Salam Al-Marayati, MPAC President

Nationally recognized for his commitment to improving the public understanding of Islam and policies impacting American Muslims, Salam is president and co-founder of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. He oversees MPAC’s groundbreaking civic engagement, public policy, and advocacy work.

He is an expert on Islam in the West, Muslim reform movements, human rights, democracy, national security, and Middle East politics. He has spoken at the White House, Capitol Hill and represented the U.S. at international human rights and religious freedom conferences.

Because he believes that community development is essential to fully integrating Muslims within America’s pluralism, Salam has facilitated hundreds of civic engagement workshops around the country—from rooms of five people to conference halls of hundreds.

Salam is an adjunct faculty member at Bayan Claremont, a board member of the Muslim Reform Institute, and an advisor to several political, civic, and academic institutions seeking to understand the role of Islam and Muslims in America and throughout the world. Deeply involved in interfaith activities, Salam was co-chair of the Interfaith Coalition to Heal Los Angeles, which formed in the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles uprisings.

Amy Spitalnick, CEO JCPA

Amy Spitalnick is the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the national convener of Jewish coalitions working across communities to build a just and inclusive American democracy. 

A nationally recognized leader on countering antisemitism, hate, and extremism and protecting democracy, Amy previously served as Executive Director of Integrity First for America, which won its groundbreaking lawsuit against the neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and hate groups responsible for the Charlottesville violence.  

Amy has extensive experience in government, politics, and advocacy, including as Communications Director and Senior Policy Advisor to the New York Attorney General and spokesperson and advisor to the New York City Mayor. She serves on the Boards of Directors of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Tufts University Hillel, and the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL) at American University, as well as on Tree of Life’s Academic Advisory Council and Bedrock’s National Leadership Council.  

Amy frequently appears in national media and has been awarded various fellowships and honors, including being named a Women inPower Fellow at the 92nd Street Y, a Truman National Security Project Fellow, a City & State 40 Under 40 Rising Star, and a NY Jewish Week 36 Under 36 Changemaker. She graduated from Tufts University. 

Paula B. Pretlow, Moderator

Paula B. Pretlow has built a career helping company leaders maximize shareholder and stakeholder value—negotiating hundreds of millions in revenue across her career. She is a former senior vice president of The Capital Group, a $2.6 trillion privately held investment management firm. While there, she headed the firm’s public fund business development and client relationship group and was also responsible for large client relationships. 

Pretlow is a trustee of The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, where she serves as board chair. In addition, she is a board member of the ADL (National board); Northwestern University; and The Kresge Foundation. In the corporate sector, she has served on a number public and private company boards and currently serves as an independent director of Greenlight Financial Technology. 

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Northwestern University and a Master of Business Administration in finance and economics from the University’s Kellogg School of Management. She is a 2017 fellow of Stanford University’s Distinguished Careers Institute and has co-taught design thinking at the University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (the “d.school”) and guest lectures at the Graduate School of Business. 

Pretlow has been recognized with numerous awards, including The Women’s Legal Defense & Education Fund’s Aiming High Award; The National Council of Jewish Women’s Outstanding Humanitarian Award; and the Northwestern|Kellogg Alumni Award. She has been a featured speaker at JFNA’s General Assembly and at JFN conferences. Other speaking appearances include Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences convocation; and Groundbreakers: Women in Leadership Summit, where she shared the stage with Gloria Steinem and Ali Wentworth.  

Pretlow continues to write stories about her life and finds great joy in spending time with her grandchildren (and their parents) and travelling the world. 

David Bocarsly, JPAC

David Bocarsly is the Executive Director of the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California (JPAC), the voice of California’s Jewish community to the State Capitol, and the largest single-state coalition of Jewish organizations in the nation. JPAC is composed of 41 leading Jewish community organizations – including Jewish Federations, Jewish Community Relations Councils, Jewish Family Service agencies, and others – and advocates in Sacramento on behalf of the Jewish community’s concerns and broadly shared values. Since David assumed leadership in 2022, JPAC has secured over $460 million in state funding for Jewish priorities and advocated for 57 successful bills, including AB 715 – a first-in-the-nation bill to address antisemitism in California schools. 

Previously, David served as the Director of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, curating and implementing legislative and advocacy efforts for its 18 elected officials. In that capacity, he created an annual Tikkun Olam–Repairing the World bill package, guided the Caucus’s efforts to establish a widely-accepted statewide Ethnic Studies curriculum, and helped increase nonprofit security grants from $2 million to $50 million annually. 

David has worked for elected officials and campaigns at every level of government, including U.S. Congressmember Jerry Nadler. He is a former Coro Fellow in Public Affairs, was UCLA’s first kippah-wearing Student Body President, and earned his Master of Public Policy degree from USC with a Certificate in Social Justice. 

He is an alumnus of several distinguished fellowships, including the New Leaders Council Institute, Schusterman Foundation’s ROI Community, Jewish Federation’s New Leaders Project, and America Indivisible’s Public Leaders for Inclusion Council. 

David’s professional journey through the intersection of Judaism and politics stems from his Jewish upbringing in Los Angeles. His experiences in Camp Ramah, United Synagogue Youth, Nativ, and UCLA Hillel shaped his belief in justice as a core Jewish value – and political activism as a powerful tool for achieving meaningful change. 

In his spare time, David enjoys dancing, backgammon, LA sports, and scenic overlooks. He is on Twitter at @davidbocarsly.

Shawn Landres, Moderator

Shawn Landres has built a multi-decade track record of leadership across the social good sectors – nonprofit, philanthropic, academic, and public alike. An award-winning civic leader who bridges multiple communities, his research and impact in social innovation and community development have earned attention in the U.S., Europe, and beyond. Since the early 2010s, Shawn has served on and led numerous local government commissions in Southern California, where much of his work has focused on nurturing public access to and trust in government and strengthening diverse and inclusive democratic civil society, including as the co-designer and volunteer lead for the Los Angeles Jewish Federation’s CIVruta initiative, which was awarded the Lippman Kanfer Prize for Applying Jewish Wisdom to Democracy and Civic Engagement. In early 2022, Shawn founded a multinational grassroots volunteer humanitarian network providing responsive case management for Ukrainians and Ukrainian refugees, and more recently to displaced Israelis as well. 

A UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs Senior Fellow since 2016, Shawn currently is Chair Emeritus of the Los Angeles County Quality and Productivity Commission and a member and past chair of the City of Santa Monica Planning Commission. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Santa Monica Bay Area Human Relations Council and is a past board member of the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California. The co-founder of Jumpstart Labs and co author of groundbreaking research on the Jewish innovation ecosystem as well as on religion and household charitable giving, Shawn holds degrees in religious studies and social anthropology from Columbia, Oxford, and UC Santa Barbara, where he earned a PhD. He and his family live in Santa Monica, California, while also maintaining strong ties in the Slovak Republic. 

Kara Wilson, Project Shema

Kara Wilson (she/her) leads our organizational strategy, operations, and culture, and brings a rare blend of systems thinking, facilitation skill, and deep values-based leadership. With a Master of Public Health focused on program management and evaluation, and a background spanning higher education, pharma communications, and health-focused nonprofits, she brings both rigor and real-world insight to her work. Kara is also currently pursuing rabbinical studies at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, which further informs her thoughtful, grounded approach to building communities of justice and belonging. We’re fortunate to have her leading this session. 

Rabbi Eliana Kayelle, Keshet

Rabbi Eliana Kayelle brings a deep love of education and community as the Keshet Bay Area Education and Training Manager. They hope to inspire people to think about how Jewish texts and traditions relate to them here and now — and how they can be used while working for an equitable future. Eliana is originally from Long Island, NY where they’ve worked as a theater-maker, Jewish educator, and community organizer. They received rabbinical ordination as part of the first cohort of Pluralistic Rabbinical Seminary in 2021 and moved to the Bay Area shortly after. You can read their words in HeyAlma, Lilith, The J- Jewish News of Northern California, the Forward, and the Keshet blog. Through their role at Keshet, Eliana works with the Jewish communities across the bay area working for the full equality and belonging of LGBTQ+ Jews in Jewish life.