Jo Ellen Green Kaiser

Jo Ellen Green Kaiser is the executive director of The Media Consortium. Passionate about mission-driven independent media, Jo Ellen has worked for a succession of independent magazines, including stints as executive director and editor-in-chief of Zeek, managing editor and associate publisher of Tikkun, and publisher of LiP: Informed Revolt. She is driven by a belief that democratic societies thrive only when their members have access to accurate information and informed opinion. She is the co-editor of Righteous Indignation: A Jewish Response to Justice (Jewish Lights) and co-led the Righteous Indignation Project. She has written about Jewish social justice publications including the Jewish Daily Forward, Sojourners, Tikkun and Interfaithfamily.com. She is ZEEK's board chair.

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Media and Tech

Why Net Neutrality Is a Social Justice Issue

By Jo Ellen Green Kaiser

We’re sharing this article from the ZEEK archive in honor of ‪#‎InternetSlowdown‬ day. Small online magazines like ZEEK need ‪#‎NetNeutrality‬.

“Imagine if you had to pay extra to get good water pressure at home. That’s what the internet would be like without net neutrality,” writes Jo Ellen Green Kaiser, ZEEK board chair & executive director of The Media Consortium.

Arts and Culture

Is There a Future for the New Jewish Culture?

By Jo Ellen Green Kaiser

The big wave of hip, innovative Jewish media seems to have washed out.

Life and Action

Do We Still Need Jewish Feminism?

By Jo Ellen Green Kaiser

Within the United States, egalitarianism has become the baseline practice for the majority of American Jews. While the salaries and status of women Jewish professionals still lags below those of men, in the specifically religious arena, Jewish-American feminists have seen our most extraordinary dreams fulfilled. Do we still need Jewish feminism?

News and Politics

Three Israels: Why We Can't Talk about BDS

By Jo Ellen Green Kaiser

Despite Theodor Herzl’s dream, Israel is not simply a state like any other state. There are three Israels: the State of Israel (a “state like any other state”), Israel/Palestine, and the Jewish State. Which state(s) shape our understanding of Israel determines our views of the BDS movement.

Life and Action

Don't Meet Them Where They Are

By Jo Ellen Green Kaiser

Zeek editor Jo Ellen Green Kaiser argues that the recent trend of catering to the wants of potential activists—particularly by focusing justice work so heavily on the food movement—is a misguided waste of time and effort.

News and Politics

Marilyn Sneiderman joins the 14% of Jewish Women Leaders

By Jo Ellen Green Kaiser

New Avodah Executive Director Marilyn Sneiderman breaks one glass ceiling, only to bump into another.

Faith and Practice

Interview with Andrew Ramer: Sex, Jews, and Queer Midrash

By Jo Ellen Green Kaiser

Zeek: Do Jews do sex well? Ramer: Sometimes when we say, “we do sex well,” what we mean is that we do sex better than the goyim. That’s anti-Christianism.

News and Politics

Was Scott Brown's Win about Health Care?

By Jo Ellen Green Kaiser and Zeek

Zeek interviews Rabbi Jonah Pesner, who spearheaded the effort to pass Massachusetts’ innovative health care reform bill, about the Senate race and what it signifies for “Obama-care.”

Faith and Practice

Judaism in Crisis, Judaism in Transition

By Jo Ellen Green Kaiser

Dana Evan Kaplan’s Contemporary American Judaism is exhaustive in detail and broad in scope, touching on the fundamental challenges to contemporary American Judaism.