Ev Evnen
Ev is super into facilitation, education, being Jewish, and dogs. Let’s work together to leave the world a better place.
About Ev
Ev (they/them) is a white, Ashkenazi Jewish, trans person, originally from Lincoln, NE, with a decade stop in Boston. Ev is an experienced facilitator, with over ten years of experience guiding conversations on topics including white supremacy culture, LGBTQ+ identities and communities, and trauma inclusivity with their boutique consulting firm, MaeBright. They believe that honest conversations about how we are both different and similar can lead to deep and needed healing. Ev thinks that our differences are our superpowers and dreams of a world where difference is celebrated and not subjugated. Ev holds an MPP and MBA from the Heller School of Social Policy and Management at Brandeis and a BA from Wesleyan University. They are a cantorial and rabbinic student at the ALEPH Ordination Program. Ev lives in Aurora, Colorado, with their two scruffy dogs, Max and Ziggy, and their husband, Lee.
Ev is as grateful to have been made a Jew as they are grateful that they are transgender. Ev works in Jewish communities both as a Student Hazzan and as a Jewish Youth Educator. As a spiritual leader, Ev strives to cultivate joyful praise and awe-filled wonder, using music to elevate our neshamot (souls) higher and higher. Ev is a service for Nevei Kodesh in Boulder and B’nei Havurah in Denver. They believe in making the joys of Judaism accessible to those who have often been pushed to the margins–queer and trans Jews, converts or patrilineal Jews, and Jews who are outside of Zionism.
Inclusivity and accessibility are two of the core principles Ev leads with as a youth educator; the LGBTQ+ and neurospicy kids are some of Ev’s favorites to have in the classroom. By modeling a love and passion for Judaism, Ev hopes to inspire the next generation to lean into their traditions and communities. Ev teaches with social-emotional learning at the core, and has three rules in the classroom:
Don’t hurt yourself or others.
Always, always, always be kind.
Debbie Friedman is the GOAT.
Ev is also deeply passionate about mental wellness and access to mental health care. As someone with a trauma-related mental illness, Ev knows both the good and the bad of mental health care. They often say that one of the reasons they are a relatively-okay trans adult is because they had access to trans-affirming mental health care from the age of ten (in 1997). Ev is working toward a world where mental health care values people as our whole, complex selves and provides care that makes healing and a good life possible.
