Alumni and Friends Events

RSVP today.

The Legal Studies Program and the Heller School for Social Policy hosted the 2025 Guberman Lecture, with Lauren Stiller Rikleen, Esq. Executive Director of Lawyers Defending American Democracy.  Attorney Rikleen was a member of the Class of 1975 and part of the inaugural graduating class of Legal Studies students.

Lauren Stiller Rikleen '75, Esq., presented "Unraveling Justice: Responding to our Democracy and the Rule of Law in Crisis." A former law firm partner and leader in professional and community organizations, Lauren is the author of 4 books and the editor of Her Honor –Stories of Challenge and Triumph from Women Judges. 

Our democracy stands at a critical juncture, and each day brings increasing challenges. With each new round of executive actions, the norms and principles of democracy as we know it are further eroded. Threats to the legal profession and the court system impact the entire justice system and affect all people in this country. What do we all need to know to respond to the Rule of Law in crisis?

The Guberman Lecture in Law and Social Policy was established by the family of Joshua A. Guberman, a noted Boston attorney and social justice advocate. 

Thank you for joining us in celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Legal Studies Program.  Please consider a gift to the Legal Studies Program or the Heller School, #Hellerat65.  Both of these will benefit future students at Brandeis University!

The Schneider Institutes for Health Policy and Research hosted this year's Stanley Wallack Lecture featuring Sarah K. Emond, MPP'09, who presented "How Employers Can Save The Health Care System: The Power of Data and Evidence."

With 25 years of experience in the business and policy of health care, Sarah leads the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, a leading non-profit health policy research organization, as President and Chief Executive Officer. She joined ICER in 2009 as its first Chief Operating Officer and third employee, and has worked to grow the organization’s approach, scope, and impact over the years.

Prior to joining ICER, Sarah spent time as a communications consultant, with six years in the corporate communications and investor relations department at a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, and several years with a health care communications firm. Sarah began her health care career in clinical research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

A graduate of the Heller School, Sarah holds a Master of Public Policy degree with a concentration in health policy. Sarah also received a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Smith College. Sarah speaks frequently at national conferences on the topics of prescription drug pricing policy, comparative effectiveness research, and value-based health care. In her free time, Sarah enjoys skiing and hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

In honor of our 65th Anniversary year, thank you for considering a gift to the Stanley Wallack Lecture Series.

The proliferation of cyber systems and the emergence and commercialization of new Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies that have occurred in the last decade seem to offer many advantages. Nonetheless, they also seem to carry a high risk to livelihood sustainability and labor force retention, which presents grave concerns in some sectors. One of these concerns relates to their impact on job creation and livelihood security. While these technologies promise better, cheaper, and faster ways of undertaking some technical endeavors, they are also perceived as having the potential to replace human participation in the job market. There is also the aspect of technological education that seems to lag behind the pace and rapidity of these innovative technologies. The seminar explored these debates and examined the Good, the Fear, and the Opportunities (GFO) of cyber technologies and AI. The panel also highlighted the importance of higher education in the training and development of the future workforce since these systems are here to stay. Experts on the panel also examined how professionals and students can take advantage of this expanding career field and what it might require. In essence, how do we turn what seems to be hype into hope for livelihood security and labor force development? Panelists included Prof. Joseph Assan, PhD, Program Director, Sustainable International Development Program, The Heller School; Prof. Fahad Doger, Associate Professor, Tufts University; Andy Mendez, MBA/MA SID '23, formerly of the U.S. Department of Commerce; and Prof. Daniel Haehn, Assistant Professor, Boston University.

This event was sponsored by the Center for Global Development and Sustainability. It was held as a precursor to the Brandeis Global Cyber Security Conference, which takes place on the 25th and 26th of April, 2025. 

The Brandeis library offered authors the opportunity to showcase their recent book publications through our ongoing Book Talk Series. This event provides a platform for authors to engage with the community, share insights from their work, and discuss its impact. We aim to host these book talks multiple times each semester.

This event was hosted by the Center for Global Development & Sustainability and the Sustainable International Development Program for a fireside discussion.

Panelists included Professor Joseph Assan, PhD, Program Director, Sustainable International Development Program; Christina Horner, MEd, CEO of Horner Consulting; Elected Member, Wellesley Schools Governance Committee, MA; Charmain Jackman, PhD, CEO of Inno Psych, Harvard Trained Licensed Clinical Psychologist; Professor Mercy Luguterah, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Maryland Global Campus; Gloria Mahama, MA SID'13, Senior Social Development Specialist, The World Bank; and Henrietta Awo Osei-Anto, MA'14, PhD candidate, Fmr. Director, FasterCure, A Center of Milken Institute, DC, and Fmr. Senior Program Officer, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

If you have a question, contact Prof. Joseph Assan or Ophelia Akoto. This event is co-sponsored by the Brandeis University African Forum (BUAF); Brandeis Graduate Students Association (GSA); Heller Students Association (HSA); Brandeis Black Students Organization; Heller Students Services; and the Office of the Dean and Heller DEI. 

Spring into networking at the Heller School Boston networking event and meet alumni with open positions at their organization. Join us at Time Out Market as we celebrate 65 years of Heller at this annual event to expand your network. Please join us to connect with fellow alumni, meet prospective students, and visit our virtual job listings. Nurture your network in Boston! To foster networking before the event, write a post about your career or time so far at Heller in the BConnect Heller group feed.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) argues that Cyber and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Systems are the new frontiers of Social (In)justice. Our world has increasingly become interconnected due to the rapid proliferation of new cyber systems and AI. While these systems are known to offer and facilitate advancements in various sectors, it is also not very clear what the implications of some of these developments might be globally, especially for countries in the global south. With the advent of the rapid emergence of new cyber and AI technologies, the seminar and its panel will seek to examine the good, the bad, and the unknown of cyber+AI systems and challenge the participants of the event with a discussion on how we may have to respond and adapt. This discussion also explored the factors that facilitate access to the new cyber+AI world, the gatekeepers, and beneficiaries, and how to address the associated and perceived structural inequities and marginalization.

Panelists included Prof. Joseph Assan, Director, SID Program; Associate Director, Center for Global Development & Sustainability; Prof. Moaven Razavi, MS GHPM'06, PhD'11; Dr. Ezra Tefera, MS GHPM'22, Program Director and Researcher, Racial Justice x Tech Policy - IERE; and Bertha Asare, MA SID'21, Senior Privacy and Information Security Analyst, Brandeis University.

Interim Dean Maria Madison and Dr. Ravi Lakshmikanthan, MA SID’99, celebrate the Heller School’s 65th Anniversary at Trinity Place Bar and Restaurant in NYC with Heller alumni. The most impactful part of our community is the people. If you are looking for a job or you just want to reconnect with your Heller roots, we want to see you there.

Please join us to connect with fellow alumni, meet prospective students, and visit our virtual job listings. Nurture your network in New York!

It is easy to be in favor of a government that reflects the will of people you like. It is more difficult to be in favor of a government that reflects the will of people you dislike. But this is precisely what democracy requires of us. Heller faculty member Graham Wright, MPP'15, PhD'16, held a discussion of his new book on the challenges and opportunities for American democracy in an era of polarization. He was joined by a panel of discussants: Lisa Lynch, Jody Hoffer Gittell, and Jeffrey Lenowitz.

Sponsored by the Heller School and the Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies. The recording will be posted soon.

The Community Living Policy Center and Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF)'s Mary Lou Breslin, Hanneke van Deursen, and Morgan Tweed joined the Lurie Institute for this exciting and timely webinar exploring the burgeoning movement for social housing in the United States and the untapped opportunities it presents to increase permanent, affordable, accessible housing for disabled renters. Social housing embodies the growing view that private, for-profit housing development has failed to meet the nation’s growing affordable housing crisis. Shielded from the market, rent-stabilized, and sustainable, social housing holds the potential to help solve the housing shortage for renters with diverse incomes, including very low-income disabled people. 

Topics for discussion included: summarize the policies that have caused the current affordable, accessible housing crisis in the US; present an overview of the origins of social housing and how states and locales embrace the model; introduce lessons from social housing in the Netherlands; explain why and how social housing developers should fully incorporate principles of universal, inclusive design and accessibility features into new social housing construction; and outline actions disability advocates can take to unlock the potential of social housing.

Sponsored by the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy.

The Lurie Institute hosted a webinar in honor of International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) with four disabled leaders from around the world. Panelists Yuijao Peng, Sushil Adhikari, Alan Herbert, and Jennifer Lee-Rambharose discussed their work and vision as it relates to this year’s IDPD theme ‘amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future.’ Dr. LuanJiao Aggie Hu facilitated the discussion, asking questions about the panelists' approaches to disability-related work in their country and the role of international perspectives in their work.

Sponsored by the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy.

Watch the recording.

This fireside chat explored critical issues shaping the post-election landscape, examining how AI, healthcare, labor, and legal policies will impact our society. Panelists included Anita Hill, University Professor of Social Policy, Law, and Women's, Gender, Sexuality Studies and David R. Pokross Professor of Law and Social Policy; David Weil, Professor, The Heller School; Natasha H. Williams, Professor, Loyola University Chicago School of Law and Brandeis University, AI & Healthcare Law Expert; Lia Tadesse Gebremedhin, Executive Director, Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program and Former Ethiopian Minister of Health; and was moderated by Interim Dean Maria Madison.

This event was co-sponsored by the Heller School and the Racial Justice and Technology Policy Program. All events are part of the Heller 65th Anniversary year, Celebrating Knowledge Advancing Social Justice, #Hellerat65. Thank you for considering a gift to the Heller School. 

The conversation focused on the importance of centering disability in the creation of equitable health policies with panelists Rich Besser, President, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Rebecca Cokley, Disability Rights Program Officer, Ford Foundation; and Teresa Nguyen, Director, Community Living Equity Center. Rich, Rebecca, and Teresa discussed the journey that the RWJF and the Ford Foundation have taken towards more equitable grantmaking, lessons learned, and a way forward. Sponsored by the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy and the Ford Foundation.

We discussed the current state of cybersecurity in the United States, strategies for protecting vulnerable populations, privacy in digital investigations, and the latest research in the field. This session promises insightful discussions with leading experts, offering valuable perspectives on how AI is influencing cybersecurity practices and policies. Ideal for anyone interested in the intersection of technology, security, and society, this event is a great opportunity to stay informed about important trends and challenges in cybersecurity.

Panelists included Dr. Francisca Afua Opoku-Boateng, ShareTheMicInCyber Fellow, New America; Gabrielle Hibbert, ShareTheMicInCyber Fellow, New America, and Adjunct Lecturer, Brandeis University; and Erich Shumann, CEO Global Atlantic Partners, Adjunct Professor, Brandeis International Business School.

Hosted by the Racial Justice and Technology Policy Program (RJxTP), Institute of Economics and Racial Equity.

Spring into networking at the Heller School Boston spring networking event and meet alumni with open positions at their organization. Join us as we celebrate 65 years of Heller at this annual event to expand your network. This year we are adding a recruitment fair at the event for students and alumni. Bring your business cards for a raffle at the event. Nurture your network and see your career bloom!

If you have a job opening, please check the box on the RSVP form to set up a spot at this event and send us your job description at hellercareers@brandeis.edu.

All events are part of the Heller 65th Anniversary year, Celebrating Knowledge Advancing Social Justice, #Hellerat65. Please make a 65th Anniversary gift today!

It’s Heller biggest giving day of the year! Help make an impact on current and future and Heller Students by making a gift in honor of the 65^th Anniversary year. Faculty, Staff, Researchers, Alumni, Students, and Friends are invited to make a gift to one of the following funds on #GivingDEISday:

• Heller Student Enrichment Funds
• Heller Fellowship Fund
• Heller School Greatest Need

An anonymous donor has stepped forward to match an additional $6,500 gift once we reach 100 donors and $6,500 in giving. Your gift also counts towards Heller’s 65^th Anniversary. 

Student donors can enter their name to win one of three prizes on Giving DEISday in the Zinner Forum. Faculty, Staff, Researchers, Alumni and Friends who make a gift on DEISday are eligible to win a Brandeis sweatshirt!

The 2024 Joshua A. Guberman Lecture was delivered by Dr. Anita Hill, the new David R. Pokross Professor of Law and Social Policy. This lecture was established at Brandeis University to honor the memory of Joshua Guberman, a lawyer whose passionate concerns were for individual well-being and social justice. This year, we are particularly honored to celebrate the life of Joshua’s widow and long-time Heller staff member, Milly Guberman Kravetz, who passed away in September.

In this presentation, Anita Hill, University Professor and David R. Pokross Professor of Law and Social Policy, argued that equal access principles alone are not enough to promote social justice goals. Legal and policy gains of the civil rights and women's rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s relied heavily on the theory of equal access. However, time has taught us those policies that tout equal access without attention to equal anti-discriminatory outcomes will not, to quote Justice Ginsburg, "undo generations of rank discrimination." Recent Supreme Court reasoning attempting to usher in an era of color and gender blindness ignores historic and contemporary structural and institutional discrimination. Legal decisions combine with state Anti-DEI and CRT legislation, book bans, and the elimination of sociology as a higher education core course to erase knowledge that higher education and social justice movements have produced. Progress toward social justice must be measured by equality of lived experiences. And law and policy must be guided by that vision. To paraphrase Justice Thurgood Marshall, to reach "complete equality," we must bring "reality closer to theory and democratic principles."

For over 20 years, David R. Pokross was a driving force on the Heller School Board of Advisors and also served as board chair from 1991-1997. He would have been delighted to know that University Professor Anita Hill is now the holder of this chair and we celebrate her during this special event.

This event is co-sponsored by the Heller School along with the Brandeis Legal Studies program.

All events are part of the Heller 65th Anniversary year, Celebrating Knowledge Advancing Social Justice, #Hellerat65. Thank you for considering a gift to the Heller School or the Legal Studies Program. Both of these will benefit future students at Brandeis University!

What is a queer methodology, or what does a queering of methods imply? Who can use queer methods and why might they be useful? Are queer methods essential for robust public policy? And can a queer methodology help us achieve diversity and inclusion? In an interactive presentation, Prof. Bailey explored these questions by leading a discussion on the meaning and implications of a queer perspective/epistemology.

Emma G. Bailey was a professor of sociology at Western New Mexico University in the US for 15 years. She was also director of the Center for Gender Equality and Social Justice for 5 years. Emma earned her PhD from the University of Denver in 2001 with specialties in sociological theory, sociology of gender, and sociology of religion. She is currently visiting professor in the Center for Gender Studies at the Universidad Veracruzana, Mexico. A Fulbright alum, she served as a professor of US Studies in 2018, also at the Universidad Veracruzana. Her current research project explores gay tourism in Mexico, queer pedagogy and queer linguistics.

The 8th Annual Stanley Wallack Distinguished Memorial Lecture was held with special guest speaker Ken Duckworth, MD, as he discussed "Mental Health in American, You are Not Alone." Ken Duckworth, MD, is the chief medical officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and has worked with NAMI since 2003. Ken is board certified in adult psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry, and is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He was previously acting commissioner and medical director at the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. Ken has worked on an assertive community treatment team, at an early psychosis program, at an elementary school, at a health plan, and with people who are unhoused. His passion for this work comes from his loving dad who had bipolar disorder.

Thank you for considering a gift to the Stanley Wallack Memorial Lecture Series in honor of Heller's 65th Anniversary year. This event is sponsored by the Schneider Institutes for Health Policy and Research. If you have questions about this event, contact Kathy Cook.

Join us for the Distinguished Carrie Buck Fellowship and hear a conversation with our Carrie Buck Fellow, Robin Wilson-Beattie and Rebecca Cokley titled: Accessing Reproductive Justice: Using Intersectional Self, Systems, and Community Advocacy to Create Inclusive Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare and Expression. Hear how Robin's journey utilizing an intersectional disability advocacy approach supports disability and reproductive justice worldwide.

In celebration of the inauguration of the Florence G. Heller Chair, Professor Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld, MBA Program Director, will address the institutional and ethical challenges of AI and Geoengineering. For human civilization, the accelerating roles of AI and geoengineering bring vast opportunities and existential threats. The ethical deployment of AI and geoengineering poses institutional challenges—they are beyond the scope of any individual, group, or organization. Calls for an embargo on the uses of AI and geoengineering will not work. Institutions, the very sources of stability in society, need to foster agile and adaptive responses. Only then can social systems effectively co-evolve with technology. This talk will present a theory and model for agile change at the institutional level of society and then apply it to AI ethics and geoengineering. This is a public address upon the inauguration of the Florence G. Heller Chair for Professor Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld. This event is a must-attend for anyone interested in the intersection of technology, policy, and ethics.

This event is sponsored by the Racial Justice and Technology Policy Program with the Institute for Economic and Racial Equity. If you have questions about this event, contact Ezra Tefera. 

Feminist activism and movements in Latin America have a longstanding history. During their first encuentro, or meeting, in Bogotá, Colombia (July 1981), Latin American and Caribbean feminist activists and groups declared November 25th as “International Day Against Violence Against Women” in honor of Dominican political activists Patria, Minerva, and Maria Teresa, who were brutally murdered in 1960 by order of the country’s dictator, Rafael Trujillo. While gender-based violence has gained visibility at national, regional, and international levels, and important legislation has paved pathways towards addressing violence against women, Latin America remains the region with the highest rate of sexual violence in the world (UNDP, 2017). In a concerted effort to address the expanse of gender-based violence and its contemporary conditions in the region, attendees took part in a rich discussion organized and moderated by Brandeis professor María J. Durán and featuring Rosa-Linda Fregoso (University of California, Santa Cruz) and Bernadine Hernández (University of New Mexico).

Events in the year-long Mellon Sawyer seminar series, “Imperiled Bodies: Slavery, Colonialism, Citizenship and the Logics of Gender-Based Violence” are sponsored by a prestigious John E. Sawyer Seminar grant from the Mellon Foundation. For more information contact Carmel Ohman. 

Join Interim Dean Maria Madison and Ravi Lakshmikanthan, MA SID'99, Associate Dean, Global and Strategic Initiatives at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC and help us kick off our 65th Anniversary year! Expand your professional network, make new contacts, and hear about the latest news about the Heller School. Make a gift for Heller's 65th Anniversary Year! #Hellerat65

The Heller Career Development Office and the International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO) at Brandeis University have collaborated to organize the Heller International Alumni Panel series. Alumni panelists included: Wafaa Arbash, MA SID/COEX'17, Head of Product Workforce, CloudFactory; Yasmine Acheampong, MA SID'16, Operations Officer, World Bank; Musukuta Badjie, MA SID'12, Independent Consultant, World Bank; Ninette Irabaruta, MA SID'18, Senior Director of Community Engagement and Outreach, United Way of Southern Maine; and Leulsegged Kasa Mekonen, MA SID'18/MS'18, Research Project Manager, Purdue Applied Research Institute. Our esteemed alumni have made significant contributions to academia and communities across the globe. We believe that Heller students can benefit greatly by learning firsthand knowledge and insight from their career journeys.

The Heller Career Development Office and the International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO) at Brandeis University have collaborated to organize the Heller International Alumni Panel series.

The panel will feature two distinguished alumni, Christian Mahillet, MA SID '11, and Field Finance Accountant at Action Against Hunger, and Pallavi Gupta, MA SID '18, and Program Director LASER PULSE (USAID).

Our esteemed alumni have made significant contributions to academia and communities across the globe. We believe that Heller students can benefit greatly by learning firsthand knowledge and insight from their career journeys.

You are invited to join the Career Conversation Session with Prof A.K. Nandakumar, Professor of the Practice; Academic Director, Global Programs; Director, Institute for Global Health and Development, organized by the Heller Career Development Center. The Career Conversations are one of the ways we keep Heller students informed about career opportunities and experiences, and how they can use the knowledge and skills acquired from Heller classrooms to achieve their desired careers. Alumni are welcome to attend.

Nandakumar’s experience, expertise, and accomplishments have contributed immensely to academia and communities worldwide. We believe that Heller students will benefit greatly by gaining firsthand knowledge and insight from Nandakumar’s career journey. Watch recorded Career Conversations on the Career Center YouTube page.

The Brandeis Alumni Club of Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey Cordially invited alumni and friends to Celebrate

The 75th Anniversary of Brandeis University
with President Ronald Liebowitz
at Lincoln Financial Field
Home of the Philadelphia Eagles

Includes Stadium Tours and a Reception in The Firstrust Bank Club Lounge

Special thanks to Heller alum and Eagles Chairman and CEO, Jeffrey Lurie, Heller PhD’87.

Join Interim Dean Maria Madison in addition to Heller School alumni and current students, board members, faculty, researchers and staff for drinks and hors d’oeuvres as we laugh, converse, and enjoy a night of Heller at Mighty Squirrel Brewery in Waltham, welcoming new and returning students to Heller! Come support current Heller School students by sharing your expertise, insight, stories, and connections as they prepare for the semester, practicum searches, internships and other post-graduate opportunities. This event was co-sponsored by the Heller Development and Alumni Relations, Career Development Center, and the Office of Admissions.

Organized and moderated by University Professor Anita Hill, “Slavery, Citizenship, and the Afterlife of Gender-Based Violence” will feature Sarah Deer, Distinguished Professor at the University of Kansas, and Crystal Feimster, Associate Professor of African American Studies, American Studies and History at Yale University. This session will undertake a comparative discussion about the logics of settler colonial genocide and sexual violence against Native and enslaved Black women with regards to the delineation of citizenship. It will lay bare the foundational inequities facing Black, Indigenous and other marginalized people that must be addressed in order to eliminate violence and other residuum of slavery and settler colonialism.

Events in the year-long Mellon Sawyer seminar series, “Imperiled Bodies: Slavery, Colonialism, Citizenship and the Logics of Gender-Based Violence” are sponsored by a prestigious John E. Sawyer Seminar grant from the Mellon Foundation that is led by PI Anita Hill (Heller School for Social Policy and Management), co-PI Harleen Singh (Senior Associate Provost for Faculty & Global Affairs, Director of the Women’s Studies Research Center, and Associate Professor of Literature and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies), and ChaeRan Freeze (Frances and Max Elkon Chair in Modern Jewish History).

Brandeis sponsors and resources include the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, the Mandel Center for the Humanities, the Women’s Studies Research Center, the Hadassah Brandeis Institute, the Feminist Sexual Ethics Project, the Rose Art Museum, the Kniznick Art Gallery, the Gender and Sexuality Center, and the Prevention, Advocacy, and Resource Center.

This event will feature a ketnote address by the Hon'ble Dr Justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, The Chief Justice of India. GDS inaugurated in 2015 an annual conference on caste. While each focused on current ideations of caste, they each honored the Unfinished Legacy of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the preeminent 20th Century leader against untouchability. The first three conferences were hosted at Brandeis. The series continued as a “floating conference,” first at The University of Massachusetts/Amherst and then at The New School, New York. The Sixth International Conference returns home to Brandeis.

This event is co-sponsored by, Office of the Provost, Brandeis University; India Initiative, International Business School; The Legal Studies Program; Indian Institute of Dalit Studies; Community for the Eradication of Discrimination in Education and Employment, India; Ambedkar Initiative, Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, Columbia University; Boston Study Group; and Ambedkar International Mission, USA. If you have questions about this event, contact Jaea Compton.

Dean Madison's experience, expertise, and accomplishments have contributed immensely to academia and communities worldwide. We believe that Heller students will benefit greatly by gaining firsthand knowledge and insight from her career journey.

“Maria Madison succeeded David Weil as the Heller School’s interim dean on July 1, 2022. Madison previously served as Heller’s associate dean for equity, inclusion and diversity and director of the Institute for Economic and Racial Equity (IERE). Maria Madison originally joined Brandeis in 2017 as Heller’s first associate dean for equity, inclusion and diversity, a new leadership position created in response to student-led activism during Ford Hall 2015. As associate dean, Madison developed and implemented a targeted, evidence-based approach to improving DEI for all members of the Heller community, and forged innovative and effective partnerships across the school and the university as well as with policymakers and various organizations. In August 2020, Madison became director of Heller’s Institute for Economic and Racial Equity (formerly the Institute on Assets and Social Policy). Under her leadership, the institute adopted a new name, expanded its team and deepened its focus on policy-driven racial disparities. In December 2021, IERE secured a landmark $1 million gift from the Kapor Center to support a new initiative on racial justice and tech policy. As in her DEI work, this new initiative is designed to be cross-cutting, incorporating participation from research, the academy, and students at the graduate and undergraduate levels."
~Excerpt from the Heller School School of Social Policy and Management Website.
Watch recorded Career Conversations on the Career Center YouTube page.

A successful weekend that brought the entire Brandeis community — past and present — back to campus for a celebration like none other. Read more and watch videos of the best of the university’s events celebrating the university’s bold past and bright future. 

The Heller Social Impact MBA Program invited students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners to the annual MBA Distinguished Management Lecture featuring a trailblazing physician and social entrepreneur, Cheryl Dorsey. She currently serves as the president of Echoing Green, a global nonprofit that supports emerging social entrepreneurs and invests deeply in their ideas and leadership. She has served in two presidential administrations and began her career by launching The Family Van, a community-based mobile health unit in Boston.

We are also celebrating Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld, the new Social Impact MBA Program Director, who is being invested as the Florence G. Heller Chair. Florence Heller was a charitable pioneer, supporting medical research and the Jewish Welfare Board. In 1959, she provided the founding grant to launch our school, originally named the Florence Heller Graduate School for Advanced Studies in Social Welfare at Brandeis and served as a trustee of the University. Thank you for considering a gift to any fund in honor of Heller's 65th Anniversary. For more information contact Elena Lewis at ewilson@brandeis.edu. This event is co-sponsored by the Heller MBA Program and Office of Equity, Inclusion & Diversity.

The Heller School and Interim Dean Maria Madison honored Professor Michael Doonan, PhD'02, as he concludes his 16-year term as MPP Program Director to be the Heller Online Program Director, looking forward to Heller's future of innovative online learning. He will still be serving as the MPP Health Policy Concentration Chair and teaching History, Social Policy Analysis and State Health Policy with the MPP program. Teaching the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion course for the MPP program since 2016, Alexandra Pineros-Shields, PhD'07, will take the reins of MPP Program Director this coming academic year.

The Racial Justice and Tech Policy (IERE) program presented an inspirational conversation on reforming access to quality education in America.  Five panelists examined the challenge of establishing a system of education that is fair and equitable for all as well as the role of technology. Panelists will include Gabrielle Hibbert, SID'21, Adjunct Lecturer; Alexandra Pineros-Shields, PhD'07, MPP Program Director; Janelle Ridley, Founder and CEO Affirmation Education; Interim Dean Maria Madison; and Steve Tompkins, Sheriff, Suffolk county Sheriff’s department. Micro-credentialing programs as well as the relationship of the criminal legal system and education were discussed. For more information, contact: Ezra Tefera MD, MS, Program Director and Research Associate; Racial Justice and Technology Policy (IERE)

Timely, efficient, and responsible resolution of conflicts is more important than ever.  Prof. Alain Lempereur  answered the question of what to do when tensions escalate, and parties fail to negotiate on their own? How can we give negotiation a last chance, instead of going to court, strike, or even war? We can try mediation, which enables the pursuit of negotiation by other means. Mediation is increasingly sought by individuals, corporations, and governments, because they wish to remain in charge of their destiny and seek constructive solutions to end their most intractable disputes.

The evolution of public health in California has been a long one, with ups and downs and improved through years of trial and error. With guidance from Barbara Ferrer, PhD’94, Los Angeles County - the largest county in the United States - has been able to survive and build, but the work is far from done. Dr. Ferrer explained past public health issues, current challenges in this new era, and plans of health equity for all.

Barbara Ferrer, PhD’94, is the nationally recognized director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, which prevents disease and promotes health equity and wellbeing among more than 10 million county residents. The discussion was moderated by another Heller alum, Fernando Torres-Gil, MSW’72, PhD’76, a professor of social welfare and public policy at UCLA; an adjunct professor of gerontology at USC; and director of the UCLA Center for Policy Research on Aging.

Dr. David Lowry, an Indigenous scholar (Lumbee Tribe), author, and Visiting Fellow at the Heller School's Sillerman Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy, will be discussing his ongoing research related to philanthropy in the United States. This event was sponsored by the Sillerman Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy. If you have any questions, contact Sheryl Seller.

Freada Kapor Klein, PhD’84, and Mitch Kapor are founding partners at Kapor Capital and co-chairs of the nonprofit Kapor Center in Oakland, California, and coauthors of "CLOSING THE EQUITY GAP: Creating Wealth and Fostering Justice in Startup Investing." In CLOSING THE EQUITY GAP, Freada and Mitch share their core beliefs that all companies must make a positive impact, and that the obstacles entrepreneurs overcome in life are a far better predictor of long-term success than the schools they attend or investment dollars raised from friends and family. "For years we’ve said it in private and in public: America must hold up a mirror to its own biases. Now we’ve done just that, and the payoff in uplifting people—and building wealth—is indisputable." This Fireside Chat facilitated by the Heller School’s Interim Dean Dr. Maria Madison explored how Freada and Mitch are changing the world through impact investing and expanding opportunity and diversity. Read more about this event.

This event was co-sponsored by The Heller School Office of the Dean, Office of Equity, Inclusion and Diversity, Office of Career Development, Institute for Economic and Racial Equity and Brandeis Office of Equity, Inclusion and Diversity, COMPACT, Brandeis Department of Computer Science, and Brandeis International Business School.

Laurie Bertram Roberts was awarded the inaugural Carrie Buck Distinguished Fellowship and held a conversation with Rebecca Cokley of the Ford Foundation on reproductive rights and disability justice. Laurie Bertram Roberts (she/they) is a low income, black, queer, disabled grassroots reproductive justice activist, freelance writer, doula, aspiring midwife, and mother. She is the co-founder and current Executive Director of the Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund, Mississippi's only reproductive justice organization that provides direct funding and practical support for abortion access, emergency contraception, birth control, community-based sex education, parenting, and no-strings/stigma pregnancy support regardless of pregnancy outcome. The Carrie Buck Distinguished Fellowship is awarded by the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy. Funded by the Ford Foundation, it is awarded to activists, scholars, and community organizers with disabilities whose work draws national attention to systemic ableism in reproductive health policy. Distinguished fellows are selected through our community-led Advisory Board.

The Schneider Institutes presented featured speaker Marylou Sudders, former Secretary of Health and Human Services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, for a discussion titled "Health Care in a Post Pandemic World: Lessons From The Trenches." She oversaw 12 state agencies and MassHealth, with a combined budget of over $27 billion and 22,000 public employees. She is a social worker who has spent her career dedicated to public service. She has been an impactful leader in both the public and private sectors, including Massachusetts Commissioner of Mental Health, a nonprofit CEO, and a college professor. Sponsored by the Schneider Institutes for Health Policy and Research at the Heller School and hosted by Dr. Stuart Altman, Sol C. Chaikin Professor of National Health Policy, and Connie M. Horgan, Professor; Co-Director of the Schneider Institutes for Health Policy and Research; and founding Director, Institute for Behavioral Health. Thank you to those who have continued to honor Stan's legacy by making a gift to the Stanley Wallack Distinguished Memorial Lecture Series.

Overdose deaths in the United States exceeded more than 100,000 for the first time in the 12 months ending in April 2021. Post-overdose outreach programs have emerged as one potential strategy to reduce future overdose risk among overdose survivors. From 2019 to 2022, the PRONTO study was conducted as a way to characterize post-overdose outreach programs across Massachusetts, evaluate their effectiveness, and develop best practice guidance for their implementation. The panel which included PRONTO study leaders, Alex Walley (Boston Medical Center) and Traci Green (Brandeis University, The Heller School), shared the PRONTO Best Practice Guidance for Post-Overdose Outreach, followed by an engaging panel discussion with harm reductionist Mary Wheeler (Healthy Streets), and researcher and former police chief Brandon Del Pozo (Brown University/COBRE on Opioids and Overdose).

This event on International Women's Day included a discussion on reproductive freedom with women's rights attorney and activist, Julie F. Kay, J.D., in conversation with Interim Dean Maria Madison. Attorney Julie F. Kay is an expert on women's human rights domestically and internationally. Her initiatives increase support for access to reproductive rights and religious freedom, advance gender equality and work to prevent family violence and promote women's economic security. This event is co-sponsored by the Heller School Dean's Office and the Eli J. & Phyllis N. Segal Citizen Leadership Program, which is celebrating its 15th Anniversary this year. Watch the video!

Dr. Roy DeBerry ’70, MA’78, PhD’79, is an accomplished community organizer, human rights activist, author, and the co-founder of the Hill Country Project. He co-hosts the “Dad Daughter Dialogues” podcast. DeBerry is also a Brandeis Alum who led the 1969 Ford Hall takeover protesting the campus racial climate. This conversation was co-facilitated by Interim Dean Maria Madison and Dr. Sara Shostak, Professor of Sociology and Health: Science, Society, and Policy Program, about the success of the Civil Rights Movement and its contemporary global impact. Attendees heard powerful testimonies of Benton County, Mississippi residents and their extraordinary courage to fight for justice from the book ‘Voices from the Mississippi Hill Country.’ We discussed the legacies of segregation, human rights, and one community’s journey for freedom. This event was co-sponsored by the Heller School Dean's Office, the Office of EID, and COMPACT.  Watch the recording.

Multigenerational households are defined as three generations or more, living together. Common throughout time, and across different cultures, the number of multigenerational family households in the US has been on the rise since the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to service gaps in home and community based services and other factors many adults with disabilities including those who are parents may continue to live with their families of origin. In this webinar we explored the experiences of disabled parents living within multigenerational households. Panelists Judith Brown and Jennifer Senda shared the successes and challenges they experienced while living in multigenerational households with their children. The policy implications of this type of living arrangement were discussed. This event was sponsored by the Lurie Institute for Disability Policy. 

How does Jewish identity fit into debates around diversity, equity and inclusion? Insider or outsider - What is confusing about the management of Jewish difference? Why has antisemitism become contentious in public debates? In this workshop, we explored some of the tensions and dilemmas that the elusive nature of "Jewishness" poses on the management of difference. Edith Pick is a Research Associate at the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute and a PhD Candidate at Queen Mary University of London. Her research lies at the intersection of organizational sociology and Jewish studies. She is interested in work inequality, race and gender, ideology of diversity, authenticity and belonging, and particularly how those concepts manifest in Jewish contexts. Her current research explores the politics of difference in UK Jewish organizations. She previously held professional and leadership positions in nonprofit organizations in the UK and Israel. This event was co-sponsored by the Heller EID Office and the Heller Dean's Office.

We honored Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy with A Day to Reflect and Reimagine through service, learning, inspirational performances, poetry, and speeches. Dr. Maria Madison, Interim Dean of the Heller School, was the keynote speaker. She shared her words of wisdom and reflected on the significance of the day. In addition to the daytime events, there was an evening of performers and speakers. Sponsored by the Dean of Students Office, the Intercultural Center, Alumni Association, Alumni of Color Network, Heller School of Social Policy and Management, Office of Spiritual Life, Department of Community Engagement and Leadership, Myra Kraft Transitional Year Program, Samuels '63 Center for Community Partnerships and Civic Transformation (COMPACT), and Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.