JCPA2022 SCHEDULE
April 11
in formation (all time in EDT)
What Does It Mean to Be Free?
11:00 AM ● OPENING PLENARY
Welcome
Susan Abravanel and Lee Jason Goldberg
JCPA2022 Conference Co-Chairs
D'var Torah - With Freedom Comes Responsibilty
Andres Spoikony, Jewish Funders Network
Defending Democracy
Stacey Abrams, Former Georgia House Minority Leader
Christine Todd Whitman, States United Democracy Center
Hon. Kristen Clarke, United States Assistant Attorney General
JCPA-NAACP Partnership
Leon Russell, NAACP Chair and David Bohm, JCPA Chair
Why is this Time Different Than All Other Times?
12:45 PM ● WORKSHOP SESSIONS
Voting Rights in America: Ensuring Fair, Free and Accessible Elections
The safety and success of Jews and other minorities is directly linked to the strength of our democratic institutions. After record-breaking voter turnout in 2020, state legislatures across the nation launched a systematic assault on the freedom to vote. As we prepare for the 2022 midterm elections, local organizing will be more important than ever to ensure that our elections remain fair, free, and accessible.
Moderator: Aaron Dorfman, The Jewish Partnership for Democracy. Speakers: Charlie Bronner, MOVE Texas; Rachel Brown, Project Over Zero; Dominik Whitehead, NAACP; Elise Wirkus, Issue One.
Community Relations in the Age of Disinformation
Rampant dis/misinformation across social media platforms has radically altered our information landscape, polarizing, and dividing communities. These platforms are designed to elevate the most incendiary content and reinforce silos. How can the community relations field counter false information and hold these platforms accountable?
Moderator: Joel Rubin, Democracy Partners. Speakers: Vanessa Cardenas, America's Voice; Nicole Gill, Accountable Tech.
The Rise of Local Extremism
Political polarization and ideological extremism in our country is taking root at the state and local levels. The coordinated assault on school curricula, COVID-19 heath mandates, and local government proceedings through disruptive tactics and intimidation is eroding our social fabric. Extremists are successfully advancing their agenda through laws and policy at the state level. This panel will focus on what these trends mean for the Jewish community and our democracy and how to push back.
Moderator: Diane Fisher, Silicon Valley JCRC. Speakers: Hon. Dan Frankel, Member, PA House of Representatives; Dr. Tarece Johnson, Board of Education, Gwinnett County Public Schools; Emily Kaufman, Anti-Defamation League; Shannon Saul, Community Mobilization Manager, Keshet; Hon. Andy Schwartz, Member, WY House of Representatives.
The March to Freedom
2:00 PM ● Presentation of JCPA Albert Chernin D. Chernin Award
Introductions: Karen Dunn, Paul|Weiss; Neal Katyal, Hogan Lovells; Dahlia Litwick, Slate Magazine
Recipient: Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer
2:30 PM ● The Fight for Global Democracy
Speakers: Bianna Gologdryga, CNN Senior Global Analysis and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman
With Freedom Comes Responsibility
3:15 ● WORKSHOP SESSIONS
Building a Multiracial Jewish Community Relations Field
While community relations organizations are ambassadors of the Jewish community in the public square, they often do not represent the diversity of the multiracial Jewish community as a whole. With a commitment to be inclusive and welcoming, at all levels, how can we develop access points into Jewish leadership and diversified engagement strategies to open our doors for communal belonging and social change?
Moderator: Helen Kim, Whitman College. Speakers: Arya Marvazy, Jews of Color Initiative; Kai Yael Mishlove, Milwaukee JCRC; Rabbi Isaiah Rothstein, Jewish Federations of North America; Ashira Solomon, Detroit JCRC/AJC.
Caught in the Crosshairs: Rising Crime and Criminal Justice Reform
As violent crime rates are rising, hard-won criminal justice reforms are on the chopping block, with elected officials searching for a quick fix to allay growing public backlash. Reforms to some of the most inequitable aspects of the justice system, such as policing, sentencing, incarceration, and bail are facing roadblocks and rollbacks. In this climate, how can we, as advocates, address violence, disinformation and advance reforms that make our system–and society–more just, safe, and secure for all people?
Moderator: Rabbi Hilly Haber, Central Synagogue. Speakers: Thomas Abt, Council on Criminal Justice; Dr. Richard Rosenfeld, University of Missouri-St. Louis; Dr. Chico Tillman, University of Chicago.
Israel and the Apartheid Label
The charge of apartheid against Israel is starting to take hold nationally and globally as a tool to delegitimize Israel. Despite the gaps in the conceptual and legal evidence, the UN Committee Of Inquiry (COI), the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the recent Amnesty International report have put this issue squarely on the international agenda. Learn the facts of why this is an abuse of apartheid charge, and it undermines peace efforts and effective ways to counter it.
Moderator: William Daroff, Conference of Presidents. Speakers: Irwin Cotler, Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights; Anne Herzberg, NGO Monitor; Michael Koplow, Israel Policy Forum.
Together We Act For Freedom
4:30 – 5:00 PM ● ISRAEL AND THE MIDDLE EAST PLENARY
Keynote
The Honorable Michael Herzog, Israeli Ambassador to the United States
Advancing the Abraham Accords
Speaker: The Honorable Shaikh Bin Rashid Al Khalifa. Ambassador of Bahrain to the U.S.
Building People to People Engagement
Speakers: the Honorable George R. Salem, Chair, Partnership for Peace Fund (PPF) Advisory Board and Kari Reid, U.S. Director, ALLMEP
5:00 - 5:30 PM Haggadot of Freedom
Speakers: Rabbi Amy Eilberg, Rabbinical Assembly; Rabbi Zev Eleff, Gratz College; Rabbi Jonah Pesner, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism; Rabbi Mira Rivera, Romemu.
6:00 - 9:00 PM ● MOVIE SCREENING & TALK BACK
Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America
About the Movie: In WHO WE ARE — A Chronicle of Racism in America, criminal defense/civil rights lawyer Jeffery Robinson interweaves lecture, personal anecdotes, interviews, and shocking revelations, drawing a stark timeline of anti-Black racism in the United States, from slavery to the modern myth of a post-racial America.
6:15 PM ● MOVIE SHOWING
Live screening of Who We Are (movie also available for viewing prior to conference).
8:00 PM ● TALK BACK
Join us for a post-movie conversation on how we as American Jews can work to end racism in our society.
Speakers: Sarah Kunstler, Producer/Director; Jeffery Robinson, Producer/Writer
9:30 PM ● JCPA Frank Fellow Alumni Gathering
For JCPA Frank Fellow Alumni.
April 12
1:00 – 2:30 PM ● DELEGATES ASSEMBLY
Moderator: Rabbi David Saperstein. Speakers: Ruth Cohen-Dar, Israeli Delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA); Tyler Gregory, JCRC of San Francisco; Dr. Sarah Yael Hirschorn, Israel Studies at Northwestern University; Rabbi Jill Jacobs, T'ruah, the Rabbinic Call for Human Rights; Sheila Katz, National Council of Jewish Women; Kiyomi Kowalski, Project Shema; Jo-Ann Mort, ChangeCommunications; Maharat Rori Picker Neiss, JCRC of St. Louis
This is a closed session for Delegates Assembly representatives of JCPA member agencies. The Delegates assembly members are representatives of 125 Jewish Community Relations Councils and 16 National Jewish Organizations.
You can participate in this session if you are a JCPA Delegate Assembly Representative, JCPA Board Member, JCRC Professional, JCRC Chair, National Agency Professionals, JCPA Policy Advisory Member; and JCPA Frank Fellows. If you have any questions regarding participation please contact Haya Luftig at hluftig@thejcpa.org.
2:30 – 3:30 PM ● JCRC Chairs Cohort Meeting
This is a closed session for Members of the JCPA JCRC Chairs Initiative.