Biography

Rabbi Allan Berkowitz received his BA from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in Education and Jewish History. He was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1985. Allan also holds a Masters Degree in Education from Columbia University Teachers College, in Instructional Technology.

 

After 12 years in the pulpit, Allan decided to pursue executive management in the nonprofit sector.

 

For 17 years Allan served as the Executive Director of the Environmental Volunteers, a nonprofit whose mission is to promote the understanding of and responsibility for the environment through hands-on science education.

Under Allan’s leadership the Environmental Volunteers completed a $3.8 million capital campaign that facilitated the restoration of a historic building in the Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve. The EcoCenter is a new nature center that fosters environmental learning and stewardship for over 5,000 annual visitors.

​

In 2017 Allan became the Chief Operating Officer of Faith in Action East Bay and Faith in Action Bay Area, two affiliated social justice organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. Both organizations are multi-faith, multi-ethnic social justice nonprofits that envision a community where all children and families have equal access to a first-rate education, affordable housing and home ownership, good employment opportunities, quality healthcare, and safe, clean streets in vibrant neighborhoods. The organizations mobilize faith communities to work together to build power that achieves systemic changes that benefits all.

​

Allan is married to Mindy Berkowitz, Executive Director of Jewish Family Services of Silicon Valley. He is an avid cyclist who has completed the Tour de Tahoe -- a 72-mile circuit around the Lake -- three times.

​