About Us

SOJOURN was founded in 2001 as The Rainbow Center. Supported by the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, it was a central point to promote change and inclusion for LGBTQ+ Jews and people of all faiths throughout metro Atlanta. As the country’s social and political attitudes evolved, The Rainbow Center experienced enormous growth.

In 2013, the Rainbow Center was renamed SOJOURN: the Southern Jewish Resource Network for Gender and Sexual Diversity. We think of our work as a "sojourn," a temporary stay, and we are home on the journey to full inclusion.

In 2015, SOJOURN was honored as the Grand Marshal at the Atlanta Pride Parade, and was a recipient of the Philip Rush Community Builder Award from Georgia Equality.

SOJOURN remains committed to growing and expanding educational programming, outreach, and advocacy through the South, both in the Jewish and general communities. Our website and social media continue to be a destination for support and resources for LGBTQ people and their families. We have reached over 20,000 people since our inception and have organized the Jewish community at Pride to increase solidarity, partnerships, and inclusion.

Rebecca Stapel-Wax, Executive Director

Rebecca Stapel-Wax has worked with non-profits throughout her career.  In 2004 Rebecca became the director of The Rainbow Center, now the Southern Jewish Resource Network for Gender and Sexual Diversity (SOJOURN).

Rebecca, along with many volunteers, has trained thousands of youth, educators, parents, clergy, and advocates to build inclusive communities. She has built curricula for rural southern communities to address the increased rates risks of suicide that gender and sexually diverse people experience.

Rebecca has a Masters Degree in Counseling. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor and is a Nationally Certified Counselor. She has had an interest in suicide prevention. She specializes in working with LGBTQ people, people who have HIV, and those who have substance use/abuse issues.

Rebecca lives with her wife of 31 years and their two teens. They have four pets, all named after Greek myths. She enjoys hiking, is fastidious about arranging dishwashers, and can drive practically any automobile. 

Rebecca can be reached at [email protected]. 

Rebecca Stapel-Wax,
Executive Director

Rabbi Joshua Lesser, Founder

Rabbi Josh is a committed leader for justice and mutual understanding. He recently transitioned from Congregation Bet Haverim’s Senior Rabbi to Rabbi Emeritus after 22 years of service. As a catalyst, he supported the creativity, ingenuity, and enterprising spirit of members in their engagement in synagogue life. He was the editor of the groundbreaking LGBTQ Torah commentary, Torah Queeries, and was recognized as one of The 36 Most Inspiring Rabbis by the Forward and one of The 100 Most Influential LGBTQ Clergy by the Huffington Post.

He founded the Southern Jewish Resource Network for Gender and Sexual Diversity, cofounded the Faith Alliance of Metro Atlanta, serving as its first Jewish president, and chaired the City of Atlanta’s Human Relations Commission. He sat for six years on the Mayor of Atlanta’s Task Force for LGBT Concerns and was recently awarded the Phoenix Award, Atlanta’s top honor given to its citizens.

A trained spiritual director, Josh currently works with The OnBeing Project and their Social Justice Fellowship as the Spiritual Director for the fellows. Josh’s work continues to elevate timely conversations that help communities engage in healing and justice.

To respond to the challenges that faith and spiritual leaders have encountered during the pandemic and political disruption, he created two international online forums for clergy to brainstorm, share resources, and offer mutual support. In addition, he is working for Hebrew Union College and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College to offer spiritual direction to rabbinical students and rabbis to support their spiritual journeys.

With this depth of experience, he also works at The Berman Center, an outpatient mental health facility for teens and young adults. He supports the clinicians and therapists in offering spiritual resources, pastoral care to their client. He also teaches spiritual practices for an integrated sense of mental wellness.

Josh’s leadership experience and focus on social healing help his clients and communities advance their purpose, cultivate connection and deepen communal and personal joy.

Rabbi Joshua Lesser,
Founder

SOJOURN'S Board of Directors

Simone Bonnejonne

Simone Bonnejonne is the Membership Manager of Grantmakers for Southern Progress, where she cultivates new and current members, and creates intentional engagement opportunities.

Over the years, Simone has volunteered with Florida-based Pride organizations and lobbied on behalf of families with LGBTQ parents. Simone was first introduced to SOJOURN after attending and marching in the 2013 Atlanta Pride Parade — a tradition she’s continued almost every year!

Simone is passionate about pursuing equity and justice for all, and is a member of the American Jewish Committee’s (AJC) Black-Jewish Coalition, Junior League Atlanta, and the ADL’s Glass Leadership Institute class of 2021. In her free time, Simone enjoys exploring Atlanta restaurants with her husband Kristopher and collecting vintage Pyrex.

Simone Bonnejonne, Board Chair

Staci Kinsler Gelbaum

Staci Kinsler Gelbaum is thrilled to join the Sojourn Board. Staci was born and raised in Atlanta, a rare true native. Staci, along with her husband Jesse (also an Atlanta native), son Natan, and fur baby Maddie, still love calling Atlanta home. Staci is an Assistant Principal for Gwinnett County Public Schools.
In 2014, after the passing of her Uncle, Michael J. Kinsler, Staci became involved with Sojourn on the planning committee for Purim Off Ponce and ever since she has been serving as the Chair of the event.
Staci and her family love to see the foundational work that Michael Kinsler began, continuing to empower, encourage, and support the Atlanta LGBTQ Jewish community.

Joan M. Stuart, Vice-chair

Joan Stuart is honored to serve alongside an amazing group of professional and lay leaders, all committed to SOJOURN’s vital mission.  Currently happily retired, Joan spent most of her career as a Development Director or Executive Director for several non-profit organizations, including Jewish Family & Career Services, Center for the Visually Impaired, Vision Rehabilitation Services of North Georgia, and The Epstein School. She also served as Eastern Division Director for City of Hope.   A Certified Fundraising Executive, Joan led several capital campaigns that resulted in new facilities and/or the establishment of endowment funds. Joan has had a life-long passion for social justice and equality, and giving back to her community. She serves as President of Smyrna Arts Council and is a Trustee for the Charyn Darby Foundation. Prior volunteer affiliations include being a volunteer for Weinstein Hospice, committee member of Keep Smyrna Beautiful, Friends of Smyrna Library, Smyrna Optimist Club, Kiwanis Club, and a Board member for Atlanta Theatre to Go.  Joan enjoys all things related to the beach and nature.

Joan M. Stuart,
Secretary

Rebecca Leary Safon

Rebecca began her career in not-for-profit arts in 1987, and has continued to be an arts advocate. Since 1997, she has worked in the alternative healthcare field as a yoga therapist, yoga and meditation teacher, and massage therapist (founder Rebecca Leary LLC) and currently teaches yoga, meditation, and Yoga for Cancer (Y4C) in the COVID era via Zoom. Rebecca has volunteered throughout her career, working on not-for-profit boards, vision groups, and advisory committees for arts, social service and social justice organizations, and  is a proud new board member of SOJOURN GSD (Southern Jewish Resource Network for Gender and Sexual Diversity). Rebecca first connected with SOJOURN when her daughter, Lili, did her Bat Mitzvah Tikkun Olam project with the Rainbow Center in 2007. The whole family has been involved ever since, attending Purim Off Ponce when it was still ON Ponce!

Rebecca Leary Safon, Vice Chair

Sara Glassberg

Sara Glassberg is the Programming Associate at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (AJFF). Growing up with LGBTQ+ friends and family, and also recently reconnecting with her Jewish heritage, have in large part led to her involvement with SOJOURN, where she serves as Board Secretary. She is passionate about the use of cinematic storytelling—as well as other arts-centered, creative, and educational programs—to inspire dialogue and foster understanding between different communities. She is proud to be able to support that through both her position at AJFF and her role with SOJOURN. Sara holds a Master’s degree in Film & Media Studies from Emory University. She is a foodie, bookworm, Star Wars fan, and tea-drinker who enjoys watching movies and TV with her husband and her cat (a Siamese-mix named Paco).

Members at Large

Sybil Breman

Sybil Breman plays the hurry-up and wait game as she manages 4 properties in Alabama and Georgia. She is undeniably devoted to her mom. If there were live concerts, that's where she'd be spending time with good people. She enjoys taking her two pups, Madam Queen and Luciano, to dog parks. 

Sybil says she has always learned differently, and never quite understood the whole “Judaism thing”  but SOJOURN has helped her understand what Judaism is about.

Sybil Breman

Harrison Bleiberg

Harrison Bleiberg (he/him/הוא) is a lifelong educator who is passionate about Jewish Education and Inclusion. As a graduate of Emory University’s Jewish Studies program, he is currently working towards a Masters in Jewish Education through Yeshiva University.

While at Emory, he led award-winning education programs and fundraisers for Emory’s LGBTQ+ community and Lost-n-Found Youth. Outside of campus, he student taught at Atlanta Jewish Academy, completed a fellowship with MEOR, and worked as a marketing intern for JScreen.

Following his graduation from Emory, he moved to Jackson, Mississippi and served as a Program Associate with the Institute of Southern Jewish life where he created, led, and supervised educational programming across several southern Jewish communities. During his tenure, he also served as a project leader in the development of an Adult Education curriculum, now used in over 60 communities across the South.

After two long years of missing Atlanta, he moved back to Smyrna where he served as an Assistant Director of a Day Care, a teacher at Congregation Bet Haverim’s religious school, and is now a full-time Hebrew and Judaics teacher at the Alfred and Adele Davis Academy in Sandy Springs.

Harrison has led educational programs in seventeen different synagogues across the country, been published on MyJewishLearning.com, and has partnered with Moishe House and the Union for Reform Judaism on educational projects serving hundreds of learners.

When he’s not teaching, he enjoys playing guitar, road-tripping across the country, and finding new ways to use his air-fryer.

Harrison Bleiberg

Eric Miller

As a native Atlantan, Eric Miller has seen the LGBTQ community grow from a small fringe of outcasts, to a vibrant part of the fabric in our city. He had been committed to SOJOURN's mission for many years, especially in raising funds for Purim Off Ponce. In addition, Eric is very active in his congregation, leading worship services, reading Torah and Haftarah, and helping with technology during the pandemic.  He is also a past board member of the synagogue and sat on several committees for the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival.

 Professionally, Eric spent 20 years as CEO of Donate.net one of the first online fundraising platforms. Since then, he has been the program director for HAMSA a Jewish addiction prevention and support network. He  now works as a coach helping Type 2 diabetics to control their disease with a holistic drug-free program.

Eric Miller

Julia Kunis

Julia completed her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology at Hunter College, focusing her studies on Cultural and Linguistic Anthropology. Interning with the New York Academy of Sciences: Anthropology Section, she worked with leading anthropologists in the nation to deliver a speaker series for the 2018-2019 academic year. Upon completion of her thesis in Linguistic Anthropology, she was awarded the Excellence in Anthropology award and received departmental honors for her dedicated work to the field. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in May of 2019, Julia took a leap of faith and moved to Jackson, Mississippi to begin her career in the nonprofit sector.

She currently serves as the Project Associate for Springboard To Opportunities, a nonprofit organization that works with residents of affordable housing to help them reach their goals in school, work, and life. Previously, she served as the Constituent Services and Support Coordinator for the Mississippi Alliance of Nonprofits & Philanthropy. There she worked with nonprofits across Mississippi to grow their organizational capacity and gained a deep understanding of the Mississippi nonprofit sector. In her first two years in Mississippi, she worked with the Institute of Southern Jewish Life, where she served Jewish communities across a 13-state region. She created, led, and implemented programming, a K-12 and adult curriculum, and led religious services in each of her 14 communities as a Program Associate.

Julia is driven by her sense of community. She believes that if we act together locally, we can achieve a strong global impact. She is now an active citizen in the Jackson community. She became Chair of Beth Israel Congregation’s Tikkun Olam Committee, currently serves as a Board Member at the Southern Jewish Resource Network (SOJOURN), and actively seeks ways in which she can get more involved with the communities of Mississippi, and the South at large. Her goal is to be a change-agent in the state of Mississippi, working alongside organizations that are yearning to see a brighter tomorrow.

Julia Kunis

Staff

McKenzie Wren

McKenzie Wren (she/her) is a skilled facilitator who believes that conversations about things that matter can heal our divided world by building bridges across differences. As Program Manager for SOJOURN, she helps synagogues, institutions and communities be more welcoming to all people - especially members of the LGBTQ+ communities. She is also an independent diversity, equity and inclusion consultant specializing in culture.  She helps businesses, schools and non-profits create culture on purpose: intentional culture that supports collaboration, authentic inclusion and belonging, and furthers equity.
 
McKenzie is past president of Congregation Bet Haverim in Atlanta where she serves as a spiritual lay leader and is proud to sing in its amazing chorus. She is also part of the Kohenet movement.
 

McKenzie Wren
Programs Manager

Drew Mindell

Drew Mindell (he/him) joined SOJOURN in 2019 as a member of the development team for the sex-positive, queer-focused sex education program that has become Sex Ed Queeries. He serves as a script writer and on-camera personality for the YouTube series. Outside of SOJOURN, he is working towards his BA in playwriting at Emory University. Credits include the Lenaia Student Playwriting Festival, the Queerentine Fringe Festival, and the Horizon Theater's New South Young Playwrights Festival. He works to capture the nuances of his experience as a disabled transgender Jewish man in his writing.

Drew Mindell

Drew Mindell
Sex Ed Queeries Coordinator

Rose Kantorczyk

Rose Kantorczyk (they/them) joined SOJOURN as our communications associate in 2021, spreading the word about SOJOURN's programs, partnerships, and advocacy opportunities through our newsletter, website, and social media. They cut their teeth in Jewish advocacy and storytelling as a fellow at Rice University's Religion and Public Life Program, and landed at SOJOURN following a stint in digital fundraising for politics. Rose holds a bachelor's degree in Sociology and Policy Studies from Rice University, and currently resides in Houston, Texas.

Rose Kantorczyk
Communications Associate