For Sabina Spicer, nurturing community and amplifying visibility for Jews of Color isn’t just a mission—it’s a deeply personal calling and a professional passion. Currently serving as the Program Manager of Cultural Shift at TischPDX, she supports the development of Jewish start-ups and organizations in the Portland area. This role is the direct result of heeding the findings from the region’s recent Cultural Shift Survey, a collaborative research project hosted by TischPDX and funded by JoCI.
Spicer presently lives in Portland, Oregon with her family but grew up in Los Angeles, California. It was in Southern California where she was first introduced to Judaism, deciding to convert in her twenties. Though she initially felt unable to share her process with her family, she found her conversion experience an immensely positive one. As a Black woman, she was concerned that she would be tokenized by the Beverly Hills congregation she joined, but what she found was an open-hearted community. “I was very welcomed by the congregation, and it felt like I had come home,” Spicer said. “I felt like I was never asked to be a representative of Black culture, and was never asked to explain my otherness.” The rich cultural diversity of Los Angeles was a strength for the city’s Jewish community, providing a backdrop of heightened cultural awareness among community members.
Spicer said her rabbi described converting to Judaism as a lifelong journey, and where her journey took her next was the Pacific Northwest. In Portland, Oregon, Spicer found a Jewish community that felt slightly more insular with less open dialogue about religion, faith, and spirituality. “In the Pacific Northwest, the Jewish community can feel like a small club,” she said.
Because she understood the importance of a welcoming, culturally-informed Jewish community as a cornerstone of her own Jewish journey, Spicer was eager to accept the role at TischPDX, an organization that provides professional and communal programming for young and marginalized Jews in Portland.
TischPDX had recently examined tangible changes that could improve belonging for Jews of Color following the conclusion of their research project, led by Metasabiya Habteyes. The Cultural Shift Survey, which gathered insights about the interests, needs, and demographics of the JoC community in the Pacific Northwest, found there was a significant lack of leadership positions and community organizing opportunities for Jews of Color. These findings opened the doors for more leadership positions, like the one Spicer holds.
“[Because of the study’s findings,] I was able to step in and take something very near and dear to my heart—the JoC community in the Pacific Northwest—and extend community to people like me who are out there. Many people assume our community is small because we’re not usually the face of contemporary Judaism.”
As part of her onboarding at TischPDX, Spicer worked closely with Metasabiya Habteyes to more deeply understand the Portland JoC community and the implications of the Cultural Shift Survey. Habteyes and Spicer had previously connected through cross-cohort programming at TischPDX, but Spicer’s new programming position initiated a renewed working relationship between the two leaders.
“My professional connection to Metasabiya lights a fire under me. It’s nice to work with someone who is not afraid to take an idea and help it bloom,” Spicer said. Both leaders are committed to applying the key learnings of the study to enhance communal offerings for Jews of Color and beyond. “Professionally, she’s shown me that there aren’t limitations on how to gather community and who should be included in community, and that our community is richer because of the amazing spectrum of the diaspora.”
In her role as the Program Manager of Cultural Shift, the study’s findings anchor every aspect of Spicer’s work. She is proud of those in the JoC community who were willing to share their experiences for the purpose of strengthening community belonging and opportunities: “For JoC to say, I want to be counted and I want to be shown…we are standing up and saying what we need, and we can’t be ignored.”
Spicer’s leadership trajectory is an excellent example of putting research into action and can serve as a model for other communities. The survey created a centralized effort for community members to articulate their need for belonging and more leadership opportunities, and TischPDX took the findings seriously. The Cultural Shift Survey was not the culmination of TischPDX’s commitment to JoC experiences but the foundation of a deeper, ongoing investment. Spicer believes the survey’s impact could go far beyond the Portland community and even the region; “I want this to be just the start, just the tiniest starting point of a blossom of understanding for anyone who feels that they are unseen and unheard as Jews of Color.”
