Who We Are

Rhonda Lindner

Rhonda worked for 27 years as a public school teacher, teaching English and Spanish. For many years she led a highly successful philanthropy and social action service club. Rhonda has participated in many social justice campaigns in her congregation while also coordinating civic engagement campaigns with the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism-Illinois. She serves both as an interfaith organizer for WIVEC and as a Jewish Social Justice Educator for Tikkun Ha-Ir. Her position supports the missions of both organizations to strengthen faith communities’ involvement in civic engagement through organizing, educating, communications, research, and technical support.

Dr. Peter Bakken

Dr. Bakken is the Justice and Witness Coordinator at the Wisconsin Council of Churches and Statewide Coordinator of Wisconsin Interfaith Power and Light. He received his Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Chicago Divinity School. He is the author of the WCC publications, Hunger at Our Doorstep: A Study-Action Guide for Wisconsin Congregations(2006; 2014) and Becoming Welcoming Communities: Immigration in Light of Biblical Faith(2011). Other publications include: Church on Earth: Grounding Your Ministry in a Sense of Place (with Jeff Wild; Augsburg Fortress 2009); Ecology, Justice and Christian Faith: A Guide to the Literature (co-compiled with J. Ronald Engel and Joan Gibb Engel; Greenwood Press,1995) and Evocations of Grace: Writings on Ecology, Theology and Ethics by Joseph Sittler (co-edited with Steven Bouma-Prediger, Eerdmans, 2000). He was a member of the task force that produced the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America social statement, “Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope and Justice.” He lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with his wife and daughter, where they are members of Advent Lutheran Church (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America).

Rabbi Bonnie Margulis

Rabbi Bonnie Margulis is the founder and Executive Director of Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice and Chair of the Wisconsin Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, as well as a member of the executive Committee of the NAACP of Dane County, and a founder and steering committee member for the Dane Sanctuary Coalition. She was a founding board member of We Are Many–United Against Hate. Rabbi Margulis holds a Masters’ Degree in Judaic Studies from New York University, and was ordained at Hebrew Union College (HUC), Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1992. Rabbi Margulis served as the Director of Clergy Programming for the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, from 1996 to 2008.In this capacity, Rabbi Margulis ran the Clergy for Choice Network and supervised the Religious Coalition’s signature All Options Clergy Counseling program, providing training to clergy in both All Options Clergy Counseling and Pastoral Counseling for Reproductive Losses, and teaching others to provide these trainings. Rabbi Margulis has served as a member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis Justice and Peace Committee and is a Past Chair of the Women’s Rabbinic Network Social Justice Committee. In addition, Rabbi Margulis has served as a member of the J Street National Advisory Board for Field and Grassroots Organizing. Rabbi Margulis is proud to have been a member of the Reform Jewish Movement’s Commission on Social Action, where she sat on the Women and Minorities Task Force.