Greater Pittsburgh "Fight Against Antisemitism"

Our distinguished panelists representing local and national organizations will discuss the unfortunate rise in antisemitism and the steps that our local community is taking to combat this trend. We invite you to attend this virtual event and to participate in the Q & A following the presentations.

About Our Featured Moderator and Panelists

Laura Cherner, Director of Community Relations Council (CRC) at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, will be serving as the Moderator for the panel discussion. Prior to her current role, she served as the Assistant Director of the CRC for the past four years. Her work focuses on being an advocate and facilitator of interfaith and intergroup collaboration, social justice, government relations, and combatting anti-Semitism. She is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in political science and French. Laura is a Pittsburgh native.

Shawn A. Brokos, Director of Community Security at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, was a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1996 - 2019. After graduating from Quantico, she was assigned to the Newark Division, where she worked Public Corruption, Gangs and Violent Crimes. After 18 years in Newark, SA Brokos transferred to the Pittsburgh Division, where, from 2014 to 2019, she supervised the Complex Financial Crime Program, established a new Opioid Squad which has contributed to a 43% decrease in fatal overdoes in Western Pennsylvania. She then became the supervisor for the Civil Rights, Public Corruption, and Complex Financial Crime Squad. In addition to her work as a squad supervisor, she was a Bureau-certified Crisis Negotiator and went on to receive the 2016 FBI Director’s Award for Excellence in Training and Professional Development. SSA Brokos left the FBI at the end of 2019 to take a position as Director of Community Security for the Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh.

James Pasch, ADL Regional Director - Cleveland Office, is serving in this role during a particularly challenging time with incidents of antisemitism rising an unprecedented amount in Ohio, and across the region. Most recently Pasch in leading the ADL Cleveland office, launched a pro-bono legal assistance program to assist victims of hate crimes in Ohio. James Pasch graduated from University of Vermont and went on Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Prior to entering the legal profession, Mr. Pasch worked on Capitol Hill, and then proceeded to build a thriving small firm litigation practice in Cleveland.

Dan Marcus, Executive Director and CEO of The Edward and Rose Berman Hillel Jewish University Center of Pittsburgh, is originally from London and has spent over a dozen years working for the Hillel movement. Dan was Executive Director of Johns Hopkins Hillel and spent six years as Chief Executive of UJS Hillel in the UK, which is the national Jewish student organization supporting and representing over 8,000 Jewish students across the country. Dan was the Assistant Director at Hillel JUC from 2001-2006 before returning in 2013 as Hillel JUC’s Executive Director and CEO. Dan is a passionate advocate for Jewish students. His door is always open to every student and coffee (or tea) is always on him.