Our Team

Norma Vargas-Greenberg, Co-Chair

Norma Vargas-Greenberg was born in Puerto Rico and moved to New York at the age of nine. She has been a convert to Orthodox Judaism since 1994 and proudly integrates her religious observance with her Puerto Rican culture and ethnicity. She has lived in the Highland Park/Edison community since 2011 and has a blended family of five children and two stepchildren with her husband, Malcolm. 

Norma is currently the Administrative Coordinator of Chabad House-Lubavitch, a Jewish outreach organization dedicated to serving Rutgers University’s Jewish student community.  She is the chairperson of the Highland Park Human Relations Commission, a member of the Mayor’s Equity Advisory Council and board member of Main Street Highland Park. Norma is dedicated to volunteer community service both locally and in Puerto Rico and organizes donation drives and other volunteer projects that benefit vulnerable populations. She is passionate about advocating for equity, law enforcement reform, anti-racism, anti-semitism, and building collaborative community relationships.

Edina Brown, Co-Chair

Edina Brown lives in Old Bridge, NJ with her husband and two children, where she currently serves as a Councilwoman. For over 10 years, she has been advocating for African American mental health consumers and those who support them, as an advisory member of AACT-NOW, which considers the voices and experiences of the African American community through education and connecting the community to resources. As a board member of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, her work with AACT-NOW has expanded out into the larger community,where she continues to increase inclusion, and to expand access to resources and support for families and individuals who work to achieve mental health. Her desire to help others pursue the work of improving our society, inspired her to write and self-publish a book titled “Make Humanity Great Again”, and to establish IHP Global - a culture & inclusion company. Mrs. Brown is helping youth in her community to learn more about local government and community outreach through her recently founded nonpartisan organization, Old Bridge Coalition for Equality. She continues to end stigma by serving on the board for Middlesex County Mental Health Services and CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates for children). She also offers support to budding entrepreneurs.

Josh Fine, Advocacy Chair

Josh Fine, a two-term Highland Park Borough Councilmember and community activist, is an Orthodox Jew. “I believe that given the discrimination against Black and Jewish communities over millennia, we need to work together to ensure that the justice that humanity deserves is ever increasing. By jointly advocating for changes to public policy in New Jersey, the Black and Jewish communities may help achieve critical social justice reforms.”

Gary Leslie, Advocacy Committee

Gary and his wife moved to Highland Park in 1983, and they have raised 3 children there. He has been an active volunteer in the community for most of that time: he coached various rec league teams, he has been on several borough committees, he is a member of the borough's Democratic Committee, and he helped establish (and for 25 years ran) HPTV, the borough's public access station. Gary and his family have been members of the Highland Park Minyan for many decades. Gary has had a 30+ year career as a software engineer/architect in what was Telcordia, and is now Ericsson.

Sonya Headlam, Programming/Events Co-Chair

Sonya Headlam is an active musician and music educator. She has been a resident of Highland Park since 2014, and has served on the Highland Park Human Relations Commission, and the Highland Park Equity Commission. “There is much to gain from the Black and Jewish communities coming together, as there are parallels in our experiences and histories. Through learning from and connecting with one another, we gain perspective on how anti-Black racism and anti-Semitism are not separate strands of hatred, but deeply intertwined. Connection between our communities also brings with it potential for deeper compassion and empathy for the respective issues our communities face, and can empower us in joint action in addressing them, making us stronger together in our efforts."

Rebecca Cypess, Programming/Events Co-Chair

Dr. Rebecca Cypess is a faculty member in the Department of Music at Rutgers University. She is a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Governors of the Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva in Edison and Co-Chair of the Rutgers Jewish Faculty, Administration, and Staff (J-FAS) group. She lives in Highland Park with her husband and three children. "Members of the local Black and Jewish communities have so much in common and a great deal to learn from each other. I am thrilled to be part of an initiative that brings these communities together, helping us stand for and with each other, and growing in our connections."

Esther Reed, Secretary

Rabbi Esther Reed is a resident of Highland Park. A Conservative Rabbi who grew up in East Brunswick, she has worked at Rutgers Hillel since 2001. "I am excited to be a member of this group because I feel that it is important to bring our two communities together. Studies show that when an individual is against Blacks, they are also against Jews, and vice versa, so it is important that we stand together, learn from each other, hear one another's stories, and stick up for the other when necessary."

Bryan Kinzbrunner

Rabbi Bryan Kinzbrunner has worked as a chaplain in hospice and senior care for over 15 years. He currently serves as the Director of Religious and Spiritual Services for the Oscar and Ella Wilf Campus for Senior Living and as the President of Neshama, Association of Jewish Chaplains (NAJC) and is the outgoing president of the Rabbinic Association of the Heart of NJ (RAHNJ). Rabbi Kinzbrunner also serves as the head of the Advisory Committee for the Wurzweiler School of Social Work's Rabbinic Certification in gerontology. Rabbi Kinzbrunner has lectured on areas of Jewish end-of-life care, ranging from spiritual aspects of caring for Jewish families to the intricate medical ethic issues often faced. He has also lectured about community advocacy for Hospice and end-of-life care and challenges faced, grief and loss and chaplaincy.

Sharon Owens

Dr. Sharon Owens has lived in Highland Park for 31 years. She was born and reared in segerated Central Alabama. Sharon was among the second wave of Black students to integrate the white school in her hometown. Upon graduation, she pointed her goals toward education eventually earning a Doctorate in Social Work. She has taught courses on Diversity, Oppression, White Privelege and Social Work Practice. Sharon has also worked as a practicing Social Worker. A proud moment in her life is receiving the best research/written article award in her School. A second is the research and establishment of a Rosenwald historic marker in her hometown. Sharon believes in advocacy with groups to fight injuctices.