Before moving to Jerusalem in 1978, Yael earned a Bachelor's Degree in International Relations at the University of California Berkeley. She had already become passionately involved the struggle for civil rights during the 1968 Poor People’s March on Washington, helping build Resurrection City and tutoring children of color whose schools were just being desegregated in southern Virginia. Learning about Compassionate Listening in 2000 resonated profoundly for Yael as a powerful tool to heal broken relationships, whether in a family or in the nation. She was certified as a Compassionate Listening facilitator in 2004, leading and co-leading a number of  Compassionate Listening delegations to Israel-Palestine where she lived for 29 years. Yael currently lives and facilitates Compassionate Listening trainings in Western Massachusetts. She initiated and led the first domestic Compassionate Listening delegation to Alabama in January 2020. The suffering caused by racism (or any other "ism") is felt everywhere throughout this country. We plan to reach many more people who need to be heard. Yael co-authored “Making Peace with Faith” for the World Vision organization. Since 2013, she has served as volunteer facilitator of the Alternatives to Violence Project in a men's high security prison and finds that Compassionate Listening skills blend seamlessly into that program. Witnessing the “new Jim Crow” there has brought her around full-circle to rejoin the struggle for racial/social justice here in the U.S.  
 

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