Joelle Novey, Director
Jonathan Lacock-Nisly, Director of Faithful Advocacy
Laura File Long, Operations Manager
Claire Donnelly, Program Associate
Robin Lewis, Green the Church Outreach Associate
Interns & Volunteers
Joelle Novey, Director
Joelle comes to IPL-DMV from one of our own congregations, Tikkun Leil Shabbat, an independent Jewish community in Washington DC which hosts speakers from social and environmental justice organizations, and regularly holds potlucks for over 150 people without the use of disposable tableware. Joelle grew up in Baltimore and attended Chizuk Amuno Congregation.
She is the co-author of Green and Just Celebrations, a purchasing guide that Jews United for Justice (JUFJ) distributes to local congregations for assisting families in making greener purchasing decisions around weddings and bar/bat mitzvah celebrations.
Most recently, Joelle worked at Green America, where she screened applicants to the Green Business Network and wrote dozens of articles about greener living for the organization’s newsletter and magazine.
Joelle brings a variety of interfaith experience to the religious diversity of IPL’s network. For more than a year, she counseled hospital patients of all backgrounds and led interfaith worship services through a chaplain training program at Washington Hospital Center.
Joelle is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard University where she received a BA in Social Studies, and completed the coursework for a minor in the Study of Religion.
Jonathan Lacock-Nisly, Director of Faithful Advocacy
As Director of Faithful Advocacy, Jonathan connects religious communities in the region with environmental campaigns to expand clean energy, providing a distinctly moral response to the climate crisis. He also serves as the Federal Policy Associate for National Interfaith Power & Light, advocating for Creation and climate justice on Capitol Hill on behalf of the 40 state affiliates and over 20,000 congregations in the IPL network.
Jonathan grew up in small-town Ohio and is a graduate of Eastern Mennonite University, where he studied Peacebuilding and Development, with minors in Political Studies and Economics. He comes to this work after several years as an affordable housing advocate with MANNA, Inc., where he saw firsthand the strain that shifting weather patterns is putting on communities in our region. He is a member of the 8th Day Faith Community, a Church of the Saviour congregation.
Jonathan feels called to this work in the spirit of the teachings of Menno Simons — the founder of the Mennonite church — that true evangelical faith clothes the naked, feeds the hungry, and comforts the sorrowful. Jonathan loves nothing more than biking to his community garden plot for a ripe heirloom tomato.
Laura File Long, Operations Manager
Laura grew up in southern West Virginia where coal was king — except, of course, in the small towns that had been decimated and abandoned after the mines dried up. However, it was not until her time at West Virginia Wesleyan College, where she majored in History and Religious Studies, that she became invested in educating herself and others about social justice and environmental issues. Inspired by her Christian faith and the charge in Micah 6:8 to seek justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God, Laura worked through WVWC’s Center for Community Engagement to create opportunities for awareness, education, and action.
Laura is committed to a future in faith-based social justice work. She is extremely grateful for the opportunity to learn from and be a part of the IPL-DMV team. Laura and her husband, Dustin, are active members of Silver Spring United Methodist Church.
Claire Donnelly, Program Associate
Claire is serving as IPL’s Maryland organizer through the Lutheran Volunteer Corps. Claire grew up in Frederick, Maryland, and first connected her faith and the natural world as a staff member of Mar-Lu-Ridge Camp & Retreat Center. A graduate of Goucher College in Towson, Claire studied Environmental Studies and minored in Psychology. While in school, Claire led the environmental activist group (GEAR) and connected students to opportunities addressing environmental injustices on and off-campus.
Since graduating, Claire has worked on organic farms abroad, built sustainable, low-income straw bale homes in Moab, Utah, substitute-taught in Frederick County, and most recently biked across the country for the affordable housing cause with the nonprofit Bike & Build. Claire is excited to holistically bring all parts of herself to her work with IPL-DMV and in her partnerships with faith communities for environmental advocacy.
Robin Lewis, Green the Church Outreach Associate
As the Outreach and Social Justice Coordinator at Beloved Community Church in Prince George’s County, Maryland, Robin Lewis believes that she has been called as a Christian to be a voice for environmental justice in her community. After working in business for a long time, she found that her satisfaction was gained by helping to educate others, in particular people of color and other marginalized communities, become more aware of environmental issues that are impacting their quality of life. As a result, she shifted her career focus to community engagement and organizing with various local grassroots and faith-based organizations to help to promote collaboration on environmental justice issues.
Robin previously worked as a certified project manager for non-profits and businesses for many years, recently leading a large community engagement project about energy sourcing and usage in Madison, WI. She also worked as a community education and awareness advocate for energy conservation and promoted environmental legislation to clean-up the Renewable Portfolio Standards in Maryland. In addition to obtaining her BA in Economics and MBA from Rutgers University, Robin has a Masters in Sustainable Urban Planning with a concentration in Climate Change from The George Washington University. Robin’s research has focused on the socio-economic aspects of sustainability in urban revitalization, such as issues relating to displacement, gentrification, and affordable housing.
Robin feels blessed that she is able to bring her experience and passion to the IPL team and hopes to learn more about other faith traditions in the spirit of cooperation and harmony.
Thank you, Interns & Volunteers!
Our work is made possible through the assistance of interns and other volunteers. Please contact us if you’d like to explore lending a hand to our work. Recent interns and volunteers for IPL include:
Maddie Smith, Lutheran Volunteer Corps
Catherine Goggins, Discipleship Year
Rachel Brustein, AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps
Elana Orbuch, AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps
Isabel Zeitz-Moskin, Lutheran Volunteer Corps
Clara Summers, Episcopal Service Corps
Elizabeth Stevens, Lutheran Volunteer Corps & Discipleship Year
Maria Langholz, Discipleship Year
Josef Lorentz, Lutheran Volunteer Corps & Discipleship Year
Summer 2018
Sydney Gabrielle Alexander, General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church
Sophie DeMuth, The Bryn Mawr School
Summer 2017
Julliane Osias, General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church
Summer 2016
Sanha Ryoo, General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church
Summer 2015
Gabby Resnick, Wesleyan University
Abi Rome, Volunteer for Energy Programs
Summer 2013
Mike Fekula, Wesley Theological Seminary
Shahar Colt, Solar Congregations Organizer
Summer 2012
Kanza Khan, Muslim Public Service Network Fellow
Shahar Colt, Solar Congregations Organizer
Spring 2012
Meredith Hollingsworth, American University
Summer 2011
Sara Emmerich, Beatitudes Fellow
Arif Karim, Muslim Public Service Network Fellow
Spring 2011
Lukas Troetzer, American University
Jane Rutherford, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church on Capitol Hill
Summer 2010
Hannah Donner, University of Rochester/Machon Kaplan
Robert Long, Harvard University
Avichai Ozur Bass, Charles E. Smith JDS/Har Shalom
Spring 2010
Matthew Young, St. Lawrence University
Avery O’Brian, School Without Walls/Fabrangen West
Summer 2009
Kelly Hardin, River Road Unitarian Universalist Church
Summer 2008
Tamara L. Slater, University of Rochester
Summer 2007
Aviva Birnkrant, Washington University in St. Louis/Congregation Beth El
Gina Gonzalez, Northwestern