In 1994, the USC Shoah Foundation launched an unprecedented effort to record, preserve, and share the testimonies of Holocaust survivors. Over the past 30 years, we have built a world-class institute anchored in their voices. Today, as Holocaust memory fades and we confront new forces of hatred and antisemitism, the promise we made to survivors 30 years ago demands renewed action. We continue to bear witness for generations to come and hope you will join us with shared purpose and urgency for our Ambassadors for Humanity Gala this fall.

The USC Shoah Foundation has named two key members to its senior leadership team, Senior Director of Programs Catherine E. Clark and Director of Administration Jenna Leventhal. The appointments represent a pivotal restructuring under the leadership of Finci-Viterbi Executive Director Robert J. Williams as the organization marks its 30th anniversary amid a global rise in antisemitism.

The Division of Academic Programs at the USC Shoah Foundation invites applications for its inaugural Azrieli Research Fellowship for graduate students who are pursuing an Master’s degree (M.A., M.Ed., MMSt., MI, or other recognized Master’s-level program) or PhD during the spring or summer 2025 term.

The USC Shoah Foundation mourns the loss of Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer, a Holocaust survivor who fled Nazi Germany without her parents at the age of 10 and went on to become a renowned and beloved sex therapist and media personality. She was 96 years old. 

Julie Gruenbaum Fax is a content strategist and creator on our communications team, responsible for institutional storytelling, feature writing, and strategic messaging.

Julie Gruenbaum Fax is a content strategist and writer for the USC Shoah Foundation. She was a senior writer and editor at the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles and has co-authored six personal history books. She is currently writing a book about her grandmother’s Holocaust experience.

The USC Shoah Foundations mourns the passing of friend and colleague Ita Gordon, an indexer, translator, mentor, and researcher who, for nearly thirty years, channeled her passion for testimony into diligent care and expertise that helped the organization become a world leader in collecting, preserving, and sharing Holocaust survivor testimony.

In 2020, while longtime USC Shoah Foundation indexer Ita Gordon was participating in a pandemic-era Zoom call about teaching the Holocaust in Latin America, she heard survivor Ana María Wahrenberg describe parting from a dear friend at a Berlin schoolyard in 1939. The story stayed with Ita – she had heard it before. Through several rounds of sleuthing in the Visual History Archive, Ita found the testimony: Betty Grebenschikoff, who in her 1997 interview said she was still hoping to find her childhood best friend, Annemarie Wahrenberg.

As we celebrate our 30th anniversary, we pay tribute to some of the people who helped build the organization. Ita Gordon has worked as an indexer, translator, mentor, and researcher at the USC Shoah Foundation since its founding 30 years ago, channeling her passion for the organization’s mission into diligent care and helping to establish the USC Shoah Foundation as a world leader in collecting, preserving, and sharing survivor testimony.

Survivors speak to future generations through our innovative, award-winning educational services and programs, including IWitness, IWalks, and our professional development programs for educators such as Echoes & Reflections, produced in partnership with ADL and Yad Vashem.

Porscha specializes in bringing testimony-based education programming, multimedia resources, and digital tools to educators and students. Her top priorities include developing the Mobile Dimensions in Testimony (DiT) program and innovating the William P. Lauder (WPL) Junior Internship program. Porscha establishes and maintains relationships with school district decision makers and staff, vendors, and community organizations.

Ita was a cataloguer and indexer of Holocaust survivors testimonies. She also worked as a translator. She was fluent in Portuguese and Spanish, as well as conversant in Yiddish.

Having been at the Institute for 25 years, Kim Simon was involved in developing and scaling the Institute’s impact and reach globally. She directed the development and implementation of key public engagement programs that connect USC Shoah Foundation to its many distinct audiences.