ONLINEBehind the Screen: Standing Up Against Antisemitism

Countering the steady rise of antisemitism is a monumental task. In this program, we celebrate the work of three young Jews who use their popular social media channels to stand up against antisemitism and promote Jewish culture, heritage and joy. The panelists represent international and diverse perspectives yet have a common goal to stop the hate to celebrate.

What inspires them to do this work? How does content that aims to change how people perceive Jews look? How do they deal with trolls? Where are they seeing success in the fight? Join us for this livestream conversation and get to know some of the people fighting antisemitism on the social media front lines.

Meet the panelists:

• Amy Albertson (she/her) is a Jewish advocate and educator from California. Through online activism, public speaking and workshops, Amy empowers young Jews to be unapologetically Jewish, both online and in their everyday lives. Currently, she is a consultant for At The Well Project, an executive board member of B’Chol Lashon and an associate at The Tel Aviv Institute.
• Matthew Nouriel (he/him) aka The Empress Mizrahi is a nonbinary digital activist and content creator of Iranian Jewish descent living in Los Angeles. In recent years, Matthew has been using their voice to passionately advocate and fight for the causes they believe in, namely LGBTQ+ rights and equality within the Iranian and Jewish communities and combating antisemitism using their social media as a means to reach those who relate to their perspective and lived experiences, as well as engaging audiences on panel discussions and speaking engagements across the country. They have taken on leadership roles with both queer and non-queer organizations, such as JDC Entwine, JQ International and Tel Aviv Institute. They work as the community engagement director at JIMENA – Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa. Matthew has had articles published in JNS, The Forward and Hey Alma, as well as being featured in Jewish Journal, Tehran Magazine, the Algemeiner and more. In 2021, they were the recipient of the TrailBlazer Award at the JQ International annual Impact Awards.
• Tova Ricardo (she/her) is a content creator, Jewish community advocate and award-winning spoken word poet and writer from Northern California. As a Black Ashkenazi woman invested in Torah, Israel advocacy and uplifting American Jewish communities of color, Ricardo’s community engagement work and writing have been featured in Hillel International, Jewish Journal, Jews of Color Initiative, Jewish Women’s Archive, Jewish Women International, Jewish Federations of North America, UJA-Federation of NY and more. She is a former Oakland Youth Poet Laureate, was a finalist in the national collegiate poetry slam competition and is a digital producer at the Tel Aviv Institute.

Meet the moderator:

Mahrinah Shije (she/her) is founding general partner of Endemic Venture Capital. Shije began her career as an investment analyst with UBS and has spent two decades in high tech startups. She holds an MBA in finance from the Wharton School and a BA/MS in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania. Shije is a partner at Zia Impact, through which she works with clients on impact strategy and tribal infrastructure development and CEO and board chair of Pueblo Development Commission, an NGO in United Nations consultative status. Shije is a contributor to the Forward, board member of Panim Hadashot in New Mexico, public speaker and an online advocate who was one of the Jewish United Fund’s 36 Under 36: Double Chai in the Chi.

An official program of Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM).