The Big Picture on the Global Refugee Crisis, the Current Moment & How You Can Help

The Big Picture on the Global Refugee Crisis, the Current Moment & How You Can Help

12pm PDT

The plight of millions of people forced to flee their homes was recognized as a crisis that had disrupted countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe, many years before COVID-19 upended lives. Refugees are particularly vulnerable to the virus, but their plight risks are forgotten amidst the pandemic. In this talk, Dr. Jeffrey Herbst, President of American Jewish University, will be joined by Melanie Nezer, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs for HIAS, the global Jewish organization for refugees, and Joe Goldman, the first-ever Los Angeles-based Community Engagement Director for HIAS, to discuss the current state of refugees, how they are faring in the face of the virus and the global economic recession, and what actions can be undertaken to help them.

Melanie Nezer is Senior Vice President, Public Affairs for HIAS, the global Jewish organization for refugees. In this role, she is responsible for planning, directing, managing and implementing strategies that represent and connect HIAS externally. Melanie is a member of the executive team and manages a staff of 40 in four departments: Policy and Advocacy, which delivers our message to Congress, the White House, and the federal agencies that work with refugees; Communications, which develops compelling ways to talk about refugees and our work and makes sure we reach the public through mainstream and social media; Community Engagement, which educates and mobilizes the Jewish community in support of refugees; and Development, which works with individuals and institutions to raise funds for our work. Melanie also oversees the newly-launched HIAS Europe, headquartered in Brussels. Melanie has provided pro bono legal assistance to detained asylum seekers at the US-Mexico border and has visited many refugee communities around the world. Her 2019 Ted Talk, "The Fundamental Right to Seek Asylum," has been viewed over 1.3 million times. In her 17 years at HIAS, Melanie has also served as Vice President for Policy and Advocacy, Migration Policy Counsel, and Director of the Employment Visa Program. Before joining HIAS, Melanie was the Immigration Policy Director for the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. Prior to her work in Washington, she was in private legal practice in Miami, Florida, where she specialized in immigration law and criminal defense. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and Boston College Law School. Melanie lives in the Washington DC area with her family.

Joe Goldman is the first-ever Los Angeles-based Community Engagement Director for HIAS, the world’s oldest – and only Jewish – resettlement agency. Joe works with activists, congregations, and lawmakers across the region to sustain and protect refugees and asylum seekers. Prior to HIAS, Joe served as the Senior Policy Associate at MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, focusing on strengthening the safety net for at-risk seniors, veterans, and college students. Before returning to his native Los Angeles, Joe spent several years working in heart of the Bay Area's tumultuous local political environment, most recently as the Public Affairs & Civic Engagement Manager for San Francisco at the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC). In this role he challenged the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement in the civic arena, championed causes ranging from immigration to housing rights, and staffed the late Mayor Edwin M. Lee’s San Francisco-Haifa Sister City cultural and economic delegation to Israel and Palestine in 2016. Joe holds a B.A. in Political Communication and Masters of Political Management from The George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Dr. Jeffrey Herbst is the fourth president of American Jewish University. Prior to joining AJU, Dr. Herbst was president and CEO of the Newseum and the Newseum Institute in Washington, DC. From 2010 to 2015, he was president of Colgate University, where among other accomplishments he is credited with helping the university complete its nearly half billion-dollar fundraising campaign, leading the development and initial implementation of a university-wide strategic plan, and increasing the diversity and academic caliber of its educational programming. Additionally, Dr. Herbst was a Senior Fellow at the Brenthurst Foundation, was a two-time Fulbright Scholar, and is currently a trustee of Freedom House. He has also served as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and as professor of political science at Miami University in Ohio, and taught at Princeton University for almost two decades.