ChangeCommunications CEO
Jo-Ann Mort, the founder and CEO, has a diverse strategic communications background in philanthropy, the Jewish community, electoral and progressive politics and elsewhere.
She was the director of communications for the Jewish Funders Network and created and directed the Communications Department for the U.S. Programs of the Open Society Institute, part of the Soros foundations network, where she oversaw the communications and public education work and assisted grantees in their communications work.
For 13 years, she was director of communications for Unite and the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union, the predecessor unions to Workers United, an affiliate of SEIU. As associate director of communications for the American Jewish Congress in the early 1980s, she was also the founding director of the Women’s Commission, working with prominent feminist leaders in the U.S. and Israel to promote global women’s rights.
She was the director of the Democratic Agenda project, which promoted a progressive social and economic agenda inside the Democratic Party and was chaired by noted social activist Michael Harrington. Her background also includes press secretary for Carl McCall's campaign for New York State Lt. Governor, and was a senior staffer for two members of the New York State Assembly. She also worked in communications and publicity for Sarah Lawrence College and Farrar, Straus & Giroux publishers.
As a freelance journalist, she brings a particularly acute lens to working with journalists and editors. She is especially known for her writing and analysis about Israeli domestic life and the Palestinians, and has reported from Israel for the Chicago Tribune, the Forward newspaper and JTA. A frequent contributor to national newspapers and magazines in the U.S., U.K. and Israel, Jo-Ann is also a regular contributor to tpmcafe.com, one of the most trafficked and well-regarded political blog sites on the web.
The co-author of Our Hearts Invented a Place: Can Kibbutzim Survive in Today’s Israel? (Cornell University Press) and editor of Not Your Father’s Union Movement: Inside the New AFL-CIO (Verso) and a contributor to numerous publications and anthologies, she has spoken widely at universities and in public forums in the U.S., Israel and Europe, for the Israel Women’s Network, the Socialist Group of the European Parliament, the Central European University Jewish Studies’ program, and more. She is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College where she studied poetry, literature and philosophy.
ChangeCommunications Works in Association with These Talented Professionals on Behalf of Our Clients:
Elissa Strauss - Senior Strategist & Writer
Elissa Strauss's background includes her work as a freelance arts and culture journalist. She has covered New York City's Jewish and Latino populations for publications like the New York Daily News, The American Prospect, and the Forward. She received an MA in Latin American Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles, and produced a documentary film on the role of radio in the lives of Mexican migrants. She is fluent in Spanish and proficient in Portuguese. With ChangeCommunications, she has worked on organizing campaigns for S.E.I.U. and assisted in the planning and execution of S.E.I.U.'s 2008 Labor Day Caravan four-state tour and large rock concert. She has managed the renovation of ChangeCommunications clients' online operations to improve the design and editorial component of their websites. Additionally, she writes and edits original content for clients' websites.
Nate Lavey - Communications Associate
Nate Lavey has worked as a journalist and multimedia producer up and down the East Coast. He began at the Lone Wolf Documentary Group in Portland, Maine helping to produce television documentaries for NOVA and the History Channel. He also worked at the Science Desk at National Public Radio in Washington, D.C., contributing multimedia content to npr.org and reporting on labor issues. More recently, he began a journalism fellowship at the national Jewish newspaper, The Forward, in New York City. Nate has a B.A. from Reed College in Philosophy and also attended the Maine Media Workshops in Rockport, Maine.
Tina Ahrens - Photo Editor and Photography Consultant
Tina Ahrens has worked for German GEO magazine for nine years, both in Europe and the US, lastly as the senior photo editor at GEO's New York correspondence office. She is a board member of National Geographic’s "All Roads" Photography Program and workshop teacher and juror for the World Press Photo Foundation, Photo Espana (Madrid) and Visa pour l'image (Perpignan). Tina was the guest photo editor for Ojo de Pez magazine issue #8--"The fall of nature" (La Fabrica)--and curator for Amnesty International's 60 years of Human Rights exhibition (Paris). Tina has a BA in Communications and Audio-Visual Production Studies from London Guildhall University, UK.
Edward Ayoob – Lobbyist
Edward Ayoob is a partner in the Federal Relations Group in Barnes & Thornburg LLP’s Washington, D.C., office. For ChangeCommunications, he works with the PalTel Group Foundation and the Reach call center of the Paltel Group of businesses. His work on behalf of clients includes areas such as taxation, appropriations, Native American, small business, foreign affairs, and various regulatory concerns, among numerous other issues. A former legislative counsel, tax counsel, appropriations manager, and foreign affairs advisor to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D – NV), he was also the senator’s chief aide on judicial nominations and other issues related to the senator’s leadership role. He has worked in the government and represented clients’ interests before the government for more than 12 years.
Ayoob graduated in 1991 from the University of Pittsburgh with a B.A. in International Relations and Political Science. In 1990, he attended La Sorbonne and the American University of Paris. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Arab American Institute, and the International Maronite (Lebanese Catholics) Foundation.
Jessica Weber Design, Inc.
Jessica Weber, the president, is chairman of the Board of Directors of the Mercantile Library of New York, and she serves on the Advisory Boards of Action Against Hunger, the Fales Rare Book Library of New York University, the Medill School of Journalism's Publication Program at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, the Department of Illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, and the Japan Creators Association. Ms. Weber is adjunct professor at Parsons School of Design where she teaches advanced editorial design, and is a former member of the faculty of the School of Visual Arts. She served on the Board of Governers of Parsons School of Design, was a member of the Executive Committee of the Public Health Research Institute, the President's Advisory Council of New School University, and was past president of the Visual Educators Fund of the Art Directors Club of New York. She lectures frequently and has served on numerous juries for visual arts competitions. Ms. Weber is a member of the Century Association, the Art Directors Club of New York City, the Society of Publication Designers, and the Society of Illustrators, and is an alumna of both New York University and Parsons School of Design.
Live Elements
Live Elements designs, builds, hosts and manages collaborative communities that are engaging, results-driven and successful. Their world-class team of engineers and user interface specialists have created a single platform, Live Elements' Social Enterprise, that combines a vast array of the most powerful Web 2.0 social media and professional networking features available, seamlessly integrated with a remarkably easy-to-use content management system and a scalable user management system. They also offer creative design, hosting, community management, marketing and search engine optimization services to ensure your community produces quantifiable business results and harnesses the full power of social media technologies.
UNIQUE ALLIANCE WITH BENOR CONSULTING IN ISRAEL
ChangeCommunications is pleased to work with BenOr Consulting, a full-service strategic communications firm based in Tel Aviv, Israel, serving leading international clients, political organizations and not-for-profits in Israel and abroad.
BenOr’s communications specialists, policy experts, event planners, political consultants and legislative professionals provide clients with what they want: smart solutions and tangible results. From conception to execution, they work hand-in-hand with clients to determine where they want to go and how best to get there. They are expert in navigating Israel's exceedingly complex media and political playing field.
ChangeCommunications and BenOr Consulting work together to create a portfolio of services to meet each client’s needs, drawing on our years of experience in the U.S., Israel and the non-profit and social change sectors to create a strategic communications plan that offers our clients an enhanced roster of work with senior advisors and consultants available in both countries. In alliance--and with a shared philosophy-- ChangeCommunications and BenOr Consulting offer our clients a unique service that provides a team of experts who uniquely understand both countries.
BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP WITH ZEVA INC.
ChangeCommunications is pleased to announce a working partnership with Zeva Inc, a leading provider of solutions and expert consulting services in the field of Enterprise identity management.
Zeva is a Microsoft Gold Certified partner with constration around Identity and Security access. They offer end-to-end solutions for customer’s enterprise identity needs, developing solutions based on Microsoft Identity Management product such as MIIS 2003, ILM 2007, and FIM 2010. Their vast experience in related technologies such as LDAP, Directory services, security, and code development enables them to customize solutions to meet customer’s specific needs quickly and efficiently.
ChangeCommunications is working on behalf of socially-responsible private sector clients to promote their work and to enhance their business opportunities, with a special concentration in the Palestinian-ruled West Bank and Gaza.
