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degree from the University
of Michigan in 2020, where
she studied nonprofit man-
agement and the Jewish
community as part of the
Jewish Communal Leadership
Program.
In her free time, Ashley
enjoys trying new restaurants
and breweries, playing board
games with friends and travel-
ing with her partner, Josh.
LAUREN
EDELMAN
WILLENS
Lauren
Edelman
Willens is a
partner at the
law firm of Jaffe Raitt Heuer &
Weiss, P.C. She is a member of
the firm’s Intellectual Property
& Information Technology
and Data Privacy & Cyber-
security practice groups and
specializes in providing stra-
tegic legal and business advice
to clients to protect, defend
and enforce their intellectual
property rights, as well as
preparing and enforcing data
privacy.
Lauren attended Wayne
State University Law School,
where she was vice president
of the Jewish Law Students
Association. Lauren was previ-
ously an executive member of
the Jewish Bar Association of
Michigan.
In 2018, Lauren discovered
that she had a BRCA1 gene
mutation. Despite diligent
screening, in 2021, Lauren was
diagnosed and courageously
defeated triple-negative breast
cancer. She is now an advocate
for genetic testing within the
Jewish community (1 in 40
Ashkenazi Jewish women will
have a BRCA gene mutation),
for BRCA1/2 previvors and
those suffering with genetic
cancer-related disease.
Lauren grew up in Metro
Detroit and currently lives in
Huntington Woods with her
husband, David, children,
Carter and Stella, and dog,
Miss Maisel. Lauren’s kids
attend Hillel Day School,
where she is a member of the
PTO.
Lauren is happiest spend-
ing time with her family and
friends, cooking, baking, rid-
ing her Peloton, hiking and
traveling. Lauren and her hus-
band hope to travel to Israel
this year.
JORDAN
ZUPPKE
Jordan Zuppke
is one of the
founding part-
ners at Zupac
Law, a criminal
defense firm with an office at
12 Mile and Crooks in Royal
Oak. Its motto: We are your
best defense. Zupac Law’s trial
lawyers handle everything
from traffic tickets, license
restorations and misdemean-
ors to felony cases. They help
clients navigate the justice
system and have the resources
they need to overcome life
obstacles, like substance abuse.
Jordan is also vice president
of the Jewish Bar Association
of Michigan (JBAM) and
a board member of the
Criminal Defense Attorneys of
Michigan (CDAM).
He and his law partner,
Marina Chupac, believe in
community. Zupac has an
open-door policy and treat
clients like family. The office
functions not only as a law
firm but also as a wellness stu-
dio. Zupac Life, on the lower
level, is equipped with a full
kitchen and studio space. It
offers donation-based yoga
classes and other wellness-re-
lated events. In addition,
Zupac also has a traveling free
legal advice trailer with an
on-the-go office space.
Jordan’s first passion in life
is skateboarding, and he is
known around town as the
Skateboard Lawyer. He’s been
riding since he was 10 years
old and considers his skate-
board his guiding force. He
often represents fellow skaters
in the local community, spon-
sors events and aims to inspire
the future generation.
He studies Torah every
Tuesday at Platform 18 with
his dear friend and rabbi,
Leiby Burnham, and cherishes
Shabbat dinners with his love,
Rachel Goutman, and their
cat, Bowie.
RACHAEL
DAWSON-
BAGLIEN
Rachael was
born and
raised in Metro
Detroit. She is
a graduate of both Hillel Day
School and Frankel Jewish
Academy and was active in
BBYO. She earned a master’s
degree in macro social
work/community organiz-
ing from the University of
Michigan.
Rachael works as a proj-
ect manager for Catholic
Social Services of Washtenaw
County. Her position entails
reducing barriers for caregiv-
ers and older adults seeking
resources. Passionate about
inclusion, Rachael works to
ensure the Jewish community
knows her program is open
to all.
Rachael has been involved
as a board member of Jewish
Young Professionals of Ann
Arbor (JYP). As one of the
event co-chairs, Rachael
enjoyed creating events that
she did not see elsewhere in
the community. When she
and a friend were lamenting
the lack of Jewish events in
Ypsilanti, they worked togeth-
er to create JYP’s first Ypsi
Shabbat. Once COVID hit,
Rachael researched best prac-
tices to successfully pivot from
in-person programming to
virtual programming.
One of Rachael’s favorite
aspects of Judaism is cele-
brating Shabbat. Recently, she
led a Friday night Shabbat
celebration at Youmacon 2021,
Detroit’s largest pop culture
convention. The convention
regularly holds a Sunday
morning service; this was the
first time in its 17-year history
that another religion’s services
were included.
Rachael lives in Ypsilanti
with her husband, Evan, and
their dog, Ender. In her free
time, Rachael enjoys going
to comic conventions (pre-
COVID) and has been a pan-
elist at Youmacon since 2016.
ALAN
POSNER
Alan Posner
was born and
raised in the
Metro Detroit
Area and is a
lifelong member of Temple
Beth El. Alan is currently the
band director at Bloomfield
Hills High School and has
been teaching for 13 years.
He holds an undergradu-
ate degree in instrumental
music education from the
University of Michigan and a
master’s degree in instrumen-
tal conducting from Oakland
University. Alan was a quar-
terfinalist for the Grammy
Teacher of the Year in 2020.
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OUR
COMMUNITY