Episode 73: Building Bridges: Art for Social Change
Explore The Good People Fund:
Read The Good People Fund’s “2025 Journal of Good” for more stories of inspiration and impact:
https://www.goodpeoplefund.
Explore The Good People Fund:
Read The Good People Fund’s “2025 Journal of Good” for more stories of inspiration and impact:
https://www.goodpeoplefund.
In this episode of Good People Talk, Julie Fisher, associate executive director of The Good People Fund, speaks with Matt Fieldman and Charmaine Rice, co-founders of Rekindle, a Good People Fund grantee bringing Black and Jewish leaders together for dialogue, friendship, and shared action. Matt and Charmaine share what inspired them to create Rekindle and how they’ve built brave spaces for difficult conversations about race, identity, and history. They trace Rekindle’s remarkable growth from a single Cleveland cohort to a national movement spanning 20 cities, exploring what it means to rekindle the historic Black-Jewish alliance forged during the Civil Rights Movement. The conversation delves into how Rekindle fellows are bringing this work back to their own communities, how Matt and Charmaine navigate polarization and division with hope and courage, and ultimately, what gives them hope for the future.
Explore The Good People Fund:
Read The Good People Fund’s “2025 Journal of Good” for more stories of inspiration and impact:
https://www.goodpeoplefund.
In this moving episode of Good People Talk, Julie Fisher, associate executive director of The Good People Fund sits down with Mo Al Samawi, Founder of Abrahamic House and author of The Fox Hunt, to explore a life shaped by hardship, faith, and extraordinary moral courage.
Born and raised in Yemen, Mo grew up navigating disability, social isolation, and the deep impacts of conflict. His worldview began to shift through unlikely encounters — books, social media, and relationships with people from different faiths — ultimately transforming hatred into compassion. That personal transformation became the foundation for Abrahamic House, a groundbreaking interfaith fellowship where young adults of different religions live together, build friendships, and create community through shared experiences and courageous dialogue.
Explore The Good People Fund:
Read The Good People Fund’s “2025 Journal of Good” for more stories of inspiration and impact:
https://www.goodpeoplefund.
Rabbi Elhanan Miller is the Israel-based Founder of People of the Book, a Good People Fund grantee harnessing the power of original video and social media to advance coexistence between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East … and beyond.
With hundreds of thousands of followers, and a reach into unlikely spaces, he is using creativity and vision to build new narratives and understandings … and change realities. He speaks with Good People Fund Executive Director Naomi Eisenberger.
This episode is the first of Good People Talk’s “Bridge Building” series, focusing on Good People Fund grantees creating and elevating dialogue, common purpose and hope.
Explore The Good People Fund:
Read The Good People Fund’s “2025 Journal of Good” for more stories of inspiration and impact:
https://www.goodpeoplefund.
Everyday Boston is a Good People Fund grantee that is weaving shared storytelling into the civic fabric of Boston.
The intention is to elevate empathy, dismantle barriers, forge connections and build stronger communities within and among neighborhoods in a multicultural city with its own history of fracture.
“Stories can link us when almost nothing else can,” says Cara Solomon, Everyday Boston’s Founder and Creative Director. “Stories are our connective tissue.”
— “Stories of Hope” is a special series of Good People Talk!, where audio storytelling brings the impact of our Good People Fund grantees alive.
— Read The Good People Fund 2025 Journal of Good for more stories of inspiration, hope and impact:
www.goodpeoplefund.org/news-and-publications/annual-reports/
— Thank you to our narrator, Jordan Rich of Chart Productions
It was five years ago that three mothers of college-bound students founded TribeTalk, a Good People Fund grantee.
Their mission … to empower Jewish students with tools, information and resources to evaluate college environments … and also to address antisemitism and anti-Israel bias on campus and beyond.
“We are providing a shield for Jewish students to move through their spaces,” says Jude Sydney, one of the founders, along with Michelle Black and Robin Friedman. “They will be street smart, informed, tactical and practical.”
— “Stories of Hope” is a special series of Good People Talk!, where audio storytelling brings the impact of our Good People Fund grantees alive.
— Read The Good People Fund 2025 Journal of Good for more stories of inspiration, hope and impact:
www.goodpeoplefund.org/news-and-publications/annual-reports/
— Thank you to our narrator, Jordan Rich of Chart Productions, and our voice artist Ari Sapers-Sydney
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