In partnership with the Governor’s Council for Holocaust and Genocide Education, Jewish Family & Children’s Services Holocaust Center acts against rising antisemitism and other forms of hate in the state of California

November 6-7, 2022, San Francisco—This weekend, the newly formed California Collaborative for Holocaust and Genocide Education will gather at The Clancy, Autograph Collection for its November Symposium, led by the Jewish Family and Children’s Services (JFCS) Holocaust Center in San Francisco. The California Collaborative—established with support from a $1.9 Million grant from the Marin County Office of Education and the State of California—is a first-of-its-kind statewide network that connects educators, genocide survivors, and community leaders in Holocaust and genocide education.

California is the first state in the United States to facilitate an organized statewide effort on Holocaust and genocide education. The November Symposium is the first time that the members of the California Collaborative will meet in person to direct the course of the Collaborative’s work together in response to the recent rise of antisemitism and hate across our state.

“The alarming increase of hate and antisemitism in our culture today requires effective moral leadership and a unified approach to educating young people,” said Dr. Anita Friedman, JFCS Executive Director. “We are honored to bring together this impressive group of partners. The work this group is undertaking, to ensure that atrocities from the past are remembered and lessons from them learned, is more vital than ever.”

Symposium attendees represent major organizations involved in advocacy and education across the state of California, including Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Avenues for Change: Holocaust and Genocide Education, Cambodian Genocide Resource Group, Central Valley Holocaust Educators’ Network (CVHEN), Facing History and Ourselves, The Genocide Education Project, Holocaust Museum LA, International Migration Sport and Education Corporation (IMSEC), Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation, Jewish Family and Children’s Services, JFCS Holocaust Center, Museum of Tolerance, Redbud Resource Group, USC Shoah Foundation, and community leaders from the Cambodian, Rwandan, Armenian, Sudanese, Uyghur, and Indigenous communities.

The California Collaborative November Symposium

Symposium sessions cover a variety of topics, including:

• Elevating the Voices of Genocide Beyond the Holocaust
• Genocide Education Across California: Addressing diverse views, urban, rural, and small districts
• Addressing Antisemitism and Hate in Our Communities – Past and Present
• Genocide Studies in the Classroom – Standards, Limitations, and Connection to Content

Two survivors from the Cambodian and Rwandan genocides will share testimony. Mary Jane Burke, Marin County Superintendent of Schools, will give the keynote address, Collaboration: The Key to Addressing Hate and Antisemitism.

The California Collaborative will work in close partnership with the Governor’s Council for Holocaust and Genocide Education, tasked with elevating awareness of and promoting Holocaust and genocide education throughout the State of California.

“Make no mistake: Antisemitism and bigotry remain a threat to the safety and well-being of our communities here in California and around the world,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta in a recent statement from Governor Gavin Newsom’s office. With Dr. Anita Friedman, State Senator Henry Stern, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, Attorney General Bonta is co-chair of the Governor’s Council on Holocaust and Genocide Education, launched by the Governor last year.

The Council will survey the status of Holocaust and genocide education, promote its implementation, and make recommendations to the State Department of Education, Legislature and/or other entities to advocate for such education. This partnership reflects a highly focused statewide effort to elevate Holocaust and genocide education for the benefit of all California’s children and our society as a whole.

Press is invited to attend the California Collaborative’s November Symposium on November 6 and 7, 2022. For more information, contact Simone Miller at [email protected] or 415-686-0490.

Holocaust and Genocide Education

Research shows that Holocaust and genocide education develops empathy in youth, reduces discrimination and hate, and inspires moral courage and social responsibility. The California Collaborative will develop a comprehensive new body of California Common Core-aligned curricular material that builds on existing teachings related to the Holocaust and genocide; cutting-edge professional development opportunities for California public school teachers; and the creation of a state-of-the-art website to provide broad access and distribution. Over the next three years, the initiative will reach an estimated 700 teachers through more than 25 professional development workshops facilitated by members of the California Collaborative–ultimately impacting an estimated 70,000 California students.

About the JFCS Holocaust Center

As Northern California’s primary resource for education about the Holocaust and genocide, the JFCS Holocaust Center works to increase awareness about Jewish history and the causes and consequences of antisemitism, racism, and discrimination. Through a deeper understanding of the Holocaust and patterns of genocide, our goal is to inspire moral courage and social responsibility in future generations. Each year, the JFCS Holocaust Center’s programming reaches 28,000 students, teachers and community members and over 350 schools. The Holocaust Center is a division of Jewish Family and Children’s Services of San Francisco,

the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties.

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