Staff

ROBERT COHEN
Executive Director

Robert Cohen joined the Jewish Community Relations Council after serving as Assistant Executive Director and Director, Community Relations of the Jewish Federation of Tulsa. Prior to that, he worked for three decades in television news, public relations and advertising.

After earning his bachelor's and master's degrees and completing advanced studies in international relations from American University, he worked as anchor, reporter and news manager for TV stations in Atlanta, Pittsburgh, New Jersey, Wichita, Cleveland and Tulsa. During his broadcast journalism career, he won numerous professional honors including the National Headliners Award, the National Association of Broadcasters Service to Children Award, and the Gabriel Award of Unda-USA (National Catholic Association for Communicators). He also worked as an international public relations consultant for the New York public relations firm Hill and Knowlton, and was executive vice president of Schmelzer and Associates public relations and advertising in Cleveland.

Mr. Cohen is active in the mental health movement, having served as vice chair of the National Mental Health Association and on the boards of directors of the Mental Health Association in Michigan and Tulsa. He presently is a member of the boards of directors of New Detroit, Inc., the Michigan Nonprofit Association, the Michigan League for Public Policy, and Wayne State University's President's Community Advisory Group.

To contact Robert, email: cohen@jfmd.org or call (248) 642-2640.
 

ALLAN GALE, Associate Director
Allan Gale has worked for the Jewish Community Relations Council for 28 years, becoming Associate Director in 1989. His current responsibilities include coordinating Council’s Israel advocacy and campus outreach activities.  While working at JCRC, Gale also served as the administrator of the Michigan Board of Rabbis. 

Mr. Gale is the Israel advocacy and government relations professional on JCRC’s staff.  He directs Israel-related programming, media response, government relations, Jewish community education and mobilization, and outreach to high school and college youth. He is also responsible for JCRC's engagement with government officials at the federal, state and local levels. Additionally, as the Associate Director, he has some responsibilities in personnel, supervision, and planning.

Mr. Gale holds degrees from the University of Minnesota and the Midrasha-College of Jewish Studies, and completed Hebrew language studies in Israel.  He has taught in Jewish religious schools, and is a frequent guest lecturer in public and private high schools and colleges. He is a member of the board of the Detroit Council for World Affairs and the Jewish National Fund, and is a past board member of the South Oakland County chapter of the NAACP, Temple Emanu-El and Jewish Heartland magazine. 

To contact Allan, email: gale@jfmd.org or call (248) 642-2641.
 

BEVERLY K. PHILLIPS, Assistant Director, Public Relations
Beverly K. Phillips has been the coordinator of Council's public relations activities since 1996. She is responsible for managing media relations, promoting Council’s initiatives and events, and producing Council’s printed publications and materials. Ms. Phillips also facilitates Council’s Communications and Activist Award committees. She began working at Council in 1990 as a Community Relations Associate. 

Before joining the staff, Ms. Phillips worked in marketing and communications. She was an independent consultant for Michigan Bell, where she produced promotional and educational marketing videos, and was an Industry Consultant for AT&T, managing national accounts. She began her career as a promotions coordinator for WKOW-TV, the ABC affiliate in Madison, Wisconsin.  

Ms. Phillips received her B.A. degree in English and Journalism from Michigan State University. She obtained a teaching certificate from Wayne State University, where she completed a masters program in Elementary Education.

To contact Beverly, email: phillips@jfmd.org or call (248) 203-1527.
 

SARAH CRANE, Community Relations Associate
Sarah Crane joined the JCRC staff as Community Relations Associate in July 2010.  In that capacity, she has primary responsibility for organizing most JCRC community relations programs and special events. A 2009 honors graduate of the University of Michigan, Sarah worked for one year as a team leader with City Year Detroit, where she led a culturally diverse team of volunteers in service at a Detroit public school. Ms. Crane received the Comcast Leadership Award for her work with City Year, where she supported a rich ethnic mix of students, parents, teachers and administrators.

While a student at U of M, Sarah was president of the student-run film-making group M-agination Films, helped organize Alternative Spring Break service-learning experiences at 35 sites across the country, and led a group of U of M students on a Global Intercultural Experience in Senegal. She will complete her MBA at the University of Michigan in April 2013.

To contact Sarah, email: scrane@jfmd.org or call (248) 642-2649.

LINDA FOSTER, Literacy Program Coordinator 

Linda Foster provides staff support for JCRC's Literacy Task Force, which oversees the Detroit Jewish Coalition for Literacy (DJCL) and other programs promoting literacy among children and adults. Her responsibilities as Literacy Program Coordinator include mobilizing volunteer readers, tutors and book drive organizers and matching schools and their K-3 students with these volunteers, and organizing trainings for volunteers.

Ms. Foster is a social worker and has held positions providing individual and group therapy. However, Jewish communal service is her passion. She previously worked for JCRC running the Resource Center, speakers bureau and library. She also staffed the Soviet Jewry Committee and College Issues Task Force. In the Supportive Communities program of Jewish Family Service, she assisted older adults age in place. Linda served as the Director of the Institute for Retired Professionals, a program of the Jewish Community Center, and she worked for Hillel Day School and Tamarack Camps.

To contact Linda, email: foster@jfmd.org or call (248) 642-2656.

ALYSSA McMILLAN, Administrative Assistant 

Alyssa McMillan joined the JCRC staff in September 2010. She is a senior at Oakland University studying journalism and Judaic Studies and will graduate in December 2012. Alyssa is responsible for a variety of staff support assistance and is often the first person people meet when visiting the JCRC office. She has a long list of volunteering experience, including AmeriCorps member serving at the South Oakland Shelter as a housing supportive specialist and case manager liaison, and board member, Peer Network Engagement Intern and Grinspoon Israel Advocacy Intern for Hillel of Metro Detroit. She has a passion for community service, civil rights, music and art, and plans to attend graduate school with master’s in clinical social work.

To contact Alyssa, email: mcmillan@jfmd.org or call (248) 642-5393.