Meet Our Team

Goldy GoldbergPresident

Goldy is passionate about the World Congress providing a voice and networking source for both LGBTQI Jewish organizations and individuals worldwide. An active member of the Washington DC LBGT synagogue, Bet Mishpachah, Goldy served on the Board of Directors in various positions and currently serves on their Rabbinic Liaison committee. She is a recipient of the Harvey Milk Chesed award presented for service to the LGBTQI+ and Jewish community at large as well as Volunteer of the Year award for her many years of service to the congregation.

In her professional life Goldy served as the President of a geographically diverse military association and the Chairperson of a worldwide women’s program. After military service in the United States Air Force, Goldy joined the civilian Federal workforce as a Presidential Management Fellow. Among her many accomplishments, she supported the creation and implementation of an Executive Exchange: Making Strategic Connections rotational assignment program, which received first place for the Best Leadership Development Program in the Federal Government and second place for the Best Workforce Development Program in the Federal Government.

Dedicated to her share in תיקון עולם (repair of the world), Goldy volunteered her time and conducted a study on the business case for diversity for one of the largest school districts in the United States. Her recommendations were included in district-wide diversity initiatives.

Goldy, together with her wife, LySandra, have four children and seven grandchildren.

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Gustavo MichanieVice President

Gustavo Michanie works tirelessly as an activist for the Diversity and Inclusion Cause in Argentina and has been working for more than 15 years in the creation and operation of JAG (Jewish Argentine Gays).

He has served two terms as President of JAG and is the current Vice President. In 2014, JAG was acknowledged and included in the most representative Jewish Institution of Argentina, DAIA (Argentine Delegation of Israel Associations), and in November 2018, Gustavo was elected as a member of its Board.

Gustavo has been part of the World Congress: Keshet Ga’avah for over 10 years. In 2017, Gustavo was instrumental in the JAG partnering with the World Congress to host their annual board meeting, the first Shabatton in Buenos Aires, and a World Conference attended by representatives from seven countries. This conference was the first of its kind in Latin America.

In addition to serving as Vice President of the World Congress: Keshet Ga’avah, Gustavo uses his energies to foster the development of Communitarian policies in Argentina where he’s worked with others to become a beacon in Latin America, strengthening existing bonds and generating new lines of thought and work. One of his major accomplishments was working with political representatives in Argentina involved in the discussion of the Equal Marriage Law that was finally passed in July 2010. This success allowed him to marry Marcelo Robles in 2015, which Gustavo says can be considered one more step towards the: “Kol Israel arevim ze lazé” “Every Jewish is responsible for his fellow”

Gustavo is one of the protagonists of the Documentary, “One Among Others,” which is a film describing the story of four gay members of the Jewish Community in Argentina. ersity initiatives.

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Branden JohnsonSecretary

Branden Johnson is a student at the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem, Israel. He is simultaneously working on a master’s degree in educational leadership and will be pursuing rabbinic ordination in Israel. He is a community volunteer with the Jerusalem Open House and a member of the Agudah, the the Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel. Branden aims to contribute to the growth of the World Congress: Keshet Ga’avah and its impact on global Jewish LGBTQ+ communities.

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Steven JoachimTreasurer

Steven is currently living in Buenos Aries, Argentina and is President of the Argentina Chapter of The Texas Exes, a self-governed nonprofit organization that exists to promote and protect the University of Texas at Austin and unite alumni around the world.

Steven is a past treasurer of Congregation Or Chadash in Chicago and served on the board of a Charitable Trust belonging to Temple Beth-El in San Antonio, Texas. This past year he served as the Communications Coordinator and Newsletter Editor for the World Congress: Keshet Ga’avah.

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Jacq CarverOfficer at Large, Eastern Hemisphere

Originally from London, Jacq/Lior Carver is a trans masc Jew currently living in Amsterdam, The Netherlands: They are passionate about educating ourselves as a means of continuing the emancipation of LGBTIQ++ people everywhere. They believe that foundational texts of most religions have been used as tools of oppression, and it is only by seizing the narrative and reinterpreting/reimagining these texts that we can be accepted and celebrated by our communities instead of merely tolerated. Jacq believes that just as every generation must ﬁnd out the Torah for themselves, so every generation must work to preserve our hard-won rights. As part of their self-education, They are doing the Day Yomi and will provide regular updates for the Keshet Ga’avah newsletter.

Jacq is also on the board of the Global Interfaith Network (http://www.gin-ssogie.org), working to ensure that queer Jewish voices are part of the global interfaith movement for queer people of faith.

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Marco FiammelliOfficer at Large, Eastern Hemisphere

Marco lives in Rome, Italy working as a professional solider in the Italian army. He’s lived for almost 10 years with his partner Federico with whom he made the ghiur (formal conversion to Judaism) in 2012 in Paris at the Mouvement Juif Libéral de France (MJLF). Marco and Federico married on September 11th, 2016 in Rome in a religious ceremony with a Rabbi, kippa, ketubah, and lots of friends. .

He is the head of the organization Magen David Keshet Italia. Their mission is to help Jewish homosexual people to live their lives with serenity without having to give up any part of their personality, especially for those who are religious. Under his leadership, MDKI hosted the 2017 Board Meeting and World Conference.

Marco is currently organizing a European Regional Conference for the World Congress: Keshet Ga’avah for 2021.

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Laura WeinsteinOfficer at Large, Western Hemisphere

Laura is a prominent Columbian trans activist who has been working for 22 years to defend and guarantee the rights of LGBT people in Bogotá, Columbia, focusing primarily on the Trans population. Passionate about equal rights and justice for all, Laura also fights for women rights, the rights of Afro descendent people, family, LGBT childhood, and protecting the lives of human rights leaders. She is the Executive Director of GAAT, a Group of Support and Action for Trans People as well as founder and member of the Trans Aquelarre Trans network. Laura is a representative for Trans People before The National Board dealing with HIV, Sexual and Reproductive Health and she worked as a consultant for the Urgent Action Fund. Through her affiliations and efforts, decree 1227 of 2015 was passed, which modifies the law that regulates the civil registry in Colombia so that Trans people can have their names, sex and identification number written down according to their needs.

Laura trains people, leaders and Trans organizations throughout Columbia on Human Rights issues, and she coordinated the LGBT Executive Board of Colombia during three terms. She founded the LGBT Platform for Peace and is the Consultant of the LBGT Public Policy Board, which represents Trans identities.

Laura has received a number of awards for her work including the Leon Zuleta Prize for Trans visibility, the Eleanor Roosevelt award for Human Rights granted by Colombia University, the San Sebastian award dealing with the recognition for Trans People Human Rights and the San Sebastian award for being a Life Example. Additionally, she has been interviewed by and featured in different media.

Through her own experience and life, she thoroughly understands the importance of being an agent of transformation.

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Ian M. BrownOfficer at Large Western Hemisphere

Ian M. Brown, He/Him/His: Ian M. Brown is an active duty US Army Major and serves as the Headquarters and Headquarters Company Commander in the US Army Cyber Command. His military career spans 20-plus years, three wartime and two peace time overseas deployments, and multiple leadership roles. He has earned a Master of Arts in Information Technology Management, as well as other professional certifications.

Ian is passionate about advocating and programming for the transgender community. He uses his lived experience of cultural intersections to highlight the concerns of the most marginalized amongst us and amplify the voices of those that have been silenced.

Ian is a Capital Pride Alliance Board Member and has served as the Executive Producer of Capital Trans Pride (2018-2020), a panelist for the FLUX Transgender Veterans Panel Discussion (2018) and the keynote speaker for the Bet Mishpachah Transgender Day of Remembrance service (2017). Ian was the 2019 Harvey Milk Chesed Award Recipient.

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Sheppard WahnonCultural Inclusion Representative

Shep is based in New York City and works with Congregation Beit Simchat Torah there. Shep has been involved with the World Congress since 1977. His passion is reaching and supporting small, isolated, emerging and re-emerging Jewish communities worldwide, working with Kulanu, as he has visited many in Ethiopia, Uganda, South Africa and Cape Verde, where much of his family lives. He is involved in the Assembly of the Federation of Gay Games and is part of the team planning for World Pride: Stonewall 50 in 2019 in New York. He is a long term survivor of HIV/AIDS for over thirty years and is an AIDS activist.

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