Press Release

ADL to Convene Inaugural “Never Is Now” Summit on Anti-Semitism in New York City

A One-Day Event Focused on Innovation and Impact

New York, NY, October 6, 2016 … Concerned at the startling resurgence of anti-Semitism in the United States and around the world, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) this fall is convening a first-of-its-kind summit focused on contemporary anti-Semitism, the urgent challenges that it poses to Jewish communities at home and abroad, and to explore  innovative strategies by which to address this challenge.

“NEVER IS NOW: The ADL Summit on Anti-Semitism” (www.adl.org/neverisnow | hashtag = #ADLNeverIsNow) will bring together academics, business leaders, experts, journalists and distinguished thought leaders for TED-style talks and interactive sessions on the challenges posed by modern-day anti-Semitism. The summit will be held on Thursday, Nov. 17 from 9-5 p.m. at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in midtown Manhattan.

“At a time when anti-Semitism is rising on college campuses and in the political conversation, when Jewish journalists in the U.S. are attacked online, and when extremism is resurfacing from the right and the left in Europe, we see the need for a new approach that brings together thought leaders to look at the problem from all angles and to come up with future-facing solutions,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “NEVER IS NOW is a clarion call to action. We need explore how to use innovation and new approaches to eliminate anti-Semitism in our time.”

NEVER IS NOW will explore anti-Semitism from a range of vantage points, including threats to Jewish life in Europe, the crossover between attacks on Israel and anti-Semitism, anti-Semitism on the college campus, the economics of anti-Semitism, the challenges of quantifying hate, using social innovation to fight bigotry and anti-Semitism in social media.

Confirmed speakers include (program still in formation):

  • Yasmin Green, head of Research & Development, Jigsaw at Google
  • Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation
  • Steve Coll, Professor of Journalism and Dean, Columbia Journalism School
  • Natan Sharansky (via video), Chairman of the Jewish Agency
  • Dr. Hal Weitzman, Executive Director for Intellectual Capital, University of Chicago Booth School of Business
  • Einat Wilf, Former Member of Israeli Knesset
  • Jonathan Weisman, Deputy Washington Editor, The New York Times

The full conference program will be announced within the coming weeks.

More information and registration is available at www.adl.org/neverisnow/.  General admission is $118; $36 for clergy and Jewish nonprofit professionals; student registration is sponsored.