Staff
Aziza Hasan
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Aziza Hasan is the executive director of NewGround, a nonprofit dedicated to bridging divides and convening constructive conversations around challenging social issues. With over 20 years of experience in program management and coalition building, she is a skilled mediator and trainer who has facilitated multiple groups and workshops on interfaith and intercultural issues. Aziza’s work has been featured in the New York Times, the LA Times, ABC, CBS, NBC, the Chronicle of Philanthropy, and National Public Radio, among others. She served on President Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships from 2015-2016 and the Los Angeles Civil and Human Rights Commission from 2020 to 2023.
Maya Al-Mansour Matthews
MAJIC Alumni Facilitator, social media & web specialist
Maya is currently a fourth-year at UCLA, studying genetics and neuropsychiatry. She is a graduate and former Associated Student Body President of Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles, CA. In 2019, Maya joined Newground’s Muslims and Jews Inspiring Change Youth Leadership Council (MAJIC) and organized a blood drive with her cohort mates that focused on COVID relief. Now she acts as the NewGround MAJIC Alumni Facilitator and Social Media and Website Specialist.
Maya is the President of Activism Through Policy at UCLA, the Chair of Philanthropy and Outreach for the Institute of Neuro Innovation at UCLA, and is a mentor with the UCLA Academic Supports Program. Her past projects include: advocating for homelessness prevention at the United States Capitol, volunteering with Friends In Deed, a shelter for people experiencing homelessness, and tutoring elementary students through Reading Partners. Among many skills and interests, Maya Al-Mansour Matthews is a proud, nationally ranked debater and an avid lover (and player) of basketball (Go Lakers!).
Ben Ginsburg
Communications Director
Ben Ginsburg is a Los Angeles native with a penchant for starting difficult conversations. While studying Communications and Economics at UC Davis, he was a student writer for the Cal Aggie Alumni Association and a program development intern at Hillel of Davis and Sacramento. After spending a year in the international school at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he discovered a passion for diving into the tangled complexities and intersections of politics, religion, culture, economics, etc. He then remembered that most people are uncomfortable talking about those things. Ben is passionate about innovative storytelling as a vehicle for opening up these conversations in surprising ways. Besides his conventional writing, he has helped design game experiences to train teamwork and ideological discourse.
Shachar Cohen-Hodos
MAJIC Facilitator
Influenced by the faith-rooted community organizing of her childhood, Shachar studied Human Rights at Columbia University and Biblical Literature at the Jewish Theological Seminary, receiving her B.A.’s in 2019. She was in the inaugural cohort of MAJIC (2012-13) and sat on the advisory board during high school. During college, Shachar mobilized Columbia University’s Jewish students to link their religious and political values. She spent her summers exploring her political passions, including organizing with UniteHere and Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, to foster support for the fair treatment of Santa Monica hotel workers. She is a 2020 alum of the Coro Fellowship in Public Policy in New York where she cultivated her facilitation skills and strengthened her resolve that sustainable social change comes through building deep relationships.
Andrea Hodos
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
Andrea Hodos is the associate director of NewGround: a Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change. She has co-facilitated NewGround’s flagship Professional Fellowship since 2016. Andrea has trained as a facilitator with Resetting the Table through its partnership with the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles. She has been a fellow with the Jews of Color & Allies Leadership cohort from Dimension Educational Consulting and Leading from Within’s Courage to Lead program. Andrea is also the creator of Moving Torah, a method for exploring Jewish text and Jewish stories using movement, theater, and writing. Her creative project, Sinai and Sunna: Women Covering, Uncovering and Recovering, initially brought her into the realm of Muslim-Jewish engagement.
Tasneem Noor
Programs Director & majic facilitator
Tasneem Farah Noor is the award-winning author of the best-seller The Faith Connection: Your Journey Starts with Knowing Yourself. Tasneem is the founder of Noor Enterprises: SOULful Transformations—committed to providing transformational experiences, personal development, and opportunities for meaningful dialogue. Her mission is to establish thriving, peaceful communities where conversations of faith build bridges of compassion and collaboration. Through coaching, trainings, and facilitation she helps people learn how to deepen their faith (self-trust), authentically express themselves, and take courageous action.
Tasneem received her Masters in Education in Student Affairs from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). For over seven years, Tasneem worked within student affairs on campuses including Santa Monica College, UCLA, and Cal State University, Los Angeles. The Inter-religious Council of Los Angeles recognized Tasneem as an emerging faith leader. She is now serving as the Interfaith Minister-in-Residence with the Southern CA Diocese. As a proud NewGround alumna herself, she is honored to actively support NewGround’s mission.
Michal Greenfield
operations coordinator
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Michal moved to Israel/Palestine in 2014 and lived there for the past 10 years, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem.
Previously Michal worked with the cross-border organization Tech2Peace, in which she established the framework of the alumni community, creating a growth model that oversaw the development of 100 to 600 members.
Michal has returned to live in Los Angeles, where she acts as the Operations Coordinator for the interfaith organization NewGround. She is an active organizer with the Los Angeles chapter of Standing Together, and finds her passion in strengthening the role of community and friendship in activism, dialogue, and social impact.