Amy Tobin

writer and singer
community worker
coach for people helping other people

Welcome

I like art and community.

I spend a lot of time in the blurry places between tradition and modernity, reverence and irreverence.

Here are some shapes my work takes:

Singing.

Writing.

Making public events.

Advising people in leadership.

Supporting those who work to serve.

Accompanying people during lifecycle and life transitions.

Communal and Jewish life

For over 30 years, I have created cultural, holiday, and lifecycle events, often turning to ancient ideas for guidance and inspiration. I make art (and ritual) for those who don’t necessarily feel connected to a community.

These experiences have ranged from an immersive cabaret rock opera based on the biblical Book of Esther (see below); to community Passover seders (pageants commemorating the hunger for freedom), to experiments interpreting traditional prayers at the Jewish new year. Sometimes I also just sing songs.

And, inevitably, funerals/ memorials; occasional bar/bat mitzvah coaching, and several years as a wedding planner.

Music

A lifelong student of how the voice unlocks catharsis, I compose, sing, and interpret works by other artists.

I created and toured The Esther Show in the 2000’s, an adult romp through a biblical story full of politics and sex.

My music, released as Amy Tobin and as part of A Little Friction (with the multi-talented Kevin Carnes), is available everywhere you stream.

In the Bay Area, I’ve performed at the SF Fringe Festival and on stages like Z Space, Maritime Hall, Cafe du Nord, and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. I’ve been fortunate to collaborate with musicians across genres: acid jazz, electronic, musical theater, and beyond.

My second musical, Lilith, had a limited run in a college black box theater. It featured a homewrecking Talmudic scholar lip-syncing Pat Benatar. My first musical, Who’s There, Gummybear?, premiered in the third grade.

Coaching for leaders

I’ve served twice as CEO/ executive director and consulted with dozens of complex organizations in multiple fields. I love working with people in leadership and hope to pay my deep experience forward.

I believe that how you work when serving a community is as important as what you hope to achieve or create together. I coach people who want to orient their work in mutual humanity and compassion.

Clients have included pulpit rabbis, CEOs of cultural and community centers, and executive directors of social service and arts organizations. I advise leaders 1:1 and guide groups.

Learn more on LinkedIn.

About

With an MA in Jewish Studies from the Graduate Theological Union and BFA in experimental theatre from Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, I am studying to be a rabbi at the new, post-denominational Ezzree Institute. In 2025, I was a chaplain intern at Sinai Memorial Chapel, the Bay Area’s nonprofit Jewish funeral home.

As an organizational leader, I have led both startups and legacy projects. I served as CEO of the Jewish Community Center of the East Bay, expanding adult and civic programs and laying the foundation for major regional expansion.

As founding executive director at the David Brower Center in Berkeley, I helped build a landmark home for the environmental and social justice movement.

In the early 2000’s, I was the founding Artistic Director of The Hub at the JCCSF, building community through Jewish and intercultural arts programs in San Francisco.

I’ve been a recipient of the Joshua Venture fellowship for Jewish social entrepreneurs, the Gerbode Foundation fellowship, and was a LABA Bay Area fellow.

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