The Not-So-Silent Boycott: Uncovering Modern BDS and Its Hidden Impacts

Susan is a seasoned nonprofit advocate and political organizer with over 30 years of leadership in healthcare, housing, the arts, peacebuilding, and anti-discrimination initiatives. A dedicated representative, she has regularly served as a political delegate for her district at both local and national levels. Through her work in progressive organizing, Susan recognized that the disproportionate focus on Israel often crossed into antisemitism. Determined to address these concerns, she collaborated with like-minded individuals in 2017 to co-found Progressive Zionists of California, establishing a platform to advocate for progressive values while addressing and combating antisemitism and bias against Israel.

Sarah Livingston is AEN’s Director of Member Engagement. Prior to joining AEN, she was an adjunct instructor of Jewish Studies at Ohio University, where she developed Global Jewish Foodways, an experiential cultural competency course along with multiple courses focused on the diversity of the Jewish experience. From 2019–2023, Sarah served as Executive Director of Hillel at Ohio University growing their engagement and funding to the highest levels in 80 years. A scholar and a Jewish Professional Executive, Sarah co-founded Year of the Jewish Woman in 2018, a digital network of over 5,300 Jewish professional women focused on advancing gender equity in Jewish communal leadership. She joined its board in 2023. Sarah earned her B.A. in Russian Jewish History from The Ohio State University and her M.A. in Jewish Food History from the University of Toronto. Her work on Jewish identity, Mizrachi diversity, and food culture has been featured in The Forward, The LAist, and other Jewish news outlets.

Bianca Jade is a Jewish Honduran-American entrepreneur and TV/internet personality. She started her career as a corporate advertising creative writing and directing TV commercials and then founded her company Mizzfit, a digital content creation and multi-media production house, in 2009. Bianca has partnered with thousands of global brands such as Walgreens, amazon, adidas, New Balance, GoDaddy, Marriott, Ford, Michelob, Nivea and Cetaphil. She is a guest host on HSN where she is a spokesperson for beauty & wellness brands. Bianca has traveled nation-wide as on-air news correspondent and across the world as a travel writer and influencer. She has appeared on outlets such as Today Show, CBS Morning News, BANFIELD, Dr. Oz, and regional affiliates across the country. She dedicates her free time to philanthropy and is currently an ambassador for Orphans of 10-7, a foundation that helps support children who lost one or both parents in the massacre. Bianca proudly used every opportunity she could in 2024 to volunteer with fundraising organizations for Israel. Bianca has traveled to Israel twice since the war started. She was one of the first influencers to go to Israel to document the carnage of Oct 7^th, volunteer and work with other activists. She is a proud Jewish woman.

David Goldenberg is the Evelyn R. Greene Midwest Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).  Based on Chicago, David oversees the ADL’s activities in northern Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, western Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Prior to joining ADL, for more than a decade David was a senior leader at Resolute Consulting, a national public affairs and strategic advisory firm.  During this time, he built a reputation as a trusted strategic thinker and communicator.  He guided public and private sector clients through the development of complex, multi-layered communications and stakeholder engagement strategies to advance their business, legislative and political priorities.  This included high-level crisis communications and issues campaigns for Fortune 100 and 500 brands.

Prior to joining Resolute in 2009, David spent nearly a decade in government and politics.  He began his career as a legislative aide to a state senator in Michigan and then moved to Washington, DC following the 2000 election.  David worked his way up on the Hill, working first for U.S. Senator Tom Carper (DE) and then U.S. Representative Alcee L. Hastings (FL).  When he left the Hill in 2009 to move to Chicago, David was Representative Hastings’ chief of staff and senior policy adviser, as well as an associate staff member of the House Committee on Rules and staff director of both the House Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process and the Democratic Israel Working Group.

During his time with Representative Hastings, David played significant roles in launching programs to strengthen ties between black, Latino and Jewish members of Congress and helped Representative Hastings combat the spread of anti-Semitism, xenophobia and religious discrimination through the Representative’s role as Chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission and President of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly.

David was appointed by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker to serve on the Illinois Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes, is a member of the Illinois State Treasurer’s Community Advisory Council, and is a 2021 Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow, the region’s leading civic and philanthropic fellowship.  He is a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago (JUF) and of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) National Young Leadership Cabinet.

David graduated from James Madison College at Michigan State University with a BA in International Relations and earned an MA in International Commerce and Policy from George Mason University while working on the Hill.