2025
Stacy Burdett
Jewish community advocate and public policy strategist
Stacy Burdett works with policymakers, philanthropies, Universities and other nonprofits on strategies to prevent and respond to antisemitism and to ensure a welcoming culture for Jews and all communities. She has testified in Congress about antisemitism at the invitation of both parties, including in the immediate aftermath of the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attacks.
She served as Vice President for Government Relations, Advocacy and Community Engagement at the Anti-Defamation League, where she worked for 24 years, directing national issue campaigns and coalition advocacy and lobbied in Washington on Jewish as well as civil and human rights issues. In 2017, she joined the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum as its first Director of Government and External Relations to support the rollout of a new exhibit on America’s response to the rise of Nazism. Against the backdrop of day to day debates on immigration policy, the use of terms like “America First,” she worked with Congressional and administration leaders to explore Holocaust history and its relevance to their decision making.
Stacy got her start in professional advocacy in the Soviet Jewry movement as a public affairs officer at the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews. She holds a B.A. in Middle East Studies from Barnard College, has studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and has lived and worked in Israel. Stacy has served on advisory boards for the William S. Cohen Institute for Leadership & Public Service at the University of Maine and the Southern Poverty Law Center Intelligence Project. She is on the board of directors of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA), the Lillian & Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, and Tivnu: Building Justice, the nation’s only Jewish gap year program.
_
The 2025 Roger E. Joseph Prize will be presented to
Stacy Burdett
May 4, 2025 6 Iyar 5785
City of New York
Excerpts from the Testimony of Stacy Burdett
Before the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development Hearing on
CONFRONTING THE SCOURGE OF ANTISEMITISM ON CAMPUS
November 14, 2023
Washington, DC
…It is important for us to protect the rights of anyone to criticize a government and its policy. But the attacks we are here to address have nothing to do with criticism or protest of Israel’s policy, actions or government. There is no political view policy issue, no political conflict, and no struggle for freedom that justifies the vilification of Jews or any group based on their identity. When classmates or neighbors are beaten, brutalized and even murdered simply for how they look, where they worship or where they come from that’s bigotry, antisemitism. When Muslim, Arab or Palestinian neighbors are targeted with doxing, intimidation or hatred that some would rationalize as contempt for Hamas terror, that’s bigotry…
From “The Campus Environment and Role of Universities”
…In a turbulent world filled with bigotry and division and terror, universities must teach students how to manage conflicting ideas and to navigate the discomfort that comes with opening our minds to different narratives and perspectives. It’s not just the price of living in a free society. It is the special sauce that makes for a good education. That’s how universities can turn out future leaders who will be able to engage in the kind of give and take that enables people to invent things, to shape new ideas that can solve problems – to tackle the big challenges we are leaving behind for them to address…
Moving Forward Stronger
The most important message emanating from this hearing is that Jews shouldn’t have to fight antisemitism alone. And so too, the countermeasures we advance should draw Jews and their community allies closer. Universities and federal officials should apply and enforce their rules. But without community building and solidarity work , the enforcement offers Jewish students cold comfort. If universities, and actors across society use this moment well to review and reimagine how to ensure that all students can learn and thrive in times of turmoil, Jewish students and all of our children will be safer.
Please, look at this national strategy, the key actions it recommends, and the actions Congress must take to operationalize it. Antisemitism has been alive in this country for generations. And with the rise of unbridled hate like we’ve seen on the streets of Charlottesville, Pittsburgh, Poway and at Cornell just last week, it’s not the work of a day to put this poison back into the bottle.
Even in times as dark as these, I am filled with hope. I have never seen so much concern, so much new understanding of how and why Jews need support. Institutions are taking action toward real transformation. I believe many institutions will identify and close gaps in how they understand and address antisemitism. So many incredible people are checking in with Jewish friends and colleagues, asking what they can do. And, importantly, many are questioning whether their organization, movement or community is standing in the right moral place at this moment. A lot of Americans will be better allies to Jews and to each other when we emerge from this crisis. Our workplaces, campuses and communities will be stronger, more inclusive and more just if we use this moment well.