EIHR: The Educators' Institute for Human Rights

This Sunday March 23 at 1:00PM EST Arts & Human Rights: How Does One Promote the Other? with Rebecca Davis. There is still time to register! Rebecca is the Founder and Executive Director of MindLeaps, a not-for-profit organization advancing the education of vulnerable children around the world through the creative arts. MindLeaps has 103 staff members working in six different countries and is headquartered in NYC. Rebecca graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelors of Business Administration in Entrepreneurship from Temple University, and she holds a Masters in International Relations with a concentration in Peacekeeping from American Military University. She received a post- graduate certificate in Ballet and Choreography Studies during her Fulbright year in Russia. In 2012, she received a second Fulbright scholarship to lead American Dance Studies in Crimea, shortly before it was annexed to Russia. In her role as Executive Director at MindLeaps, Rebecca is frequently asked to speak about the use of data analytics to measure outcomes in the performing arts and the journey of an entrepreneur to build an organization working on multiple continents. She has spoken at the World Bank’s Human Development Week, the Annual Conference of the Fulbright Alumni Association, the opening plenary of Segal Family Foundation, and at various universities. In 2023, Rebecca won the Women’s Empowerment Award from the United Nations Federal Credit Union Foundation. This 10-minute video really shows the power of MindLeaps! 10th Anniversary: A Retrospective of MindLeaps from 2014 - 2024 https://lnkd.in/ere_npse Register here; https://lnkd.in/eNvqd7_Z #EIHRlearns

Please join us on March 23 at 1:00PM EST Arts & Human Rights: How Does One Promote the Other? with Rebecca Davis. Rebecca is the Founder and Executive Director of MindLeaps, a not-for-profit organization advancing the education of vulnerable children around the world through the creative arts. MindLeaps has 103 staff members working in six different countries and is headquartered in NYC. Rebecca graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelors of Business Administration in Entrepreneurship from Temple University, and she holds a Masters in International Relations with a concentration in Peacekeeping from American Military University. She received a post- graduate certificate in Ballet and Choreography Studies during her Fulbright year in Russia. In 2012, she received a second Fulbright scholarship to lead American Dance Studies in Crimea, shortly before it was annexed to Russia. In her role as Executive Director at MindLeaps, Rebecca is frequently asked to speak about the use of data analytics to measure outcomes in the performing arts and the journey of an entrepreneur to build an organization working on multiple continents. She has spoken at the World Bank’s Human Development Week, the Annual Conference of the Fulbright Alumni Association, the opening plenary of Segal Family Foundation, and at various universities. In 2023, Rebecca won the Women’s Empowerment Award from the United Nations Federal Credit Union Foundation. Register here; https://lnkd.in/eNvqd7_Z #EIHRlearns

Congratulations to our EIHR Board President, John Heffernan on the opening of his film "American Agitators" which premieres this Sunday at Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose. If your are in the area, don't miss it! https://lnkd.in/ex5TMata #AmericanAgitators #FilmPremiere #SanJoseFilmFestival #FilmIndustry #IndependentFilm

Please join us on March 23 at 1:00PM EST Arts & Human Rights: How Does One Promote the Other? with Rebecca Davis. Rebecca is the Founder and Executive Director of MindLeaps, a not-for-profit organization advancing the education of vulnerable children around the world through the creative arts. MindLeaps has 103 staff members working in six different countries and is headquartered in NYC. Rebecca graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelors of Business Administration in Entrepreneurship from Temple University, and she holds a Masters in International Relations with a concentration in Peacekeeping from American Military University. She received a post- graduate certificate in Ballet and Choreography Studies during her Fulbright year in Russia. In 2012, she received a second Fulbright scholarship to lead American Dance Studies in Crimea, shortly before it was annexed to Russia. In her role as Executive Director at MindLeaps, Rebecca is frequently asked to speak about the use of data analytics to measure outcomes in the performing arts and the journey of an entrepreneur to build an organization working on multiple continents. She has spoken at the World Bank’s Human Development Week, the Annual Conference of the Fulbright Alumni Association, the opening plenary of Segal Family Foundation, and at various universities. In 2023, Rebecca won the Women’s Empowerment Award from the United Nations Federal Credit Union Foundation. Register here; https://lnkd.in/eNvqd7_Z #EIHRlearns

This Sunday, there is still time to register! Join us on February 23, 2025 at 1:00pm EST time for Secret Testaments: The Artist's Affair in Theresienstadt with Michael Simonson of the Leo Baeck Institute. This program explores a core community of Jewish artists who created work while prisoners in the Theresienstadt / Terezin Ghetto. While creating "official" art for the SS and for propaganda purposes, they secretly created caches of hidden art in which they recorded the reality of the suffering, fear, and death of the ghetto population. What drove them to do this dangerous work? Officially referred to in Holocaust studies as "The Artists' Affair," the SS found and arrested many of these artists, brutalizing them and sending them to Auschwitz. In this talk we will look at the history of these artists and their attempts to record the reality they experienced around them, despite the dangers. We will also discuss what drove them to create this work, dangerous to their very lives. Michael Simonson has been part of the Leo Baeck Institute since 2002. Since his beginnings as a new archivist, he has taken on many roles, including the position of Director of the Dr. Robert Ira Lewy Reference Services and as Director of Public Outreach. Simonson works closely with researchers and their needs, be it academic or personal genealogy. He has coordinated a number of programs online, as well as the monthly meetings of the Leo Baeck Institute book club. You are always welcome to write him with any questions you have related to your research. Register here: https://ow.ly/HMT850UVcQm

Join us on February 23, 2025 at 1:00pm EST time for Secret Testaments: The Artist's Affair in Theresienstadt with Michael Simonson of the Leo Baeck Institute. This program explores a core community of Jewish artists who created work while prisoners in the Theresienstadt / Terezin Ghetto. While creating "official" art for the SS and for propaganda purposes, they secretly created caches of hidden art in which they recorded the reality of the suffering, fear, and death of the ghetto population. What drove them to do this dangerous work? Officially referred to in Holocaust studies as "The Artists' Affair," the SS found and arrested many of these artists, brutalizing them and sending them to Auschwitz. In this talk we will look at the history of these artists and their attempts to record the reality they experienced around them, despite the dangers. We will also discuss what drove them to create this work, dangerous to their very lives. Michael Simonson has been part of the Leo Baeck Institute since 2002. Since his beginnings as a new archivist, he has taken on many roles, including the position of Director of the Dr. Robert Ira Lewy Reference Services and as Director of Public Outreach. Simonson works closely with researchers and their needs, be it academic or personal genealogy. He has coordinated a number of programs online, as well as the monthly meetings of the Leo Baeck Institute book club. You are always welcome to write him with any questions you have related to your research. Register here: https://ow.ly/HMT850UVcQm

Join us on February 23, 2025 at 1:00pm EST time for Secret Testaments: The Artist's Affair in Theresienstadt with Michael Simonson of the Leo Baeck Institute. This program explores a core community of Jewish artists who created work while prisoners in the Theresienstadt / Terezin Ghetto. While creating "official" art for the SS and for propaganda purposes, they secretly created caches of hidden art in which they recorded the reality of the suffering, fear, and death of the ghetto population. What drove them to do this dangerous work? Officially referred to in Holocaust studies as "The Artists' Affair," the SS found and arrested many of these artists, brutalizing them and sending them to Auschwitz. In this talk we will look at the history of these artists and their attempts to record the reality they experienced around them, despite the dangers. We will also discuss what drove them to create this work, dangerous to their very lives. Michael Simonson has been part of the Leo Baeck Institute since 2002. Since his beginnings as a new archivist, he has taken on many roles, including the position of Director of the Dr. Robert Ira Lewy Reference Services and as Director of Public Outreach. Simonson works closely with researchers and their needs, be it academic or personal genealogy. He has coordinated a number of programs online, as well as the monthly meetings of the Leo Baeck Institute book club. You are always welcome to write him with any questions you have related to your research. Register here: https://ow.ly/2N6k50UVcQk

Please join us for our first webinar of 2025! An Embroidered Archive of War featuring Sophie Neiman on February 2 at 1:00PM EST. Sophie Neiman is a freelance journalist covering politics, conflict, and human rights across East and Central Africa. She is a grantee of the Pulitzer Center and her reporting and photography have appeared in Al Jazeera, The Christian Science Monitor, New Internationalist, The New York Review of Books, Prospect, and World Politics Review, among others. Sophie is passionate about telling women's stories, elevating grassroots perspectives, and using journalism to confront the legacies of colonialism and imperialism. She is based in Kampala, where she is the co-chair of the International Press Association of Uganda. Register here https://lnkd.in/ejEfidkE

Please join us for our first webinar of 2025! An Embroidered Archive of War featuring Sophie Neiman on February 2 at 1:00PM EST. Sophie Neiman is a freelance journalist covering politics, conflict, and human rights across East and Central Africa. She is a grantee of the Pulitzer Center and her reporting and photography have appeared in Al Jazeera, The Christian Science Monitor, New Internationalist, The New York Review of Books, Prospect, and World Politics Review, among others. Sophie is passionate about telling women's stories, elevating grassroots perspectives, and using journalism to confront the legacies of colonialism and imperialism. She is based in Kampala, where she is the co-chair of the International Press Association of Uganda. Register here https://lnkd.in/ejEfidkE #EIHRlearns

There is still time to register! Sunday Dec 8 2024 1 PM EST! The Assyrian Genocide: Art Advocacy and Memory This webinar showcases a group of Assyrian artists who use their chosen mediums to express the enduring legacy of genocide and cultural resilience. The Assyrians are the indigenous people of the Middle East, with a history tracing back 6,774 years to the height of their empire, which fell in the 7th century BC. Despite remaining in their ancestral homelands—modern-day Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey—Assyrians have faced well-documented, relentless persecution and genocide over the past two centuries. The panelists, many of whom were born in the diaspora, carry the weight of their families' experiences of persecution. Through their art, they advocate for Assyrians globally, weaving narratives of survival, identity, and justice. Some have reconnected with their roots through pilgrimages to their homeland, while others draw inspiration from the stories passed down by their ancestors, ensuring that the Assyrian legacy remains vibrant and unforgotten. https://lnkd.in/e4vtpgFR Register here https://lnkd.in/edjXz9BU #EIHRlearns