AJC New York Empowered Parents is a brand-new initiative inspired by New York parents and caregivers concerned about a troubling lack of understanding of Jewish identity, instances of antisemitism, and unbalanced conversation about Israel emerging in their children's schools.
This program for parents of middle school and high school students comes as a response to the enormously successful AJC New York Parents and Schools Summit of May 2023. At the Summit over 200 New York Jewish parents came to hear the heads of the Horace Mann School, Ethical Culture Fieldston School and the Ramaz School speak directly about what they were doing to address antisemitism in their communities.
Designed and supervised by Dr. Laura Shaw Frank, AJC Director, William Petschek Contemporary Jewish Life, PhD in Jewish history, attorney, and veteran expert of the New York independent school ecosystem, Empowered Parents picks up where the Summit left off by facilitating three education sessions and an end of program social, that tackle hard topics and hard conversations parents may come across in their schools.
Some examples of these topics may be:
- How to successfully advocate with school administration when antisemitic incidents occur?
- What is the best way to talk to a faculty member who shows a strong anti-Israel bias in the classroom?
- Where can you create community and allyship within your school’s ecosystem?
Sessions
Click here to view the session schedule from Cohort 1
Dinner will be served.
Session 1 - Jewish Advocacy in Educational Spaces – Monday, Dec. 18, 2023, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Being a good Jewish advocate in your child’s school is complicated. On the one hand, no one wants to be that parent, but on the other hand staying silent means that problematic issues continue to fester. Making matters more difficult, many parents don’t feel knowledgeable enough to speak intelligently about issues that trouble them in school. This session will focus on the big picture: the knowledge and strategy you need to begin conversations in your school community.
Session 2 - Jews and DEI – Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Many schools in the New York metropolitan area have articulated DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) strategies with administrators tasked with carrying them out. While there is much good that can be brought about by DEI, oftentimes Jewish families can feel a sense of unease with school DEI strategies because Jews and antisemitism are not a part of the conversation. This session will focus on how to get your school to include Jews and antisemitism as part of its DEI strategy and what that should look like in practical terms.
Session 3 - Conversations About Israel in Educational Spaces – Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Conversations about Israel in educational spaces today are fraught at best. With a prevailing - and false - narrative in many progressive spaces of Israel as a “white colonialist” enterprise and even as an apartheid state, it can be difficult to have balanced and nuanced conversations that are rooted in historical fact and take into account the different narratives that different communities bring to the table. This session will give you the foundation of knowledge about Israel itself, as well as about strong and nuanced Israel education that you need to be a serious interlocutor about these issues for your children’s school.
End of Program Social - Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Participants in Empowered Parents commit to:
- Attendance at all three educational sessions
- A minimum tax-deductible contribution of $725 to AJC New York's annual campaign *
*Due to the generosity of an AJC donor the second cohort of AJC New York's Empowered Parents program is partially underwritten.
Program space is limited. Enrollment deadline is Wednesday, December 13, 2023.
Click Here to Apply
If you have questions about Empowered Parents, please email Eugenia Spektor, Director of Development and Engagement, AJC New York, at spektore@ajc.org.
*All contributions go directly to supporting the mission and impact of AJC. It is because of donors like you that AJC can stand up against antisemitism, enhance Israel's place in the world, and defend our democratic values. This donation is 100 percent tax-deductible.
