We are excited to announce our Trailblazer 2026 Change-Maker Honorees! These individuals are community leaders who are doing critical work to advance dialogue, inter-community understanding, and peace-building in our world. We’d like you to introduce them to you: 

Rabbi Susan Goldberg: As the founder and leader of Nefesh, an open hearted Jewish congregation, Rabbi Susan centers the margins and harnesses the power of creativity and profound spiritual values to create a radical sense of belonging. Her commitment to dialogue across difference is a beacon for our community. She has fearlessly cultivated space for congregants to discuss and process difficult disagreements, including the challenging issues around Israel-Palestine. A longtime partner of NewGround, Rabbi Susan is a role model for inclusion, social justice, and courageous conversation in Los Angeles and beyond.

A fourth-generation Angeleno, Rabbi Susan has been a force for social justice since she was a teenager, inspired by her family including her mother, Ruth Beaglehole z”l, who dedicated her life to nonviolence in parenting and education. She powerfully calls on us to combine our strengths, individual and collective creativity to build resilient solutions to today’s challenges.

Bashar Alshawwa: Bashar Alshawwa is a Palestinian Nakba refugee with family roots in Gaza. He was born outside of Palestine, and he returned following the Oslo Accords. In 2014, he was severely injured by an IDF sniper while participating in a peaceful protest. Bashar has lost dozens of family members, friends, and colleagues as a result of the war, and he has advocated publicly for non violent activism since 2017.

Bashar is a distinguished researcher and expert in regional and international political affairs, specializing in conflict resolution, sustainable development, and advocacy, with extensive experience analyzing Palestinian and Israeli internal affairs. He is a proficient analyst and advocate for joint efforts in regional peace-making, and leads efforts to build resilience against all forms of hate — including anti-Palestinian, anti-Muslim, and anti-Jewish hate — strengthen community resilience to polarization linked to Middle East conflicts, and foster inter-community dialogue and multi-community alliances across the diaspora.

We hope you can join us at the Trailblazer Forum on February 1 to help us honor Rabbi Susan and Bashar. You can get tickets or sponsor the Trailblazer Forum by CLICKING HERE.