PRESS KIT - BIOS, PHOTOS, ETC
One Sentence Bio
April N. Baskin (she/her) is the founder and director of Joyous Justice.
Three Sentence Bio
April N. Baskin (she/her) is the founding director of Joyous Justice. A visionary and award-winning leader, April previously served as the racial justice director of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable and is the Union for Reform Judaism' immediate past vice president of audacious hospitality. She brings 20 years of experience leading liberatory, counter-oppressive work in her communal and public leadership. IG: @joyous.justice
Alternate: April N. Baskin is the founding director of Joyous Justice. A driven and award-winning leader, April mindfully brings her 20 years of experience guiding and leading the liberatory work of advancing belonging, shared power, and justice within all facets of her communal and public leadership. Recognized as a faith leader to watch by the Center for American Progress, she is a rising Kohenet (Hebrew Priestess) and is passionate about and committed to living a life of her boldest dreams and helping others do the same in the service of collective wellness & liberation.
Short Bio
April N. Baskin (she/her) is an award-winning Black & Cherokee Jewish leader and a rising Hebrew priestess. She works full-time as the director of Joyous Justice, a multiracial community-powered social justice and spiritual transformation organization providing liberatory life & leadership coaching, consulting, and education. For 20 years, April has helped shift communities and institutions toward more equitable outcomes within and outside of the Jewish world. Recognized as a faith leader to watch by the Center for American Progress, April previously served as the racial justice director of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable and is the Union for Reform Judaism’s immediate past vice president of audacious hospitality.
Medium-Length Bio
April N. Baskin is an award-winning multi-heritage black Jewish woman who has been a core organizer and movement leader within the Jewish community for nearly 20 years. She’s helped shift institutions toward more equitable outcomes within and outside of the Jewish world and is a faithful advocate of building just, diverse, and inclusive spaces that cultivate belonging and empowerment. April is the Founding Director of Joyous Justice. Most recently, she served as the Racial Justice Director of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable. Previously, she was as the inaugural Vice President of Audacious Hospitality at the Union for Reform Judaism. During her URJ tenure, among a number of exciting accomplishments, she conceived of and hosted the first season of the Wholly Jewish podcast, conceived of Intro to Judaism Online, and brought the renowned LGBTQ+ Leadership Project to 80% of the URJ’s expansive Youth Department, for which Keshet honored her visionary leadership with the Landres Courage for Dignity Award in 2019. Previously, she was a Schusterman Insight Fellow, on the Steering Committee and a featured speaker at the National 2019 Women's March, and the designer and facilitator of the URJ’s JewVNation fellowship, a leadership program of action and healing for Jews of Color and Jews committed to advancing inclusion. In May of 2020, she launched the #JOCsCount social media campaign rooted in her years of advocacy and foundational research. To see April’s extended BIO and professional background including awards, images, awards, and press kit, click here.
Longer Bio
April N. Baskin is the founding and fabulous(!) CEO of Joyous Justice and co-hosts the podcast Jews Talk Racial Justice. She served as the Racial Justice Director of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable from Jan 2019 to Dec 2021. She is the Union for Reform Judaism's immediate past inaugural Vice President of Audacious Hospitality and previously hosted the first season of their podcast, Wholly Jewish.
Before founding and developing the URJ's exciting leading edge department, she served as the National Director of Resources and Training at InterfaithFamily. Dedicated to building a stronger, more inclusive Jewish community committed to social justice, April has spent over 15 years advocating for Jewish diversity inclusion throughout North America in a variety of ways, including facilitating LGBTQ educational trainings through Keshet and writing a thesis about the experiences and identities of Jews of Color in American Judaism.
A graduate of Tufts University, she is a member of the Selah Leadership Network and an alumna of the Jewish community organizing Jeremiah Fellowship and The Schusterman Insight Fellowship for Jewish Community in Washington, DC. April is a past President of the Jewish Multiracial Network. She conducted research at the Kennedy School of Government and was an Americorps fellow for the Black Ministerial Alliance of Greater Boston. More recently, before joining the staff, April proudly served on the Leadership Team of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable from 2017-2019.
April is currently based in Dakar, Senegal, but flies to the United States, Israel, England, and other destinations as inspired for work, family, and fun.
Quotes:
“Now is the time to ensure that we transmute our collective longing and yearning into powerful, sustained collective action." — April N. Baskin
“Even when we do things right, people are still going to be upset, because they have unhealed trauma. Our country is drowning in unhealed, unaddressed trauma, and it plays out in all kinds of ways. But how I would love for it not to continue to play out is stopping or impeding good people from doing courageous, trajectory-shifting work for our community around justice. In this case, specifically, racial justice.” — April N. Baskin
“There are ways that we can move forward where we don’t have to shame anyone. Accountability and shame are not the same thing.” — April N. Baskin
“So there are no Jewish space lasers. There are strong Jewish grandmothers. There are funny, sweet, and brave Jewish men. There are resilient and funny and sweet Jewish children. There are Jewish transgender folks who bring so much light and analysis and courage to this world. There are Jewish women who come in all races and flavors and varieties of intelligence and courage. Those things are all real.” — April N. Baskin
Social Media Handles
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joyous.justice/, @joyous.justice
Twitter: @joyousjustice
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joyousjustice365, @joyousjustice365
TikTok: @aprilavivabaskin
Photos
