Impact

A Message From the Executive Director

Dear Change-makers and community members,

As a stakeholder in the NewGround community, we wanted to share with you some of the amazing successes NewGround has accomplished over the past few years to champion change. The upcoming U.S. presidential election has generated a drastic rise in social division. As NewGround  launches our fall programming and prepares for this December’s first ever virtualized Trailblazer Talks, we are also working diligently to confront the tide of phobia and promote pluralism.

On September 24, 2015, I was appointed to the White House Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. I joined community leaders from across the nation in making recommendations for improved relationships between faith-based organizations and the government. It is an exciting new endeavor for myself and for NewGround.

Over 18 million people have viewed the new Buzzfeed video, “I’m Muslim, But I’m Not…,” featuring Change-makers such as Saaliha Khan and Tom Earl, our own former NewGround staff members, and Marwa Abdelghani, our former Muslims and Jews Inspiring Change (MAJIC) advisory board member. The video is a vehicle for change — celebrating the many faces of Muslim Americans across Los Angeles.

Harvard University’s Pluralism Project Director Diana Eck praised NewGround in the 17th issue of the Journal on Inter-Religious Studies.  A piece on the transformative power of relationships written by NewGround is also published in the issue, while the Jewish Journal and Alt Muslimah ran our thought piece on resolving differences, co-authored by Andrea Hodos, an alumna of our Professional Fellowship program, and myself.

Our Change-maker initiatives, such as the Sardari & Morady StoryTwo Faiths One Prayer, and 72 Virgin Mocktails, among many others, have reached over 150,000 people locally and globally amplifying our message of pluralism.

We invite you to explore more about our change-makers in action right here on our website, www.mjnewground.org, and continue the conversation on social media @MJNewGround to see how we #BreakNewGround together.

With gratitude,

Aziza Hasan

Executive Director

November 5, 2019

Welcome, L.A. Heart

The first ever L.A. Heart block party was held this Sunday, 3 November, on Vermont Avenue between 4th & 5th. The Koreatown-based party was a joint […]
August 20, 2019

Dr. Guibord, A Giant in Our Community

Rev. Dr. Gwynne Guibord was one of NewGround‘s first friends, because she was one of those who possessed knowledge about the absolute need for community building. […]
June 21, 2019

Cooking up Connections, and more news.

Our 2018-19 cohorts have now officially wrapped, Ramadan has concluded with Eid al-Fitr, our Community Iftar was a success, and we continue to witness accelerating social […]
April 23, 2019

State of the City 2019

This past week saw the City of Los Angeles bring underway the annual State of the City, during which Mayor Eric Garcetti outlines the strifes, successes, […]
April 2, 2019

Ralph Fertig z”l.

NewGround has been informed that the beloved Ralph Fertig z”l has passed away. Aziza shares: When I was in graduate school, I fell in love with […]
March 22, 2019

Christchurch, New Zealand

On March 15, 2019, a white supremacist killed 51 people across two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, and was apprehended on his way to a third. […]
March 15, 2019

Ilhan Omar, Dialogue, and Democracy

After a series of comments concerning her position on particular manifestations of support regarding Israel, freshly sworn in Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has become the unintentional […]
February 1, 2019

Wrapped: Trailblazer 2019

It is that point in the year once again, at which NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change selects three exceptional Change-making parties across the Muslim and […]
January 10, 2019

PBS NewsHour on Halim Dhanidina

On December 30, 2018, PBS NewsHour aired special correspondent David Tereshchuk’s feature on Los Angeles Justice and NewGround board member Halim Dhanidina. Composed in part by […]
January 2, 2019

Interfaith Acceptance Video

NewGround is proud to be led by executive director Aziza Hasan, who is engaged in more than one of Los Angeles’s many civic spheres. Recently, the […]
November 17, 2018

A Wrap on Spotlight!

It’s been many years, and counting, that the NewGround community has successfully crafted and contributed to a lovely and experientially rich Spotlight event. This year was […]
October 30, 2018

Showing up for Pittsburgh

Anytime a tragedy affects our community we all feel it. This past weekend our hearts broke as we learned of the mass shooting at the Tree […]
October 21, 2018

Unconcerned with voting? Let’s have a talk.

NewGround’s Executive Director, Aziza Hasan, is concerned about voter engagement. Check out her opinion piece in the Sacramento Bee on addressing the matter at hand and […]
October 1, 2018

A Cohort Kickoff!

A new year, a new cohort! This past month, NewGround has been busy observing and celebrating both the Muslim and Jewish New Years, as well as […]
August 28, 2018

Aziza Hasan: CA Influencer!

This year, the Sacramento Bee has named NewGround Executive Director Aziza Hasan a California Influencer, as part of a series that addresses issues directly affecting Californians. […]
July 31, 2018

Annual Report to the Community!

The NewGround team always strives to ensure that our mission continues to hold presence in everything we do. In keeping with this goal, we have recently […]
July 19, 2018

NewGround Programs!

It is on the heels of wrapping up a sublime year with two fantastic NewGround cohorts – one from our Fellowship and the other from our […]
July 3, 2018

MAJIC Film Launch!

Each year, NewGround welcomes a select cohort of high-school aged leaders, 12 Muslims and 12 Jews, to participate in our MAJIC program as Muslims and Jews […]
June 15, 2018

1 Month, 2 Communal Iftars

Eid Mubarak! During this past month of Ramadan, NewGround was proud to host two separate Iftars, one of which celebrated our fantastic 2017-18 fellowship cohort, and […]
June 15, 2018

Humanitarian Day 2018

Each year, the ILM Foundation and NewGround alum Umar Hakim bring together the Los Angeles service community to provide resources and services for the underprivileged of […]