Staci "Stosh" Cotler (born 1968) is an American activist. She served as Chief Executive Officer of

Bend the Arc Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice is a progressive Jewish political organization that blends advocacy, community organizing, and leadership training. The organization advocates for a more equal and just society, focusing strictly on do ...

, a progressive Jewish political organization that blends advocacy, community organizing, and leadership training.

Biography

Born in

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. Europea ...

, Cotler became involved with advocacy work while living in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

. In Portland, she founded an organization which offered self defense, violence prevention and empowerment training for girls and women. She was also involved with advocating for Palestinian rights and protested Israel's treatment of Palestinians during the

Second Intifada The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinians, Palestinian uprising a ...

. In 2005 she began working for

Jewish Funds for Justice The Jewish Funds for Justice (JFSJ) was an American charity based in New York. In 2005, Simon Greer became its President and CEO. In 2011, Progressive Jewish Alliance merged with Jewish Funds for Justice and became a new organization, Bend the Arc ...

in New York, which merged with the

Progressive Jewish Alliance Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice is a progressive Jewish political organization that blends advocacy, community organizing, and leadership training. The organization advocates for a more equal and just society, focusing strictly on do ...

in 2011. Cotler became Bend the Arc's Executive vice president in 2011 and CEO in 2014. When Cotler became CEO, The Forward noted that she was "one of the few women leading a national Jewish group of its size." In 2014, ''

The Forward ''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ...

'' named her one of its 14 Jewish Women To Watch. In 2015, she was named one of the “15 progressive faith leaders to watch” by the

Center for American Progress The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a public policy research and advocacy organization which presents a liberal viewpoint on economic and social issues. It has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. The president and chief executive of ...

. In 2017 she became a Senior Fellow at

Auburn Seminary Auburn Theological Seminary, located in New York City, teaches students about progressive social issues by offering workshops, providing consulting, and conducting research on faith leadership development. The seminary was established in Auburn, N ...

. In 2022, Cotler transitioned out of the CEO role at Bend the Arc and became Senior Advisor to the organization. Cotler has often been quoted by the media regarding immigration, in response to violent attacks on Jews and regarding issues of racial justice.

Geoffrey Claussen Geoffrey Claussen is an American rabbi and scholar who serves as a professor of Religious Studies at Elon University. His scholarship focuses on Jewish ethics, theology, and the Musar movement. Education Claussen received his BA in Classical Lan ...

describes Cotler as contributing to

musar literature Musar literature is didactic Jewish ethical literature which describes virtues and vices and the path towards character improvement. This literature gives the name to the Musar movement, in 19th century Lithuania, but this article considers such ...

, citing her writing about courage. Cotler identifies as queer. She has a black belt in

kung fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to commo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cotler, Stosh Jewish American community activists Jewish women activists Queer feminists Queer women LGBT people from Washington (state) LGBT Jews 1968 births Living people Jewish feminists American Jewish anti-racism activists American women activists American wushu practitioners People from Olympia, Washington Activists from Washington (state) 21st-century American Jews