Shir nurtures a traditional family, a couple of unconventionally structured businesses, a magickal woodland, and a budding art practice. In 2012 Shir founded c3:initiative in Portland, Oregon, a nonprofit private operating foundation that stewards resources and energy in solidarity with artists, practitioners, and partner organizations whose work addresses social systems that cause dis-ease in our collective lives. The artist residency program, Stelo, is c3’s first established branch, with wellness and environmental justices offshoots in conception and incubation phases. Concurrently, Shir co-leads with her husband Laurence the rewilding, restoration, and operations at Camp Colton, an 85-acre majestic forest in rural Oregon.

Mariah (she/hers) is a museum professional and educator currently based in Portland, Oregon. She is the Head of Public Engagement at the Oregon Jewish Museum & Center for Holocaust Education, where she oversees community partnerships, outreach initiatives, and public programming. She was previously the Director of Exhibitions and Cultural Resources at Five Oaks Museum in Washington County, Oregon and Associate Curator at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes in Los Angeles. As a public historian, Mariah seeks to make museums and cultural centers sites of social action through responsive, accessible programs and exhibitions that inspire connection and curiosity. 

Andrew is a Portland-based writer and teacher. His essays, many of which have been listed as Notable by the Best American Essay Series, have appeared as part of the Jewish Book Council’s Witnessing series, and in journals such as Alaska Quarterly Review, Zyzzyva, Gettysburg Review, Boulevard, Michigan Quarterly Review, Colorado Review, and The Missouri Review, where he received the Editor’s Prize. For the past twenty-three years Andrew has taught writing, literature and humanities at Portland Community College, where he founded and still chairs the PCC Humanities and Arts Initiative to enhance opportunities for students to engage with the humanities and arts. He lives with his wife and two sons and their dog.

Sonya is a Portland-based writer, chef, and educator whose work explores food as a lens for culture, memory, and community. Born and raised in Seattle to Soviet immigrant parents from Ukraine, she focuses on Jewish diasporic food, Slavic cuisine, and seasonal cooking rooted in the Pacific Northwest. She is the co-host of Food Friends: Home Cooking Made Easy, a top-15 food podcast, and the author of Braids: Recipes From My Pacific Northwest Jewish Kitchen. Her writing and recipes have been featured in Eater, King Arthur Baking, and The Nosher, and she teaches culinary workshops and public programs locally and nationally.

Chaim (Victor) Schramm has worked in the art supplies, sales, and candy manufacturing industries. He is a self-described “investing nerd” who spends much of his free time reading authors from all corners of the economic and finance world such as Eugene Fame, Frank Fabozzi, Martin Wittman, and Bill Gross. As an investor, he’s most aligned with the Environment, Social, & Governance (ESG) style of investing and seeking social responsibility backed by empirical insights. Business and finance ethics are a topic of particular interest and authors such as Rabbi Elliot Dorff and Moses L. Pava have been highly influential on the philosophy and practice of Chaim Investment Advisors. He’s particularly interested in Halakhic Finance, Jewish Law, and working with religious people and communities on exploring applied ethics in finance.

ahuva s. zaslavsky was born and raised in Tel Aviv and graduated from The University of the Negev, Israel with a B.A in behavioral sciences. ahuva received her MFA in Visual Studies at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in 2022. In her work, she looks into the relationship of space and place to memory and trauma. Through writing, painting, printing, sculpting and other mediums, her investigations permeate the social and domestic, the cultural and psychological. ahuva is the author of Between These Borders Wonders A Golem (First Matter Press, 2022). Her work has been shown locally and nationally. ahuva was a participant of Art/Lab’s first Fellowship Cohort in 2021-22. She is co-curator of Art/Lab’s May 2026 Jerusalem Biennale exhibition.