Welcome Keren Soffer-Sharon!

Rise Up is thrilled to announce our new Director, Keren Soffer-Sharon!

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As an organizer with Jews for Economic and Racial Justice, Keren has been a leader in the Jewish social justice landscape for nearly a decade, organizing thousands of Jewish people to take concrete and meaningful action for the liberation of all people. Keren also co-founded the first ever Mizrahi & Sephardi Caucus in the country and built JFREJ's largest education and organizing program to date.

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Keren can't wait to begin: "I cannot wait to take on this new role, helping to build the spiritual resilience of my beloved Jewish community in its work for justice. Rise Up’s incredible roster of grantees leaves me in awe, and I’m eager to get started so I can raise and redistribute resources to support their vital work.”

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“It’s thrilling to welcome a seasoned cultural organizer and leader like Keren to Rise Up. With so much visionary work happening at the intersection of Jewish spiritual life, political education and movement building we look forward to how Keren will shape Rise Up’s strategic direction and deepen the impact of our 30 grantees,” said Isaac Luria, a key Rise Up advisor and Nathan Cummings Foundation program officer.

 

The Mizrahi & Sephardi Caucus was created to help the Jewish community to reimagine the struggle against Islamophobia, antisemitism, and anti-Arab racism. Harnessing a cultural organizing strategy rooted in Sephardi ritual, spirituality, and heritage, the caucus also laid the groundwork for historic and transformative Jewish and Muslim solidarity work.

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More recently, Keren built JFREJ’s largest education and organizing program to date with 11 neighborhood-based chapters and over a thousand participants across New York City. Throughout her career, she has trained over 5,000 people, developed over 500 leaders, and stewarded over 30 teams. Keren is also the co-author of Understanding Antisemitism: An Offering To Our Movement.