Laura Marks | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 26 April 1960 London, UK |
| Spouse | Dan Patterson |
| Children | 3 |
Laura Elizabeth Marks CBE (born 26 April 1960) is an inter-faith social activist, policy adviser, writer and media commentator. Marks has founded and chaired social organisations including Mitzvah Day International and the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. [1]
Marks was raised in North-West London, attending South Hampstead High School and Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls. [2] Her family were members of Elstree and District Reform Synagogue and Marks was a member of the youth group Habonim Dror. [3] She graduated from University College London before training as a teacher at the UCL Institute of Education. Marks later undertook a Commonwealth Scholarship to Canada for an M.Ed. Marks joined Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO in 1987, becoming planning director. [4] In 1997, Marks left AMV BBDO to start her own planning consultancy. Between 1994 and 1998, Marks also served as chair of the Association of Qualitative Research Practitioners. [5]
In 2005, Marks founded Mitzvah Day International, an annual day of faith-based social action that takes place in November each year. [6] Marks has said that the inspiration for Mitzvah Day International came after she was asked to sing in an old people's home while living in Los Angeles. [7] Since its establishment, Mitzvah Day International has both become the UK's largest faith-led day of social action and spread to numerous cities internationally with over 40,000 participants now taking part worldwide each year. [8] [9]
In 2011, Marks founded and chaired the Commission on Women in Jewish Leadership and in 2020 relaunched the independent Alliance of Jewish Women and their Organisations. [10] [11] She is a trustee of both the Jewish Leadership Council and the Commonwealth Jewish Council. [12] [13] Between 2012 and 2015, Marks served as the Elected Senior Vice President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews. [14] In 2016, Marks became Chair of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, a UK charity that supports and promotes Holocaust Memorial Day by working to educate people about the dangers of hatred. [15] In 2017, Marks co-founded Nisa-Nashim, a national Jewish Muslim women's network that works to connect the Jewish and Muslim communities by empowering women. [16] As of early 2020, Nisa-Nashim has 26 local UK groups and is the fastest growing initiative between the Jewish and Muslim communities in Europe. [17] Marks’ other inter-faith work with the Muslim community includes involvement with Sadaqa Day. [18] She regularly speaks at interfaith events including the New Horizons Conference. [19] In 2019, Marks was appointed to the Mayor of London's Equalities Diversity and Inclusion committee. [20]
Marks sits on the board of the Jewish News. [21] She is a regular media commentator, contributing to platforms including BBC Radio 2 Pause for Thought, BBC Breakfast , BBC London News , HuffPost , Evening Standard , The Jewish Chronicle , Jewish News , The Times of Israel and the Ham & High. [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29]
Marks was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to interfaith relations. [30] In the same year, The Jewish Chronicle named her one of the ten most influential British Jews in "The JC Power 100". [31] She was awarded the Archbishop of Canterbury's Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation in 2019. [32]
She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to inter-faith relations, Holocaust education and commemoration, and women's empowerment. [33]
Marks is married to Dan Patterson, a television producer. [34] They have three children and live in Primrose Hill, London. [35] [36] She is a member of North Western Reform Synagogue. [37]
In September 2020 Marks will be publishing a book focussed on the application of qualitative research. [38]
JFS is a Jewish mixed comprehensive school in Kenton, North London, England and was founded in 1732. Amongst its early supporters was the writer and philanthropist Charlotte Montefiore. At one time it was the largest Jewish school in the world, with more than 4,000 pupils.
Alexander Barnett Goldberg is the Dean of Religious Life and Belief, Coordinating and the Jewish Chaplain to the University of Surrey, England, a rabbi, barrister, and human rights activist.
The Community Security Trust (CST) is a British charity whose purpose is to provide safety, security, and advice to the Jewish community in the UK. It provides advice, training, representation and research.
Sir Trevor Steven Pears CMG is a British businessman. He is a director of the William Pears Group, and the executive chairman of the Pears Foundation, the family foundation he set up in 1992 with his two brothers, Mark and David.
Sir Benjamin "Ben" Helfgott was a Polish-born British Holocaust survivor, Olympian and champion weightlifter. He was one of two Jewish athletes known to have competed in the Olympics after surviving the Holocaust, along with Alfred Nakache, a French champion swimmer and water polo player. Helfgott spent his adult life promoting Holocaust education, meeting with national leaders in the UK to promote cultural integration and peace.
The Jewish News is a free weekly newspaper, established in 1997, that serves the Jewish communities of Greater London – specifically Middlesex, Hertfordshire and Essex. In 2002, it won the Press Gazette free newspaper of the year.
Laura Naomi Janner-Klausner is a British rabbi and an inclusion and development coach who served as the inaugural Senior Rabbi to Reform Judaism from 2011 until 2020. Janner-Klausner grew up in London before studying theology at the University of Cambridge and moving to Israel in 1985, living in Jerusalem for 15 years. She returned to Britain in 1999 and was ordained at Leo Baeck College, serving as rabbi at Alyth Synagogue until 2011. She has been serving as Rabbi at Bromley Reform Synagogue in south-east London since April 2022.
Sir Ephraim Yitzchak Mirvis is an Orthodox rabbi who serves as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. He served as the Chief Rabbi of Ireland between 1985 and 1992.
Sybil Ann Sheridan is a writer and British Reform rabbi. She was chair of the Assembly of Reform Rabbis UK at the Movement for Reform Judaism from 2013 to 2015 and was Rabbi at Wimbledon and District Synagogue in south west London. As of 2020 she is part-time rabbi at Newcastle Reform Synagogue.
Yosef Mizrachi is a Haredi rabbi and public speaker. Considered by many to be a leading Orthodox Jewish outreach rabbi, Mizrachi's outspokenness on certain issues has led to his widespread denunciation and characterization as misguided by leading Orthodox Jewish authorities.
Danny Rich is a Labour councillor in the London Borough of Barnet. He was, until 2020, the Senior Rabbi and Chief Executive of Liberal Judaism in the United Kingdom.
Mitzvah Day International is an annual day of faith-based social action that takes place in November each year, primarily in the United Kingdom. On Mitzvah Day each year, community groups and individuals undertake a range of volunteer projects for those in need in their local community. Organizations register with Mitzvah Day, which in turn helps match volunteers with local projects. The objective is to encourage people to give their time, rather than their money, to worthwhile local causes, whilst also creating deeper linkages within communities and supporting charities. In 2013, close to 30,000 people participated in Mitzvah Day around the world. Though based within the UK's Jewish Community, Mitzvah Day traditionally marks the first day of UK National Inter Faith Week, and as a result has expanded to include participants from other faith communities as well. 'Mitzvah' is the Hebrew biblical term for 'deed' or 'commandment', which has come to mean 'good deed' or 'charitable act' in contemporary English.
The Scottish Council of Jewish Communities (SCoJeC) is the democratic representative body of all the Jewish communities of Scotland. The Council was founded in 1999 in response to Scottish devolution, with the principal aim of providing the Jewish community of Scotland with a single voice in dealings with the Scottish Parliament and Government, other communities, and other statutory and official bodies.
Rudi Leavor, BEM was a Jewish community leader in Bradford, West Yorkshire. He was born in Berlin, Brandenburg, Prussia, Germany. Leavor, along with his parents and sister, left Nazi Germany for Bradford in 1937, when he was 11, all were refugees. He attended Bradford Grammar School, and later Leeds University where he trained to become a dentist. He later had a successful dental practice based in Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire.
Jonathan Sacerdoti is a British broadcaster, journalist and TV producer based in the United Kingdom. He covers stories relating to the UK and Europe, as well as terrorism and extremism stories, race relations, Middle East analysis and the British royal family. He is also a campaigner against antisemitism.
The 2022 Barnet London Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2022, alongside local elections in the other London boroughs and elections to local authorities across the United Kingdom. All 63 members of Barnet London Borough Council were elected. The Labour Party took overall control, winning 41 of the seats to the Conservative Party's 22. This was the first time Labour had won the council outright; previously, the Conservatives had always won the most seats, usually with an overall majority.
Na'amod is a movement of British Jews seeking to end the British Jewish community's support for the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. They state their aim as "to work for freedom, equality and justice for all Palestinians and Israelis". Members are active in many parts of the country including London, Bristol, Manchester, Leicester, Leeds and Newcastle. They estimate they have over 250 members.
Gabriel Kanter-Webber is a British rabbi. He received semichah in summer 2022, after training at Leo Baeck College, and is rabbi of Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue, succeeding Rabbi Elizabeth Tikvah Sarah who retired in 2021. His arrival in Brighton was covered by local news.
There is a long history of Judaism in association football, as "club owners, players, agents, analysts, fans, and directors". In Europe before World War Two, "Jews played a prominent part in European football as players, coaches, administrators and patrons, not to mention supporters".
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help){{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help){{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help){{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)