# Stosh Cotler

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{{Short description|American Jewish activist}}
{{Infobox person
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| name               = Stosh Cotler
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| employer           = [Bend the Arc](/source/Bend_the_Arc)
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'''Staci "Stosh" Cotler''' (born 1968) is an American activist. She served as Chief Executive Officer of [Bend the Arc](/source/Bend_the_Arc), a progressive Jewish political organization that blends advocacy, community organizing, and leadership training.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gaqFCwAAQBAJ|title=American Jewish Year Book 2015: The Annual Record of the North American Jewish Communities|last1=Dashefsky|first1=Arnold|last2=Sheskin|first2=Ira M.|date=2016-02-03|publisher=Springer|isbn=9783319245058|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://jwa.org/people/cotler-stosh|title=Stosh Cotler {{!}} Jewish Women's Archive|website=jwa.org|access-date=2019-08-15}}</ref>

==Biography==
Born in [Olympia, Washington](/source/Olympia%2C_Washington), Cotler became involved with advocacy work while living in [Portland, Oregon](/source/Portland%2C_Oregon). In Portland, she founded an organization which offered self defense, violence prevention and empowerment training for girls and women. She was also involved with advocating for Palestinian rights<ref name=":1" /> and protested Israel's treatment of Palestinians during the [Second Intifada](/source/Al-Aqsa_Intifada).<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://forward.com/news/190706/bend-the-arc-leader-stosh-cotler-has-radical-strea/|title=Bend the Arc Leader Stosh Cotler Has Radical Streak — and Black Belt|last=Wiener|first=Julie|date=January 10, 2014|website=The Forward|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-15}}</ref>

In 2005 she began working for [Jewish Funds for Justice](/source/Jewish_Funds_for_Justice) in New York, which merged with the [Progressive Jewish Alliance](/source/Progressive_Jewish_Alliance) in 2011.<ref name=":1" />

Cotler became Bend the Arc's Executive vice president in 2011 and CEO in 2014.<ref name=":1" /> When Cotler became CEO, The Forward noted that she was "one of the few women leading a national Jewish group of its size."<ref name=":3" />

In 2014, ''[The Forward](/source/The_Forward)'' named her one of its 14 Jewish Women To Watch. In 2015, she was named one of the “15 progressive faith leaders to watch” by the [Center for American Progress](/source/Center_for_American_Progress).<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://auburnseminary.org/team/stosh-cotler/|title=Stosh Cotler|website=Auburn Seminary|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-15}}</ref>

In 2017 she became a Senior Fellow at [Auburn Seminary](/source/Auburn_Seminary).<ref name=":2" />

In 2022, Cotler transitioned out of the CEO role at Bend the Arc and became Senior Advisor to the organization.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stosh Cotler - The Unicorn at the Table |url=https://rebooting.com/article/stosh-cotler-the-unicorn-at-the-table/ |access-date=2022-06-08 |website=Reboot |language=en-US}}</ref>

Cotler has often been quoted by the media regarding immigration,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/japanese-americans-among-hundreds-protesting-plan-detain-migrant-children-fort-n1032001|title=Hundreds protest plan to detain migrant children in what used to be an internment camp|website=NBC News|date=20 July 2019 |language=en|access-date=2019-08-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://forward.com/fast-forward/426981/jewish-activists-border-immigration-detention-boston/|title=Shouting 'Never Again,' 1,000 Jewish Activists Shut Down Central Boston To Protest Immigration Detention|last=Feldman|first=Ari|website=The Forward|date=3 July 2019 |access-date=2019-08-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/2019/06/18/united-states/the-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-concentration-camp-debate-explained|title=The Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez concentration camp debate, explained|date=2019-06-18|website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-15}}</ref> in response to violent attacks on Jews<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wjla.com/news/local/graduate-student-helps-raise-money-for-synagogue-victims|title=D.C. man helps raise more than $600,000 and counting for Pittsburgh synagogue victims|last=Sanchez/ABC7|first=Victoria|date=2018-10-28|website=WJLA|access-date=2019-08-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jewishaz.com/breaking_news/one-killed-three-injured-in-shooting-at-chabad-of-poway/article_11deed20-69bc-11e9-825d-e72b5b5ed387.html|title=One killed, three injured in shooting at Chabad of Poway, Calif.; suspect apprehended|last=JNS.org|first=Jackson Richman {{!}}|website=www.jewishaz.com|date=28 April 2019 |language=en|access-date=2019-08-15}}</ref> and regarding issues of racial justice.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2015-12-30/ty-article/.premium/black-jewish-lives-matter-too/0000017f-f62b-d5bd-a17f-f63bbf6e0000|title=Black Lives in the Jewish Community: We Matter, Too|date=2015-12-30|work=Haaretz|access-date=2019-08-15|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jan/21/black-lives-matter-protesters-die-in-capitol-hill-longworth-office-building|title=Black Lives Matter protesters interrupt lunch with 'die-in' on Capitol Hill|last=Laughland|first=Oliver|date=2015-01-21|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-08-15|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> [Geoffrey Claussen](/source/Geoffrey_Claussen) describes Cotler as contributing to [musar literature](/source/musar_literature), citing her writing about courage.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Claussen |first=Geoffrey D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4H5dEAAAQBAJ |title=Modern Musar: Contested Virtues in Jewish Thought |date=2022 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-8276-1888-6 |language=en}}</ref>

Cotler is [queer](/source/queer).<ref name=":0" />  She has a black belt in [kung fu](/source/kung_fu).<ref name=":3" />

== References ==
<references />

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cotler, Stosh}}
Category:Jewish American community activists
Category:American community activists
Category:Jewish women activists
Category:Queer feminists
Category:American queer women
Category:LGBTQ people from Washington (state)
Category:LGBTQ Jews
Category:1968 births
Category:Living people
Category:Jewish American feminists
Category:American feminists
Category:Jewish American anti-racism activists
Category:American anti-racism activists
Category:American women activists
Category:American wushu practitioners
Category:21st-century American Jews
Category:Jewish LGBTQ women
Category:Activists from Olympia, Washington

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Stosh Cotler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stosh_Cotler) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stosh_Cotler?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.