Advisory Commission

Barbara Krasner, Ph.D., M.F.A., M.B.A.
Holocaust & Genocide Studies
Director
krasnerb@mccc.edu

Barbara Krasner was appointed to the position of Director, Mercer Holocaust, Genocide & Human Rights Education Center on January 1, 2021. She earned her Ph.D. in Holocaust & Genocide Studies at Gratz College. Aside from teaching in the English and History departments at Mercer County Community College, she also teaches in the Holocaust & Genocide Studies (HGS) program at The College of New Jersey and teaches in the graduate HGS programs at Kean University and Gratz College. She holds an MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts and is the author of more than forty books for young people. She is a member of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum's Consortium of Higher Ed Centers and is a fellow of the Curt C. and Elise Silberman Faculty Seminar and the Holocaust Educational Foundation's Summer Seminar at Northwestern University. Krasner is the author of the chapter, "Beyond the Ovens: The Changing Nature of Children's Holocaust Literature," in the edited volume, Atrocity in Children's Literature (SUNY Press, November 2022), and the paper, "  Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Crossing between Nazi-occupied and Soviet-occupied Poland, 1939," published in Close Encounters in War, 2019. She is also the author of the young adult novel in verse, Facing the Enemy: How a Nazi Youth Camp in America Tested a Friendship (Calkins Creek, 2023), and the middle-grade novel in verse, 37 Days at Sea: Aboard the MS St. Louis, 1939 (Kar-Ben, 2021). Her doctoral database of Holocaust children’s literature transferred to the New Jersey State Commission on Holocaust Education but remains housed at barbarakrasner.com.

Lynne Azarchi
Kidsbridge
Appointment to 6/30/2023
lynnekidsbridge@aol.com

Founder and Executive Director of the Kidsbridge Youth Center-- an immersive ‘small group discussion’ learning lab for youth and teachers each year, Lynne has spent the last 20 years creating programs and interactive experiences for more than 30,000 children dealing with bullying prevention, empathy, empowerment, respect and anti-bias, anti-racism.  Her book “The Empathy Advantage: Coaching Children to be Kind, Respectful and Successful” was published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2020 and is now available in paperback.

Toby Adler
Appointment to 6/30/2023
tobytga@aol.com

Toby Adler is an accomplished elementary classroom and reading teacher. He has taught in three different states, which has broadened his horizons and made him a better educator. Adler has always been interested in the history behind the Holocaust and cruelty in the world. Since retiring, his mission is to give back through the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Center.

Cheryl Beal

The Hun School, English

Appointment to 6/30/2024

cherylbeal@hunschool.org

Cheryl Beal holds an M.A. in Holocaust & Genocide Studies from Gratz College and completed her thesis, “The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s ‘Americans and the Holocaust’ Exhibition: The Exhibition’s Balanced Handling of America’s Responses to the Holocaust.” A lawyer by training, she has taught English at the prestigious Hun School of Princeton since 2002. From 2015 to the present, Beal has been teaching Holocaust Literature to Hun School seniors. She attended the Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Teachers’ Program’s Trip to Germany and Poland in the Summer of 2015. She also participated in the Belfer Conference for Educators at U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2016. In 2018, she attended the Advanced Teachers’ Workshop and International Holocaust Convention at Yad Vashem, Israel, where she fulfilled an independent study project in which she compared Yad Vashem and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s treatment of the Holocaust. Finally, Beal’s goal is to dedicate as much time as possible to educating about the Holocaust and other genocides, as well as effectuating outreach to other educators, who can benefit from multi-faceted and inspiring Holocaust resources.

Margaret Boghossian Bar-Akiva

Appointment to 6/30/2023

barakiva3@aol.com

Margaret Boghossian Bar-Akiva was born in Haifa, Israel to Armenian parents who had survived the Armenian Genocide of 1915.  She received her B.A. in Political Science from TCNJ and did her graduate work at Rutgers University.  She is the founding president of C-IHC, a non-profit organization that advocates for greater transparency in HOA's and provides guidance to homeowners across NJ. As a member of the Advisory Commission she wishes to honor the memory of all those who perished during the Genocide by sharing her family's story and upholding their unwavering belief in the inherent goodness of mankind.  It is Bar-Akiva’s goal to honor her parents by upholding that belief, sharing their stories and keeping their memories alive.

Lauren Cohen
Appointment to June 30, 2025

Lauren Cohen is the granddaughter of two Holocaust survivors. She has always been interested in learning the history of the Holocaust, and is passionate about sharing her grandparents' stories. In 2015, Lauren attended the Summer Seminar organized by the NJ Holocaust Commission and the NJEA to visit the infamous sites of the Holocaust.

Michael Jackson
West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional Schools, Community Middle School—Social Studies
Appointment to 6/30/2024
michael.jackson@ww-p.org

Mike Jackson, M.A. Curriculum, Instruction & Supervision, has been a Teacher in West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, an Instructional Leader with a NJ Supervisors Certificate, and a Community-builder in Central NJ and beyond for 30 years. A descendant of activists, including Suffragette, Lucy Wilhoite, Mr. Jackson is also an ambassador of School Curricula -- specifically, Historical Thinking, Media Literacy, and Democratic Debate skill-building -- as a critical form of infrastructure at the foundation and core of Social Justice reform, Beloved Community-Building, and sustainable Democracy.

Rev. John R. Norwood, Ph.D.
Nanticoke/Lenni Lenape
Appointment to 6/30/2023
pastornorwood@comcast.net

Dr. J. R. Norwood, is the pastor of the Ujima Village Christian Church, the Director of the Christian Mission School of Theology, and a former councilman and judge of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nation.

Charisse Smith, Ed.D.
Curriculum Advisor, Social Studies, K-6
Trenton School District
Appointment to 6/30/2024
drcharissesmith@gmail.com

A leading transformation advocate, Dr. Charisse Smith serves as Chair, Notre Dame High School Board of Governors Diversity Committee. She has broad direct classroom experience in the Trenton and Hamilton Township schools, affording her expertise in several curriculum frameworks and designs. As president of Excellence through Education of Hamilton, New Jersey for three years, she facilitated inclusion and advocacy for African American students and faculty. Dr. Smith holds a Ph.D. in Education and is the principal of Sankofa Educational Consulting, LLC

Sharon Taksler
Appointment to 6/30/2023
sharay518@gmail.com

Taksler is a retired special education teacher with an interest in Holocaust studies and human rights education.