Brandeis Alumni, Family and Friends
Lessons in Activism From the Frontlines of Social Change
April 8, 2025
Brandeis graduates shared the values, tools, and strategies that have guided them in their work during the DEIS Impact social justice festival on campus.
At Brandeis’ annual festival of social justice last month – called DEIS Impact – the methods and urgency of activism were front and center. The multi-day event included a keynote address by the Rev. Dr. William Joseph Barber II, a community engagement fair, a documentary film screening, and a number of workshops.
Alumni played a key role. In a powerful panel discussion, seven graduates who work in fields related to social justice discussed the values, tools, and strategies that have guided them in their efforts to create positive change in the world.
Here are a few key takeaways from that conversation.
Change Starts with Listening
Panelists included Emmanuel Daphnis ’98 a Boston-area pastor, and Alexandra Piñeros-Shields, Heller PhD ’07, P’28, a Brandeis professor and former nonprofit leader. Though the pair work in different fields, they each shared how listening to their respective communities led them to specific initiatives in their activism.
For example, Daphnis said input from his church members inspired him to address racism in K-12 schools in his community. Piñeros-Shields shared how similar experiences led her and the nonprofit she worked for to focus on trying to reduce mass incarceration.
“I found my path by way of my relationship with these communities, and listening to their pain and guidance,” she said. “I didn't go out and choose the mass incarceration issue. I was told, ‘this is what we need.’”
Act Locally, Think Globally
With important national issues dominating the news, local issues of equal importance can often fly under the radar. Given that, the alumni panelists discussed the need to think globally while acting locally.
Jonathan Goldman ’19, executive director at the Student Clinic for Immigrant Justice, said one of the ways to do that is to organize fun events that bring people together. He recalled how at Brandeis he organized soup and game nights to get to know people. In his own work, he discussed hosting a potluck as a way to draw people in and ultimately educate them about the immigration issues he was focused on. Events like that, he continued, can bring people together and serve as a fun way to introduce people to different causes.
“There have been people organizing around these issues longer than I’ve been alive,” he said. “To sustain their work, it takes bringing more people into the fold. If you’re wondering, 'how do I bring people together?' I’d say just do something you like doing.”
Trust Your Instincts
There are countless causes worthy of support, said Talia Franks ’18, GSAS MA’19. For that reason, they said, it’s critical to rely on personal instinct when pursuing a profession in a social justice field. “Finding your calling is a long and complicated process,” Franks said.
Audrey Etlinger ’07, Heller MPP’10, director of sexual and reproductive health at the Cambridge Health Alliance, agreed. She added that many people in her own life dissuaded her from pursuing a public policy degree early in her career, instead encouraging her to get a PhD. But she trusted her instincts, believing a cross-disciplinary approach to her education would be a better path.
“Everyone said I should either go to medical school or get a PhD and that without that, no one would take me seriously,” she said. “I thought they were wrong, so I bet on myself.”
Prioritize Rest
Even when dealing with issues that are matters of life and death, work-life balance is key, the speakers said. And people shouldn’t feel guilt when it comes time to rest.
“If we just try to bottle up our emotions and try not to think about things, to just keep going, and going, and going, that’s what leads to burn out,” said Franks.
John Valinch, Heller MBA ’20, MPP ’20, a sustainability analyst, agreed, then went on to extol the virtues of a few tried and true ways of unwinding.
“That’s why you seriously need to get your eight hours of sleep,” Valinch said. “Regularly exercising is also incredibly important. I like meditation. I think it allows for spiritual insights that we all need, regardless of how we recharge.”
Brandeis is grateful to Jules Bernstein ’57 and Linda Lipsett for sponsoring DEIS Impact through the Louis D. Brandeis Legacy Fund for Social Justice.
