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Leadership Spotlight: Matthew Babrick and Jessica Babrick

  • January 26, 2021

Supporting ADL is a decades-long family tradition for Matthew and Jessica Babrick. Joining their regional ADL chapter was one of the first things they did when they got married and moved to Los Angeles. Matthew now sits on the ADL Los Angeles Regional Board. Jessica has served as an Associate National Commissioner, on the Executive Committee of the Los Angeles Regional Board, and has chaired the region’s Legal Advisory Committee. Both are graduates and former chairs of ADL’s Glass Leadership Institute. In 2014, Jessica received the Daniel R. Ginsberg Leadership Award for her work to end anti-Semitism, racism and all forms of prejudice. Twenty years before, her father was the first Ginsberg Award recipient.

The Babricks’ family commitment to ADL began when Jessica’s parents, Mitch and Julie Dubick, joined the San Diego chapter when Jessica was a child. Their involvement had a profound influence on their daughter. In sixth grade, Jessica created a school project titled “The Good Old Days Weren’t So Good.” Using educational materials from ADL, her presentation explored how the 1940s and 1950s were difficult for anyone who wasn’t a white, Protestant man. On the strength of her project, she was invited to present it at the state fair that year.

“I grew up aware of ADL and I was always drawn to the importance of the mission,” said Jessica. “When I was growing up in San Diego in the ‘80s and ‘90s, there were hate crimes against local temples. It became clear to me how important it is to protect civil liberties.”

Matthew caught Jessica’s passion for ADL when they met. He appreciates how ADL remains on the forefront of today’s issues and works to educate the public and law enforcement about civil liberties and hate crimes. He encourages young people he mentors to join ADL.

“I do a lot of teaching and mentoring, and young people ask all the time, ‘how do I get involved with my community?’” said Matthew. “I recommend connecting with ADL because I know they’ll be passionate about ADL’s mission and meet a lot of really interesting people. As a young person looking to find a way to make difference in the community, ADL checks all of the boxes.”

As a child, ADL helped teach Jessica about the importance of protecting people who can’t protect themselves. Now Matthew and Jessica share that goal as a couple and work to impart it to the next generation, including their own children.

“As parents, we try to embody the ADL mission statement. We promote tolerance and encourage them to stand up to bullies,” said Jessica. “ADL helps us teach them how to listen and understand where other people are coming from.”

 

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