Jodi was the Founding Director of Dance at the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter School in South Hadley, MA, the Director of Choreography and creator of community-engaged programming at the Laban Centre, London, UK, (now Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance), and Coordinator of Community Engagement and Outreach for the Five College Dance Consortium in Amherst, MA.  Jodi has created programs that build bridges, break down barriers, and reach across differences to promote equity and champion justice. As a local leader in a special needs parents’ rights watchdog group and a developer of projects in the arts and social justice that serve diverse populations such as incarcerated young women, vulnerable seniors, adults with intellectual disabilities, teen mothers, and foster families, Jodi’s work has focused on nourishing bodies and nurturing lives.  

Kathy (she/her) brings over a decade of administrative and operational experience in food insecurity to Rachel’s Table. Prior to joining the organization, Kathy was the Administrator of St. John’s/Friend’s Place Food Pantry in Springfield’s Mason Square community. In this role, her responsibilities were to oversee the volunteers, service families in need, order and maintain inventory, and report statistics and demographics to the Food Bank of Western Mass. Since joining RTWM in the Fall of 2023, Kathy has further refined operational protocols as well as enhanced how we interface with volunteers. Coming in to work with RTWM in its inaugural year has been so exciting for Kathy and she is looking forward to strengthening the foundations of Rachel’s Table as it continues to grow.  

Prior to her community service, Kathy spent 15+ years in various roles within the banking industry, primarily in commercial loan administration servicing. Her spare time is spent traveling with her family and experiencing the great outdoors. 

Cara (she/her) comes to Rachel’s Table with two decades of experience in secular and Jewish land-based education and camp management, and as a learner and leader in the North American Jewish environmental movement. For her work in Western Mass, Cara received a Harold Grinspoon Award for Excellence in Jewish Education. At RTWM, she manages programs where our hands touch the earth, including Bea’s Harvest (our Gleaning program), Growing Gardens, and collaborations with farmers. She finds power and wisdom in her cultural heritages (Jewish and Sicilian/Southern Italian) and approaches program development with awareness of the role that culture, colonization, migration, and diaspora play in people’s relationships with land, food, and nourishment. Since joining the Rachel’s Table family in 2021, Cara has deepened RTWM’s relationships with farmers across Western MA and northern CT and increased our volunteer base in Franklin and Hampshire Counties. She has strengthened and expanded RTWM’s approaches to food equity and addressing root causes of hunger. During our transition to becoming an independent non-profit and beyond, Cara has supported RTWM in exploring what Jewish identity means to us as an organization and how intercultural learning and collaboration can strengthen our partnerships and effectiveness. Outside of RTWM, Cara enjoys writing, doing handstands, and pulling invasive species from the land she stewards with her partner.

Chana (she/her) joined Rachel’s Table in May of 2023, bringing many years of experience in office management and administration, with a focus on creative optimization and team building. She has supported Rachel’s Table in transitioning to an independent non-profit entity through her work in developing administrative policies and protocols, improving data management, and creating a functional and welcoming office space for our hard-working team of staff and volunteers. Chana brings valuable administrative experience from her previous work as a Quality Assurance Supervisor for a local environmentally friendly cleaning company that supports those facing economic hardship in finding sustainable employment opportunities, and from her work as Secretary for the Crown Heights Community Council, a comprehensive social service agency, where she also led creative youth programming through an initiative called Youth Action Movement.

Chana brings with her a lifetime’s passion for gardening, environmental sustainability, and creating community through music and the arts. She is an experienced herbalist, having completed a 2-year apprenticeship studying herbal medicine through Blazing Star Herbal School, and she is a CAPPA-certified birth doula who has supported many women with holistic labor support and postpartum services. Chana studied music composition and performance at Hampshire College and has spent many years leading live concerts, facilitating drumming workshops and recording her original compositions. Chana is a devoted mother of 5 wonderful children and loves spending time in nature with her family. She is excited to continue directing her efforts towards furthering the mission and reach of Rachel’s Table, with a passion for the hard work necessary to make creative and meaningful contributions.

Sarah Bate (she/her) joins Rachel’s Table as a partner for teen empowerment. As a former local and regional youth group advisor and a long time Jewish summer camp leader, she believes that youth are seeds to be sown for future bounty! As coordinator of Rachel’s Table Teen Board, she helps empower teens to impact food security in Western Massachusetts through service, education and advocacy. Sarah is a part-time student getting her Masters in Macro Social Work with interests in making systemic changes and strengthening communities. Since joining Rachel’s Table of Western Massachusetts in 2022, she has helped the teen board re-establish a sense of peer-centric community coming out of the pandemic. As well as create cohesion in the yearlong teen board program. Additionally, Sarah has a BA in Graphic Design and has helped RTWM’s storytelling reach new audiences and deepen existing relationships through visual media. Already having a passion for social justice, Sarah has learned so much already in her relatively short time with Rachel’s Table about food justice, food systems and local farming.

Sarah (they/she) joined Rachel’s Table in July 2023 to help coordinate and grow the gleaning program. After moving to the area four years ago to work in immigration legal aid, Sarah spent two years supporting clients in accessing local resources while navigating their legal cases. Following that, Sarah spent time working in the local farm and food world. This role with Rachel’s Table utilizes knowledge and skills from both job worlds, and Sarah has enjoyed getting to dive into learning more about local food systems and redistribution efforts. Sarah’s diverse work background and experienced relationship-building has helped to exponentially grow the open community gleaning program from four gleans last year to nearly 40 gleans this year. Sarah is excited to continue imagining and implementing a scaling up of the program and deepening of farmer, gleaner and agency relationships. Sarah is particularly invested in growing intergenerational community and facilitating connective spaces. When they’re not coordinating the community gleaning program, Sarah is involved in a number of community art projects, is passionate about cooking, and loves to learn new craft and building skills!