Matan joined JUFJ in June 2020 as a Baltimore Community Organizer, then a Maryland Senior Organizer, and in 2024 became our Maryland Policy Director. Prior to joining JUFJ staff, Matan served on our Baltimore Leadership Council, as a Co-Chair of the Baltimore Action Team, and was a 2018-2019 Jeremiah Fellow. As a Maryland Community Organizer, Matan focused on working with JUFJ’s leaders and partners to advance state-wide campaigns, with a primary focus on labor and housing justice, and court and prison reform.

Before working at JUFJ, Matan served as Special Assistant for Research, Advocacy & Public Policy in the Office of State Senator Mary L. Washington. Prior to that, Matan was the Associate Director of Health Policy for Cure Violence Global, an international violence prevention NGO, where he worked to advance local, state, federal, and international program and policy initiatives.

Outside of work, Matan is passionate about supporting youth-focused initiatives and is a long-term volunteer  and advisory board member at the Baltimore Youth Kinetic Energy Collective (BYKE). He also really enjoys gardening and being outside. He attended Oberlin College where he graduated with a major in Sociology. Soon after graduating from Oberlin in 2014, Matan moved back to his hometown of Baltimore.

Matan uses he/him/his pronouns.