A professional management advisor, fundraiser and scholar in law & economics, Frank has been a volunteer lay leader in LGBT and/or Jewish NGOs since 1999. He is President of the World Congress of GLBT Jews since 2015. He initiated and led the implementation of structural changes including recruiting a renewed more diverse group of officers and volunteers, simplifying the bylaws and streamlining the processes, add donations as a major source of funding together with members’ dues. He led the World Congress contribution to Pride conferences in Tel Aviv, Buenos Aires and today in Paris. Since he moved to New York City, he made CBST rejoined the World Congress as a full member and has co-produced their first Muslim-Jewish Engagement event. From 1999 to 2016, Frank was a member of the board of Beit Haverim; he was President and then Spokesperson. He led the capital campaigns for 10 years culminating into the acquisition of Beit Haverim house in 2008. He also co-led several interfaith groups of LGBT activists promoting memory and peace between peoples to Auschwitz-Birkenau, Israël and Palestine. He co-produced the book celebrating Beit Haverim 40th anniversary in 2017. In 2003, Frank founded DiverCity, the LGBT NGO at ESSEC Business School and was its first President. As an expert on LGBT rights, Frank was auditioned by the French government and parliament during the preparation of the law on marriage equality in 2013. He has published and contributed to more than 90 articles, interviews and conferences on LGBT rights. Frank graduated MBA from ESSEC. He is a research scholar and doctorate candidate in comparative law at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and Columbia University in the City of New York.
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Goldy is passionate about the World Congress providing a voice and networking source for both LGBTQI Jewish organizations and individuals worldwide. An active member of the Washington DC LBGT synagogue, Bet Mishpachah, Goldy served on the Board of Directors in various positions and currently serves on their Rabbinic Liaison and Education committees. Dedicated to her share תיקון עולם (repair of the world), Goldy conducted a study on the business case for diversity for one of the largest school districts in the United States. Her recommendations were included in district-wide diversity initiatives.
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Our Valuable Team Members
Gabrielle (Gabi) is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan having studied French and Sociology. Gabi is currently living in Metro Detroit. Please contact Gabi with any questions regarding the website and newsletter or if you’re interested in volunteering. Gabi will be working with the organization until September, 2018.
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He recently graduated with his Master of Laws from Columbia Law School and currently serves as the Director of Programming and Operations at the American Jewish Congress. In Israel, Assaf served as a Senior Advisor to Israel’s Minister of Health and a former legislative advisor at the Israeli Parliament – The Knesset. Assaf initiated and was in charge of many LGBTQ achievements and political campaigns in the Israeli government. They include promoting the first governmental legislation to end surrogacy discrimination for LGBTQ, revolutionizing sex reassignment surgery regulation for the transgender community, fighting conversion treatments, ending the ban on blood donation from MSM in Israel and initiating a special yearly LGBTQ Human Rights Day at the Knesset.
Oded lives in Tel Aviv, Israel. Oded was the treasurer and a board member of the Aguda, an LGBTQ organization in Israel, for five years. Oded is an expert in the Tel Aviv real estate market. He sees the world becoming more open, but believes we still need to fight against antisemitism, homophobia, and transphobia to achieve the full rights of other populations. He feels it is very important to have a presence in Israel in order to continue the struggle for full LGBTQ equality there.
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Originally from London, Jacq has lived for a long time in Amsterdam. Jacq is an activist for LGBTQIA+ rights and inclusion. They are a part of the Global Interfaith Network and were instrumental in the creation of the book, “Behold, I make all things new: What do the sacred texts of Judaism, Christianity and Islam really say in regard to human sexuality?”
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Marco lives in Rome, Italy working as a professional solider in the Italian army. He’s lived for almost 10 years with his partner Federico with whom he made the ghiur (formal conversion to Judaism) in 2012 in paris at the Mouvement Juif Libéral de France (MJLF). Marco and Federico will get married on September 11th, 2016 in Rome in a religious ceremony with a Rabbi, kippa, ketuba, and lots of friends. He is the head of the organization Magen David Keshet Italia. Their mission is to help Jewish homosexual people to live their lives with serenity without having to give up any part of their personality, especially for those who are religious.
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Alicia Roney is from Mexico City. She belongs to Guimel, an LGBTQ Jewish organization in Mexico. She studied psychology at the Universidad Iberoamericana. She has experience in web design, gender studies, and photography. Her entrepreneurship and philanthropy has taken her to explore many diverse industries. All of these experiences has made Alicia a diverse person who believes everyone deserves to live openly, freely, and with dignity.
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Shep is based in New York City and works with Congregation Beit Simchat Torah there. Shep has been involved with the World Congress since 1977. His passion is reaching and supporting small, isolated, emerging and re-emerging Jewish communities worldwide, working with Kulanu, as he has visited many in Ethiopia, Uganda, South Africa and Cape Verde, where much of his family lives. He is involved in the Assembly of the Federation of Gay Games and is part of the team planning for World Pride: Stonewall 50 in 2019 in New York. He is a long term survivor of HIV/AIDS for over thirty years and is an AIDS activist.
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