CAN Webinar Symposium Speakers
Sara E. Brown
Regional Director, American Jewish Committee (AJC)
Karen Bar-Or
Vice President of Activism, Israeli American Council (IAC)
Brandy Shufutinsky
EdD, MSW. Director of Education, Jewish Institute for Liberal Values (JILV)
Karen DePodesta
Co-Founder of 5 Minutes Today
Haggai Klorman-Eraqi
Social media / TikTok Expert & Activist
Lara Woolf Grusd
Psy.D. Psychologist & K-12 Advocate
Alex Shraibman
Doctor (PhD)
Gary Wexler
Public Communications Expert, & Adjunct Professor
Tamar Caspi
PeerK12, A Local Org Confronting Systemic Antisemitism in K-12
Shani Menna
UCSD Undergraduate
Sara E. Brown, Ph.D. is a non-profit executive, educator, and world-renowned expert on genocide studies. Sara holds the first Ph.D. in comparative genocide studies from the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University. She was a director of Chhange, a Holocaust, human rights, and genocide education non-profit and managed post-secondary education programming for USC Shoah Foundation. Sara has an extensive background in non-profit advocacy and in education. She has worked at the Interdisciplinary Center in Israel, conducted genocide-related research in Rwanda, and served as a project coordinator in refugee camps in Tanzania.
Sara has taught courses on history, human rights and mass violence at San Diego State University, Kean University, and Worcester State University and is widely published in major news outlets and academic journals. Sara is the author of Gender and the Genocide in Rwanda: Women as Perpetrators and Rescuers and the co-editor of the Routledge Handbook on Religion, Mass Atrocity, and Genocide. Sara has also consulted for a number of international organizations, including the United Nations, Aegis Trust, and Common Circles.
Haggai leads the Aggaeus Group where he and his team operate brands like Kardz.Biz and BWFL, assist other entrepreneurs in building their businesses, and invest in awesome high-tech consumer brands such as Capsulab, Nimble Beauty, and Vinst.
Before that Haggai spent a decade building and executing large-scale social Word of Mouth campaigns: creating authentic conversations by users, creators, and Influencers for top brands like L'Oreal, Unilever, Revlon, and TOMS. While also advising leading PE firms like Bain Capital, General Atlantic, and Permira by diving into 100s of millions of online conversations to assess what makes a brand tick.
Gary Wexler
I have taught for ten years as a professor at the USC Annenberg School of Communication & Journalism, teaching some of the most popular classes: Team Creativity, Advertising, Nonprofit Marketing. I am committed to democratizing the skills and talents of creativity and idea creation, putting them into the hands of a new generation and those struggling to rise. Who knows how to create ideas, wins. My work has thrown over a thousand people-- graduate students, business and nonprofit leaders, worldwide, into The Undulating Space, teaching and training them in a powerful method of Creative Teamwork, learning to evolve big bold ideas. Years later, many stay in touch telling me that The Undulating Space is among the most important skills they acquired and continue to use.
Over half a million Israeli-Americans live in the United States today. As a vital component of American society, they play a major role in social activism, academia, culture and innovation. The Israeli-American Council (IAC) is the largest Israeli-American organization in the Unites States, serving this vibrant sector of American society. IAC’s effectiveness and success is the direct result of its ability to organize, activate, and engage the Israeli-American community nationwide. The IAC strives to achieve these goals through programs and events for all ages, as well as by empowering and sponsoring a wide array of non-profit organizations within the Israeli-American community.
OUR GOALS Encourage a culture of giving, activism, and connection to Israel through personal examples of community involvement. Connect the next generation to the community, their Jewish identity, the Hebrew language, and the State of Israel. Foster active support of initiatives that further Israel’s welfare, security, education and its relations with the United States. Translate the Israeli-American community’s needs, desires, and values into action and a strong and influential voice. Serve as a professional and financial resource for initiatives that support the development of an active and unified Israeli-American community with strong connections to the State of Israel, now and in the future. Strengthen the relationships between the Israeli-American community and the Israeli community in Israel. Build bridges between the Israeli-American and Jewish American communities in the United States.
Lara Grusd Woolf works tirelessly as a community volunteer leader. She is the creator of the popular What’sApp, AmEchad Alliance of SDJA with several hundred members, Lara is involved with many Jewish organizations and has been a tremendous support in developing CAN and this webinar.
Tamar Caspi
A lot can be said about my career and skillsets -- and that can easily be quantified by reading my resume. But what I am most proud of is my activism. I saw the need for a school that would offer children a quality education in a truly diverse setting, where they could learn in the most effective ways possible to become 21st century global thinkers, with an added language immersion component, and that was achieved with the founding of Kavod Charter School in 2012.
In 2021 I began combatting Jew-hatred in schools by helping pass antisemitism resolutions in San Diego school districts with the goal of ensuring Jewish students and staff can feel proud and safe while learning and socializing. I have become an advocate for students and teachers helping them to find their voice and to administer conversations with school board members.
I also serve on the Community Planning Group Board for my region in San Diego City Council District 7 as well as the Area Council Board for my neighborhood. I have been invited to and participated in numerous leadership programs and I volunteer with multiple nonprofits because I believe that giving back is an obligation and a privilege.
Brandy Shufutinky
I'm thankful to have my voice platformed, especially when addressing the state of our public education system. Our kids deserve so much more. "Elite scholar-activists have hijacked the school system in order to push their woke bureaucracy that replaced scholarship with activism, at a financial cost to taxpayers and social cost to students. Students who depend on public schools for education are left behind, while activism is preferred over hard work by those whose guilt encourages them to virtue signal and disrupt "systems of oppression".
Alex Schraibman, a native of San Diego, California, pursued her undergraduate studies in Cognitive Science and Education at the University of California, Berkeley. She recently completed her PhD in Biosciences at the University of California, San Diego. As a Jew-by-choice, Alexandria is currently expecting her first child, with the due date set for March, and she takes great pride in raising a Jewish family.
Her commitment to her faith extends beyond her personal life; she is actively engaged in combating antisemitism on her campus. During her time at The Salk Institute, she appreciated the absence of antisemitism, a sharp contrast to the experiences she encountered at UC San Diego. Despite the intimidation she felt as a visibly Jewish pregnant woman on campus, she regularly attended classes and became an influential member of Triton's for Israel, advocating for the Jewish community which faced persistent harassment.
Her advocacy intensified when she addressed an Associated Students meeting to challenge their prejudiced and exclusionary rhetoric, only to be met with threats and intimidation from opposing groups. Disheartened by the university's lack of action, Alexandria has since joined the UC Jewish Federation, a collective of PhD and Postdoctoral scholars across the UC system. This group is dedicated to countering the antisemitic discourse and actions of the UAW 2865 student union, which is actively promoting anti-Semitic policies, including the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement on campus. Alexandria stands firm in her resolve to foster a campus environment where diversity and respect are paramount.
Shani Menna is a third-year Human Biology major at UC San Diego. She is currently the president of the university’s pro-Israel student organization called Tritons For Israel (TFI) as well as their Jewish pre-health organization, JHealth. Throughout her time advocating for Israel on campus she has been actively involved with StandWithUs, Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC), Jewish on Campus, Maccabi Task Force (MTF), and Hillel International. She currently serves as one of Hillel International’s Israel Leadership Network vice-chairs, which coordinates, educates and empowers over 100 Israel advocacy leaders across the country.