Activist Spotlight: Rachel Siegel

Hello, y'all! Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Rachel Joy Siegel, and I am the new Social Justice Organizer in the Workers Circle focusing on organizing in my amazing home state of Florida! I am so excited to be joining this incredible organization. My passions in life have grown out of a need to build communities that are kind to one another, compassionate, and equitable. As a third-generation Floridian (yes, we exist!), my dedication to the preservation of democracy in my home is deeply personal and important. As a teenager in the 2010s, I learned that my Jewish faith and my ever-growing love for social justice married each other perfectly, igniting the passion that still drives me today. 

I am currently pursuing a Master’s in Nonprofit Management and a Master’s in Public Administration in the evenings at the University of Central Florida, which brought me to Orlando. Prior to joining the Workers Circle, I lived and worked in Baltimore, Maryland, as a part of the Repair the World Fellowship. During my time in the fellowship, I grew our young adult Jewish community in Baltimore through service learning programming that primarily benefits Black and Jewish communities. My work focused on Baltimore's struggle with Food Apartheid, a term coined by my partners at Black Yield Institute, an organization working towards Black food and land sovereignty.  

When I am not organizing, I do what all Orlando residents do: spend too much time at theme parks, enjoy our beautiful state beaches and parks, thrift in quaint towns, watch college sports, and cultivate my passion for unique world cuisines. I love to relax with cozy farming games, dungeon crawlers, Animal Crossing, and RuPaul's Drag Race.