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About AIC

Leadership

AIC is led by Cheryl Dorchinsky, its Founder and Executive Director, and governed by a Board of Directors elected under our Amended and Restated Bylaws.

Cheryl Dorchinsky, Founder and Executive Director of the Atlanta Israel Coalition

Founder & Executive Director

Cheryl Dorchinsky

Zionist Legacy Award · World Zionist Organization, 2023

Cheryl Dorchinsky wanted to show the documentary Black Forest in Atlanta with terror survivor Kay Wilson. Rabbi Yitz Tendler hosted it at Congregation Beth Jacob and suggested she build an organization. They founded the Atlanta Israel Coalition in 2018, and she has led it ever since. That screening, on 31 January 2019, was its first program. She left two decades of well-paid work in corporate human resources and talent management to do this, and draws no salary. AIC has hosted more than 231 programs, rallies, and international initiatives.

She led a multi-faith Zionist mission to Israel and ran a virtual Israel tour series during the pandemic. In 2021 she organized Atlanta’s pro-Israel solidarity rallies with then–Consul General Anat Sultan-Dadon. After October 7 she led AIC’s response. In January 2024 she took a wartime solidarity mission to Haifa and gave Rambam’s underground emergency hospital a mural painted by Atlantans.

In 2023 the World Zionist Organization gave her its Zionist Legacy Award. She writes for JNS and the Atlanta Jewish Times, blogs at The Times of Israel, and speaks around the country on grassroots coalition-building and on antizionism in schools and progressive spaces.

Board of Directors

Officers

The Board is elected under AIC’s Amended and Restated Bylaws. Directors serve staggered terms, and any director with a financial interest in a matter steps out of the decision.

  • Cheryl Dorchinsky

    President

    Founder & Executive Director

    Cheryl founded AIC with Rabbi Yitz Tendler in 2018 and has led it ever since, from Atlanta’s solidarity rallies to a wartime mission to Haifa.

    Full bio of Cheryl Dorchinsky

    Cheryl Dorchinsky wanted to show the documentary Black Forest in Atlanta with terror survivor Kay Wilson. Rabbi Yitz Tendler hosted it at Congregation Beth Jacob and suggested she build an organization. They founded the Atlanta Israel Coalition in 2018, and she has led it ever since. That screening, on 31 January 2019, was its first program. She left two decades of well-paid work in corporate human resources and talent management to do this, and draws no salary. AIC has hosted more than 231 programs, rallies, and international initiatives.

    She led a multi-faith Zionist mission to Israel and ran a virtual Israel tour series during the pandemic. In 2021 she organized Atlanta’s pro-Israel solidarity rallies with then–Consul General Anat Sultan-Dadon. After October 7 she led AIC’s response. In January 2024 she took a wartime solidarity mission to Haifa and gave Rambam’s underground emergency hospital a mural painted by Atlantans.

    In 2023 the World Zionist Organization gave her its Zionist Legacy Award. She writes for JNS and the Atlanta Jewish Times, blogs at The Times of Israel, and speaks around the country on grassroots coalition-building and on antizionism in schools and progressive spaces.

  • Steven Dorchinsky

    Director · Vice Presidentinterim

    Steven is a retired U.S. Army captain and a human capital management leader, and he leads AIC’s security planning.

    Full bio of Steven Dorchinsky

    Steven Dorchinsky is a retired U.S. Army captain and a practical, focused leader in human capital management. He builds and mentors strong teams, and he plans and runs programs that improve return on investment and serve a company’s goals. He has been part of the Atlanta Israel Coalition since its founding, and he leads AIC’s security planning.

  • Kirsten Abrahamson, CFA

    Director · Treasurer

    Kirsten spent more than 25 years in commercial and corporate banking, helped Cheryl get AIC started in 2018, and now looks after its finances.

    Full bio of Kirsten Abrahamson

    Kirsten L. Abrahamson, CFA, has more than 25 years in financial services and a long record of nonprofit leadership and governance. As a Senior Vice President she worked in commercial and corporate banking: credit underwriting, financial analysis, and structuring and negotiating complex financing deals.

    Since 2018 she has put her financial and organizational experience to work for nonprofits. Inspired by Cheryl Dorchinsky’s vision, she helped establish the Atlanta Israel Coalition, and she has held leadership roles at several nonprofits, on financial stewardship, governance, and organizational development.

  • Uri Zehavi

    Director · Secretary

    Managing Director, Mitzpe Institute

    Uri edits the Israel Brief, has four books out from Mitzpe Press, and runs the website and newsletter that keep AIC in touch with its supporters.

    Full bio of Uri Zehavi

    Uri Zehavi edits the Israel Brief, the Mitzpe Institute’s publication on Israeli security and the Middle East. The Institute is AIC’s educational program for research and analysis. The Brief has come out since September 2025, now Sunday to Friday, and it reaches more than 10,000 subscribers in more than 95 countries. He has four books from Mitzpe Press, among them Rooted Truth: Israel’s Case Against the Deniers and Letters Across the Table, his letters to Christian Zionist friends.

    For AIC he runs the digital side: the website, the AIC Dispatch newsletter, and the systems behind donor and partner communications. He also works with Cheryl on long-form advocacy and the Case for Support. He studied English literature and law.

Directors

  • Marci Alt

    Director

    Marci runs Carma Productions, cooks the New York–style Jewish food behind MaPa’s Nosh, and has served on several Atlanta nonprofit boards.

    Full bio of Marci Alt

    Marci Alt founded Carma Productions, an Atlanta media and consulting company, and runs it as CEO. She also cooks for MaPa’s Nosh: the New York–style Jewish food she learned from her great-grandmother, made for Atlanta congregations and the Marcus Jewish Community Center. She has served on several Atlanta nonprofit boards and recently finished a term on the board of Congregation Beth Haverim. AGLCC named her its Business Woman of the Year, and Fenuxe Magazine counted her among Atlanta’s fifty most influential people.

  • Rod Ginn

    Director

    Rod is a pastor and a Christian Zionist who finds great joy in supporting, encouraging, and celebrating Israel and the Jewish people.

    Full bio of Rod Ginn

    Rod Ginn is a husband to Kelly, a father to four children, a pastor, and a Christian Zionist who loves Israel. He’s excited to serve as a volunteer on AIC’s board. It brings him great joy to do all he can to support, encourage, and celebrate Israel and the Jewish people.

  • Laura King

    Director

    Laura spent her career with the Department of Defense, led Huntsville’s Jewish Federation for two terms, and co-chairs the Alabama Israel Task Force.

    Full bio of Laura King

    Laura King lives in Huntsville, Alabama, and is retired from a career with the Department of Defense. She started as an Air Force intelligence analyst and finished as a Foreign Military Sales manager. As a volunteer she served two terms as president of the Jewish Federation in Huntsville, and nationally she was director of small Jewish communities, known as the Network, at the Jewish Federations of North America. Today she co-chairs the Alabama Israel Task Force and the Alabama Alliance for Zion, which is still taking shape. She is a frequent visitor to Israel and to Jewish communities around the world.

  • Alicia Post

    Director

    Alicia runs the Religious Zionists of America, Mizrachi, and has worked more than 25 years in Jewish nonprofits, including the American Zionist Movement, JNF-USA, and Birthright Israel.

    Full bio of Alicia Post

    Alicia Post is Executive Director of the Religious Zionists of America, Mizrachi, where she leads strategy, operations, communications, programming, fundraising, and advocacy. She has spent more than 25 years in Jewish nonprofit work, mostly on Israel engagement, communications strategy, and national programming, including senior roles at the American Zionist Movement, Jewish National Fund-USA, and Taglit-Birthright Israel. She also serves on several other nonprofit boards and advisory committees.

  • Mina Raiza

    DirectorCreative Guru

    Mina has been part of Atlanta’s Jewish community since she came back from Israel in 2000, and she’s the designer and maker behind AIC’s hands-on projects.

    Full bio of Mina Raiza

    Mina Raiza came back from Israel in 2000 and has been part of Atlanta’s Jewish community ever since. She worked in design and engineering, and now stays home with her three sons and keeps making things. Most of that making goes to AIC: the design and craft behind fun, meaningful projects that help stop antizionism and hate. If AIC hands you something that looks good, Mina probably made it.

  • Modi Zehavi

    Director

    Technical Director, Mitzpe Institute

    Modi is an applied mathematician who leads the Mitzpe Institute’s work on threats facing Jewish communities, including its Community Risk Index.

    Full bio of Modi Zehavi

    Modi Zehavi is Technical Director of the Mitzpe Institute, AIC’s educational program for research and analysis. He leads its work on the threats facing Jewish communities outside Israel, including the Community Risk Index, and the Institute’s methods are built on his quantitative training. He studied applied mathematics at Cal Poly Pomona (B.S.) and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (M.S.).

    He serves on AIC’s board as a volunteer, supporting its programs and outreach. He’s also a fine art photographer.