Ivy Kagan Bierman was elected Regional Board Chair of the Pacific Southwest Regional Board at its Annual Meeting on June 14 at the Skirball Cultural Center. The meeting also featured a discussion with ADL National Chair Marvin Nathan.
Prior to the meeting, major donors were treated to a private tour of the Skirball’s current exhibition, Chasing Dreams: Baseball and Becoming American.
On an evening when everyone was still reeling from the news of the Orlando mass shooting, ADL’s mission and message came through loud and clear in the evening’s remarks and tone.
Outgoing Board Chair Eric Kingsley prefaced his remarks with reflection on the Orlando events: “Our position as a civil rights organization at the forefront of the protection of LGBTQ rights, and our position as a leader in the fight against Islamic terror, makes us uniquely positioned to be a strong voice on these issues.” He went on to recount the many interesting and challenging issues ADL faced during his two-year term including increased momentum for BDS and the UCLA incident targeting a Jewish student. Kingsley cautioned against those who advise we avoid entanglement with multi-cultural groups, saying, “We need to be as entangled as ever…..We must reach out to groups of all kinds, left, right and center.”
In her acceptance speech, Ivy Kagan Bierman shared her experiences with anti-Semitism in her home state of Texas – being overlooked, as her brother had been, for a special award in high school – and how this continued at Duke University where Jewish students were not welcome in many fraternities and sororities. These formative experiences, along with bullying her sons experienced in school, has made ADL’s mission resonate for her.
She discussed the goals she is bringing to the position including working closely with staff to help make sure ADL remains “relevant and effective in this technologically advanced era,” outreach to friends, colleagues and clients who can give of themselves and their resources to ADL, outreach to the younger generation in the entertainment industry and the community who can be “the future lifeblood of this critical organization,” and to be a face for the organization that delivers the powerful and meaningful messages that can help us achieve our mission – a world without hate. “That mission seems even more important with the images of Sunday still in my mind,” she said.
Kagan Bierman also relayed in very personal terms how the Orlando attack had affected her and her family. Her older son and his husband called her from a Boston gay pride event to tell her what happened in Orlando. “I was stunned. I couldn’t breathe. It could have happened to them.” She said the aftermath felt like “sitting shiva for the 49 people who died.”
In closing, Kagan Bierman thanked the board for entrusting the leadership to her for the next two years: “I promise to serve you well.”
Concurrent with Kagan Bierman’s election as Chair, the Board also elected Vice Chairs Steven Nichols and Scott Harris, Treasurer Ruth Moss and Secretary Jessica Babrick.
The focus of the meeting was an in-depth discussion with National Chair Marvin Nathan about his vision for the future. After several questions from Kingsley, Nathan fielded questions from the audience ranging from challenges ADL faces in combatting global terrorism, to the BDS movement on campus to issues raised by presidential candidates. Nathan, who had flown in from Houston to speak to this Region’s leadership, shared his own personal story, starting out as a civil rights attorney in the Johnson administration, and reported on ADL Rising, the strategic planning work of a committee of lay leaders and staff. He emphasized the importance of our core work to fight anti-Semitism and the linkage of that work to our broader human relations efforts.