AWARDS & HONORS
REFLECTIONS OF LOVE & APPRECIATION
Rabbi Becky Jaye
“April Baskin simply works miracles. She is a fierce leader and educator, and works most conscientiously to cater to the needs of individuals and their communities in her teaching, leading, and collaborations with others. Her integrative and interdisciplinary approach towards education, and her deep thoughtfulness towards her audience, makes learning from her a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Every interaction I have had with her has led to deep personal and professional growth, for which I will be eternally grateful. Her leadership and the education she provides to individuals and organizations will change the world.”
Program Manager, Emor, T’ruah / New York City
Devon Spier
"There is a reason that April is the first person to whom I dedicated my bestselling book of poetry, Heart Map and the Song of Our Ancestors. She is, simply put, renewing the path of the Jewish People, whose individual stories and divinely lived experiences form the basis of Torah. Whether leading a webinar on the intersections between Jewish women of multiple belongings or whole-heartedly reaching out to generations of Jews who just don’t fit and yet, know they are fundamentally part of a blessed and greater whole, April weaves love of difference and a vision of a world big enough for all of us into a way of leading that moves each of us who has been marginalized toward our best selves and our communities toward essential actions that honour all facets of us. April is an inspiration and a force for lasting planetary change. The breadth of her dreams are matched only by the life-giving and proven community work she undertakes to get us there."
Bestselling Author, Rabbinical Student / Canada & NYC
Gina Drangel
"April Baskin, no words can express how the JewV’Nation Fellowship has/is impacting my soul, my voice and my validation as a black Jewish women in this world. Thank YOU for your leadership and your vision and your determination on creating this platform for all of us. As I always say, you are our shining light. Love you, my fellow sister."
Senior Corporate Accountant; Board Chair, Sing Unto God; Past Synagogue Sisterhood President / New York City
Sivan Rotholz Teitelman
"April has had a profound effect on my life and learning. She has connected me to incomparable human beings with whom I have collaborated and from whom I perpetually learn. But, critically, April taught me (via the Audacious Hospitality Toolkit that she created for the URJ, to which I repeatedly turn) that race is an artificial construct used to oppress people of color. As a future rabbi, I am indebted to April for teaching me the difference between race and ethnicity, and that many ethnicities live within the Big Tent of Judaism."
Rabbinical Student / Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion, Los Angeles
Tani Prell
A JEW WHO INSPIRES YOU:
April Baskin is the immediate Vice President of Audacious Hospitality for the URJ. She ran my fellowship and is constantly working to ensure that we have a more equitable future that breaks down systems of oppression. To me, April is a prime example of what it looks like to act on the changes we need to see in the world and to do so through a Jewish lens.
Chicago Community Director of 18Doors, Union of Reform Judaism Board Member
Immediate Past Director of Jewish Learning and Engagement, Emanuel Congregation / Chicago
Robin Harrison
"There are few people in my life I consider to be as influential and life-affirming as April Baskin. I had the honor of working with April, as a part of her URJ department's JewV'Nation Fellowship. She had an immediate impact on my life as both an individual and as a Jew of Color.
April not only has the ability to mine and refine the gifts and talents in each soul she makes contact with, but she also encourages and inspires each of us to be even greater stewards of the diversity we celebrate in ourselves."
Rabbinical Student, Retired Public School Educator, VP Religious Practices of Synagogue Board / Los Angeles
Bryant Heinzelman
"April Baskin uses her heart to see and interact with the world around her. Because she is driven by spirit and intention, she connects to people on the most intimate of levels. Her mentorship and commitment to excellence inspired me to see a new beauty in myself, and helped me reach for heights I'd never imagined."
Co-Director of the Jews of Color Organizing Fellowship at JOIN for Justice, Veteran / Colorado
Janice Oliver-Iraci
"Though I was privileged to see April's work when she was a teen at our synagogue, it was more recently, when she came to co-lead a Sacramento Faces Race that I was really impressed.
She is one of the most eloquent, well-informed speakers I have had to pleasure to hear, and she brought a tool that really gave me pause and insight into how Jews of Color can experience bias in the Jewish community. It made a real impact on me, and I carry it forward."
Temple Or Rishon / Orangevale, CA