Sara Yacobi-Harris

Sara is the founder of No Silence on Race. She is an artist, filmmaker, media professional and community organizer. Sara is the director and producer of Periphery, an evocative photographic and film project that bears witness to ethnic diversity in the Jewish community. She also produced and directed a documentary film titled “Who is a Jew?”, which explores the roots of cultural and ethnic identity and the experience of Black Jews and Jews of Colour in Toronto. Sara has worked with the Ontario Jewish Archives, Toronto Jewish Film Foundation, Hillel Ontario, and The House and has spoken at Jewish conferences, seminars and events including the national summit on antisemitism. 

Tamara Podemski

Tamara is an Anishnaabe/Ashkenazi multi-disciplinary artist born and raised in Toronto. For the past 30 years she has made a name for herself on stage and screen, amplifying under-represented and marginalized voices. She is passionate about telling authentic stories about Indigenous women, while fighting to correct the colonial narrative pervasive in the film and television industry. Having grandparents who are both Holocaust survivors and residential school survivors, Tamara speaks openly about issues of intergenerational trauma, reconciliation and inherited legacies of oppressed people. She has spoken about her family's history at several synagogues and on Rikva Campbell's "Rivkush" CJN podcast.

Ann Samson

Ann was born and raised in India, in an observant Jewish home. In 1966, Ann and her husband, Solomon, immigrated to Canada. Ann is a founding member, Past President and current Board member of Congregation BINA*. She lectures extensively about Jews of India – she presented her paper on the issue at the first International Conference on Jewish Family Heritage in Jerusalem. She worked on the Toronto Jewish Mosaic Festivals and Sephardi/Mirzrahi Jewish Speaker Series. For over 40 years, Ann has been an active member of Beth David – serving on the Board as well as Education and Human Resources committees, coordinating Sidra Lunch, Nosh’n Drosh sessions and Sisterhood Fashion shows and as a Shabbat/High Holiday greeter. *Congregation BINA is a community of Jews from India