Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi

Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi (born May 8, 1964 in Durham, North Carolina) is an advocate for disability rights and for Israel.[1] She currently serves as president of the disability advocacy nonprofit, RespectAbility. She is also the co-founder/director of the Mizrahi Family Charitable Fund.

Co-founder, Mizrahi Family Charitable Fund (2000–present) President, RespectAbility (2013–present) Columnist, Times of Israel, New Normal, The Mighty Founder, Laszlo Strategies, Inc. 1964 in Durham, N.C.

She has published more than 100 articles on disability issues. Of particular note are those on disability and criminal justice reform,[2] inclusion in Hollywood,[3] philanthropy,[4] and faith communities.[5]

Non-profit leadership

Mizrahi currently does pro bono work to help foundations and funders be inclusive of people with disabilities and to advance opportunities for marginalized people. She has published on inclusive philanthropy in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Non-profit Quarterly, EJewishPhilanthropy, the D5 Coalition, NCRP. Together with Meagan Buren she published a primer in EJewishPhilanthropy on how to make faith-organizations inclusive.

A former political strategist, advocate, and commentator, Mizrahi currently writes columns for the Huffington Post,[1]Times of Israel,[2] and The Mighty.[3] She has founded or co-founded multiple organizations including The DCJCC Community Services Program, Laszlo & Associates, The Israel Project and Laszlo Strategies.

As such she and the group have met 1-1 with 46 of America’s governors on disability employment issues.[4] They also rank each state on their employment levels for people with disabilities.

Three times The Jewish Forward has named Mizrahi one of the 50 most influential Jews in North America – each time for a different body of work. First it was for her work in organizing campaign training seminars behind the Iron Curtain to help defeat communism. Most recently it was for her work in Arabic to reach out to Arabs for peace with Israel.[6] The Forward listed Mizrahi as the second most influential Jew in North America.[6] She was also profiled with an entire chapter in the book Jewish Sages of Today.[7]

In 2002, Mizrahi co-founded the Israel Project,[3] a non-profit educational and outreach organization. She spent 10 years as president of the group.

In 2012, shortly after stepping down from the Israel Project, Mizrahi re-established the Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm, Laszlo Strategies [4] which had previously been called Laszlo & Associates where she advised clients on issues such as medical research and education. The firm previously had focused on winning candidate and issue advocacy campaigns around the world.

In 2013, along with Donn Weinberg and Shelley Cohen, she co-founded RespectAbility, a disabilities-focused non-profit. She currently serves as president of the organization, which focuses on disability policy, advocacy and empowerment of individuals with disabilities, promoting their independence, particularly in the domain of employment.

Mizrahi’s change from working on Israel/Jewish issues to disability issues was broadly covered in the Jewish media including in JTA, The Baltimore Jewish Times[7] and Tablet.[8]

Today Mizrahi is well-known as a spokesperson on disability issues. For example, on the 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act she was interviewed on the Diane Rehm show.

The PBS NewsHour interviewed Mizrahi on getting political candidates to address disability issues. She has published op-eds on employment for people with disabilities in more than 30 states, including the early caucus state of Iowa and her native state of North Carolina.

Mizrahi is the co-author, along with Philip Pauli, Janie Jeffers and Eddie Ellis, of Disability & Criminal Justice Reform: Keys to Success. The report was featured on the PBS NewsHour.

Today Mizrahi is very active in advocating for inclusion in Hollywood as a way of reducing stigmas that harm people with disabilities. In 2013 she published an important op-ed in USA Today which advocated inclusion in Hollywood and she has published many pieces since. She is also very active in promoting people with “multiple minority status,” including in supporting diversity for people of color with disabilities in Hollywood.[9]

During the 2016 election, Mizrahi and RespectAbility were extremely active in raising the awareness of the importance of the disability. Their publication, The RespectAbility Report, covered all the presidential candidates and swing races for Senate and Governor. During the election Mizrahi was quoted on page one of both The New York Times[8] and the Washington Post.[9] The PBS NewsHour also did a segment, featuring Mizrahi and RespectAbility on the disability vote.[10]

Mizrahi has come under fire from some within the disability community for what some perceive as racist commentary on the 2016 election.[5] Mizrahi apologized for the comment and reaffirmed her lifelong commitment to social justice and equality.

Mizrahi and RespectAbility run the National Leadership Program to advance a diverse leadership talent pool for the disability movement. So far more than 140 people have graduated from the program.[10]

In 1987 Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi co-founded and managed the first DCJCC Community Services Program which she ran through 1989. During her tenure it helped recruit, trained and placed 900 volunteers and helped 15,000 at risk people, including hospitalized babies, teen parents, at-risk youth, working poor, homeless and senior citizens annually. Under her leadership the program received many awards including:

• 1,000 Points of Light, President George Bush

• Part of the Solution, Coalition for the Homeless

• Best Program in North America, Jewish Welfare Board

• Community Service Award, Moment Magazine

• New Horizons, D.C. General Hospital

• Distinctive Service, Martha's Table

• Community Service Award, Graham Foundation

In addition to serving as the president of RespectAbility, Mizrahi also serves on the board of JCHAI, Limmud, and the Jewish Federation Inclusion Committee. She was given the Farfel Award by Jewish Family Services of Houston in 2018. In 2017 she was given a major award for being a role model for women by Culver Academy.[11] In June 2018 she was honored by Sulam.[12] In September 2019, she was named as one of the 50 most influential Jews in the world by The Jerusalem Post.[13]

Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, was presented the Bettie and Bernard Farfel Jewish Family Service Award during ReelAbilities Film and Art Festival in Houston, TX.[14]

Personal life

Mizrahi is married to Victor Mizrahi, who heads the company Mizrahi Enterprises. Mizrahi is dyslexic and has ADHD.

Education

Mizrahi earned her BA from Emory University [5] in Atlanta in Jewish Studies and International Studies. She was profiled in the Emory Alumni Magazine.[15] She did her Junior Year Abroad at Hebrew University in Jerusalem Israel. She also has completed executive training at Harvard.

References
  1. "Longtime Israel advocate Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi shifts focus to disabilities". Jewish Journal. February 6, 2015. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  2. "Disability and Criminal Justice Reform" (PDF).
  3. "The RespectAbility Guide to Inclusion in the Entertainment Industry". Respect Ability. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  4. "How Foundations Can Ensure Diversity Efforts Include People With Disabilities". The Chronicle of Philanthropy. 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  5. "A Primer on Making the Jewish Community Inclusive". ejewishphilanthropy.com. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  6. "Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi". The Forward. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  7. "R-E-S-P-E-C-T". jewishtimes.com. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  8. "Prominent Jewish Activists Unite for RespectAbility, An Organization Dedicated to Empowering People With Disabilities – Tablet Magazine". www.tabletmag.com. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  9. "The Emmys: Seeing Hispanics in Hollywood - Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations website and podcast". Hispanic Marketing & Public Relations website and podcast. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  10. "Meet our Fellows". Respect Ability. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  11. "CWC honorees voice similar themes". Culver News. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  12. "Sulam". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  13. "Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi: Empowering people with disabilities - Israel News - Jerusalem Post". www.jpost.com. Retrieved 2019-10-03.
  14. "Inclusion advocate receives JFS award during ReelAbilities". jhvonline.com. Retrieved 2018-06-20.
  15. "Changing the World with Honest Communication | Emory University | Atlanta GA". www.alumni.emory.edu. Retrieved 2018-06-20.


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