Launching its fourth cohort, AJC New York Empowered Parents was 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 is more necessary than ever as we near 18-months since the horrific attack of October 7 and the skyrocketing rise of antisemitism and exclusion of Jewish voices from educational spaces that followed. Empowered Parents builds upon AJC’s enormously successful work with parents and school administrators over the past few years to make real change in school spaces.
Facilitated by Ira Glasser, AJC Director of K-12 Education Strategy, NY, Empowered Parents addresses hard topics and challenging, yet crucial, conversations parents may come across in their schools over three educational sessions and an end of program social. Ira Glasser is a seasoned educator and public speaker with over 15 years of teaching, curricular, and education administration experience,
Among the topics to be covered:
- How to successfully advocate with school administration when antisemitic incidents occur in school.
- What is the best way to address a situation of 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?
Dinner will be served.
Session 1 – Jews and DEI
Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025, 6:30-8:30 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 absent from 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 2 – Conversations About Israel in Educational Spaces
Wednesday, March 5, 2025, 6:30-8:30 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.
Session 3 – Jewish Advocacy in Educational Spaces
Wednesday, March 12, 2025, 6:30-8:30 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 do not 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.
The Empowered Parents Cohort is capped at 30 participants. Dinner will be served.
End of Program Social – Early April 2025
Click Here to Apply
If you have questions about Empowered Parents, please email Ira Glasser at [email protected].
*All participants of Empowered Parents are requested to make a $725 donation to AJC to help sponsor our important advocacy work in New York City and around the globe, as well as to cover the costs of the program. This donation is 100% tax deductible. The Spring Session of Empowered Parents is partially underwritten; reducing the program contribution to $725 per participant.
