Jacob Greenblatt is passionate about politics, democracy, Judaism and education.
He gets to combine all of these interests as the assistant legislative director at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, a role he’s held for more than three years.
“The RAC really brought together for me the Jewish aspect and the policy aspect,” the Washington, D.C., resident said.
The RAC is nonpartisan, whereas the political work Greenblatt did prior to joining RAC was within the Democratic Party.
“But I felt like it really brought together lots of different academic and professional interests,” he said.
Having worked his way up since fall 2018, Greenblatt now directs the RAC’s federal government relations strategy, oversees federal advocacy and communication, and manages the RAC’s Eisendrath Legislative Assistant Program, a yearlong policy fellowship for recent college graduates.
“[My work] is a lot of meetings with our coalition partners, discussing strategy,” he said. “It is reviewing and editing all of our federal communications statements, like our blog posts, our press releases [and] our social media. It’s leading our digital engagement.”
Greenblatt and his team conduct much of their work on Capitol Hill — the RAC is headquartered in D.C. They meet directly with members of Congress, as well as fellow staff members, including RAC Director Rabbi Jonah Pesner.
“I also am supporting our nine state chapters,” Greenblatt said. “They each have their own state organizer.”
The RAC has state-based affiliates in California, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts and Texas.
“I’m involved in that and some of our movement-wide campaigns,” he added. “This year, we’re doing a big civic engagement campaign.”
Greenblatt also works with the team that runs RAC’s L’Taken Social Justice Seminars to plan programming and develop advocacy materials that participating students use to lobby on Capitol Hill.
This work ties to Greenblatt’s Jewish upbringing in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he attended a Reform synagogue and a JCC day camp.
“The Jewish community that I grew up in was really social justice[-oriented], and social action was a big part of that work,” he said. “So I’ve never really known Judaism that doesn’t have social justice with it. For me, it is really important to be using Jewish values to protect the most vulnerable, to strengthen our democracy and to safeguard civil rights. And this role allows me to do all of that.”
His role at the RAC isn’t Greenblatt’s first political rodeo. The young professional studied public policy and political science — with a minor in social and economic justice — at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, during which time he served as president of UNC Young Democrats and interned for Rep. David Price (D-NC) for a summer.
He interned at UNC’s Carolina K-12, a program that works to extend UNC’s resources to North Carolina’s kindergarten through 12th grade teachers.
He is particularly keen on advancing voting rights and democracy.
“That’s driven by a lot of work that I did on campus, registering voters and working on voter turnout, and also driven by some of my own experiences navigating the complex election system in North Carolina … and my desire to make sure that everybody can have their voice heard,” said Greenblatt, speaking to his experience as an organizing fellow with UNC Chapel Hill’s voter registration campaign.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about the ways in which a robust multifaith, multiracial, inclusive democracy is really important, both for protecting the Jewish community, but also for protecting all marginalized communities,” he said. “So that’s been a key driver of my work.”
Greenblatt added that he enjoys the multifaceted nature of his role.
“I love the advocacy and policy piece,” he said. “I like the education and programming that we do with L’Taken and with our other adult conferences.”
He likes that he’s able to have a hand in many different policy issues, such as expanding voting rights, advocating for LGBTQ+ rights and combating antisemitism: “I appreciate the opportunity to bounce around and stretch my brain in different ways every day.”
Greenblatt spoke to some of RAC’s major achievements, including the Respect for Marriage Act of December 2022 and hate crime prevention legislation.
Other wins have stemmed from the RAC’s youth and young adult programming.
“I really love the mentorship aspect of the role, and I get a lot of pride out of seeing where the legislative assistants go after the RAC and the impact they’re able to make that’s been meaningful,” Greenblatt said. “And then with our L’Taken conferences, seeing the growth in the high school students from when they arrive on Friday to when they’re lobbying on Capitol Hill on Monday, and the amount that they’re able to learn, the skills they build and how they’re able to make their voices heard has been really exciting.”
He plans to continue working in the Jewish community, fostering interfaith dialogue and collaborating with civil rights partners: “I definitely am looking to stay in that space in the long term, continue working on government relations and public affairs.”
Greenblatt will soon begin pursuing his master’s in public affairs at Duke University while working full time at the RAC.
“I’m excited to be able to learn more and elevate my network,” he said. “It’s a good time to elevate my leadership skills and get some new experiences.”
