[1][2] Born in Olympia, Washington, Cotler became involved with advocacy work while living in Portland, Oregon.
In Portland, she founded an organization which offered self defense, violence prevention and empowerment training for girls and women.
[2] When Cotler became CEO, The Forward noted that she was "one of the few women leading a national Jewish group of its size.
[5] Cotler has often been quoted by the media regarding immigration,[6][7][8] in response to violent attacks on Jews[9][10] and regarding issues of racial justice.
[11][12] Geoffrey Claussen describes Cotler as contributing to musar literature, citing her writing about courage.