Jamie Kohen has been an ADL Board Member for the past 12 years, and is involved with ADL’s Education initiatives as well as ADL’s national Leadership 2020 program.  Prior to being a member of the New York Regional Board, Jamie was active with ADL’s Philadelphia and San Francisco offices.

ADL New York Region was proud to honor Jamie with the 2016 “Future is Now” award at our recent Annual Meeting for her many years of dedication to ADL’s work and unwavering commitment to ADL’s future. 

We thank Jamie for allowing us to share her acceptance speech with the entire ADL community. 

Anti-Defamation League NY Region- The Future is Now Award

By Jamie Kohen 

June 8, 2016

Thank you so much to Andrew, the Regional Board, and ADL staff leadership for this recognition.

When I was told I’d receive this award, I was immediately honored to accept.  But then asked myself What does it mean- the Future is Now?

I gave this a good bit of thought and will admit I haven’t come up with the right answer. But I’ll share briefly three potential meanings that make this award significant to me.

First, The Future is Now reminds us that the things we so long ago envisioned would someday occur, are today a reality.

When I was accepted into the Glass Leadership Program, the hope of ADL was that I would be inspired to not just spend the year learning about this organization, but become actively involved.  I’ve now maintained my involvement for 14 years across three cities- San Francisco, Philadelphia and NY.  ADL has become a lifelong nonprofit partner.  Its breadth of civil-rights causes makes it THE charitable “home” for me.

Due largely to ADL’s efforts, we’ve seen great advances in civil rights, the priority put on diversity and the protections for victims of hate.  ADL has helped moved the needle and we continue to strive for change.

I recall some 16 years ago, summer of 2000, showing up at a forum on transgender legal issues.  And only two other people showed up.  And this was in San Francisco.  I was proud to be a supporter, an upstander for this cause, but dismayed by how far we had to go.  Yet today our President has made transgender rights a national priority.

Second, the Future is Now because what we do today influences the tomorrow we’ll experience.

And this holds both for our influence on this organization and more broadly.

Jonathan’s ADL Rising initiative looks to tomorrow- to make sure that ADL is well-positioned, with coordinated regions, working to meet a set of clearly defined goals.  For ADL’s NY region, Evan’s leadership is strengthening the culture of the staff and the board, as all of your attendance here on this rainy night attests to.

To me, ADL’s educational programs are a key way we can influence tomorrow.  Whether we’re:

• providing free lesson plans to elementary school teachers on how to use dolls to explore identity,
• facilitating peer training programs in high schools designed to confront cyberhate,
• or educating Catholic school teachers on the Holocaust,

ADL is a leader in diversity education.

We can and will further push the needle, and continue to reach for and “Imagine A World Without Hate.”  Think of the gains this world would experience if the burdens of prejudice didn’t limit our expectations of others, and if the fear of being pre-judged or discriminated against didn’t limit our expectations of ourselves.

When I shared with my daughters that I’d receive this honor and how much ADL means to me, here’s what they said:

Madeline age 7:  I’m thankful that ADL was made so people get into less fights and find ways to communicate and not scream or yell.

Amelia age 8:  I’m so glad that my mom is working for an awesome organization that helps people stop being mean and to stop bullying.

THEY are the future.

The final meaning of the Future is Now for me is that There is No Time Like the Present.  We must act now.

As mentioned earlier, our recommitment to battling BDS is more than just to protect the Jewish people. This honor is a clarion call to me – and a reminder to us all – that we must do what we can to battle hate of all forms.

As Dr. King once stated, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”  We cannot be bystanders.  When you fight for the equitable treatment of all, as ADL does, you are an upstander. And the onus is on each of you to be an upstander, by:

• influencing policy conversations,
• fighting demagoguery,
• staying informed and mobilizing awareness in your social networks.

You are an upstander just by your presence here tonight.  So thank you for being here, and again thank you so much for this honor.