Nicholas was born and raised in Hong Kong. He moved to Britain at the age of 13 to pursue his secondary education.

Through serendipity, Nicholas acquainted - and then later befriended - himself with many great people who have devoted much of their lives to history - the Holocaust, in particular. Through association with such individuals, his love for the academic subject narrowed down into a fundamental interest in the topic of Judaism. Therefore, upon finding out about the experience of the Chinese Jews, Nicholas was compelled to learn more and to further share their story. Indeed, the Chinese Jews’ history particularly resonated within him, as it embodied elements of his interest, Judaism, and of his own upraising in Asia.

Nicholas’ interest in Jewish history also prompts him to do all he can to combat anti-Semitism, especially given its re-emergence in Europe and therefore is in working closely with many anti-hate organisations.

Yarden was born in a small Kibbutz in northern Israel. Having lived in Israel for 14 years, she is highly devoted to the field of Holocaust and anti-Semitism. A direct descendant of German and Polish Holocaust-survivors, Yarden has unbreakable ties to her homeland and its history, which she describes as ‘the society which sprung from great suffering to form a beautiful nation.’ However, obstructing this beauty is Israel’s ongoing violent conflict with Palestine, largely enrooted in its troubled history. Having spent most of her life amidst this animosity, Yarden has devoted much of her time to humanitarian-aid.

In addition to playing a vital role in Chinese Jewish Institute, she is an active member of the Peace Now movement, and often finds herself volunteering with Holocaust survivors in Israel, as well as Syrian refugees in Greece.

Born in Hong Kong to an American father and a Japanese mother, Sally has been immersed in multiple cultures. After moving to Kyoto, Japan, at nine years old, Sally became fluent in Japanese, helping her to overcome cultural barriers and forge relationships in a place where she sometimes experienced prejudice because of her mixed-race background. Sally worked to build bridges despite cultural differences.

In her free time, Sally actively help to rebuild Tohoku after its devastating 9.1 magnitude earthquake and tsunami, and regularly join Kodomo-Shokudo to provide children in need with warm meals. While commuting between her various destinations, Sally tries to squeeze in a few good reads.  Amongst her favourites are Educated, The Great Gatsby, and War and Peace.

Sally recently finished translating the book Jews In China: A History of Struggle by Nicholas Zane from English to Japanese. This had special meaning to Sally, as the book focuses on a community that has fused both Chinese and Jewish traditions and serves as an example of tolerance and understanding. Sally hopes that having this story accessible to a Japanese audience can create new perspectives on tolerance and cultural coexistence. Ultimately, Sally endeavors to become an international lawyer and focus on working with marginalized groups. It’s clear that her international upbringing has formed her view of the world, and her diversity of life experiences, living situations, and cultures positioned Sally uniquely to continue to build bridges as a truly international student and person. 

Felix Neubauer was born and raised in Germany. It is recognized that Germany had a particularly horrific and shocking war history. As a German, Felix found, one ends up discussing the topic of war and war guilt over and over again. The spotlight on which German history throws the country and its people, however, is the treacherous way it unveils German’s open-mindedness, willingness to help, and a general endorsement of diverse cultural and religious believes.

One of Felix’s core principles in life is to avoid blindly going with the flow. He believes our society develops, advances, and runs best on our cultural and ideological differences, which also helps to make our world a more interesting and lively place to live. While a frequent attendee at variety of seminars, Felix is currently trying to organise talks at his own school, to further spread new ideas and promote global engagement.

Elizaveta was born and raised in Russia. In her school, she has quite a few Jewish friends who are actively engaged in Jewish life and have a tight-knit community. They organise webinars to teach Jewish children about their religion as well as engage them in different activities to pass on their beliefs and traditions, in a relaxing and fun way. Elizaveta has always being curious about Jewish history and culture, as well as the wonders of East Asia. Chinese Jews is where her two passions perfectly intersect!

Elizaveta loves to spend quality time with her family in their country house. She is also a huge fan of books - all kinds of book.

Elizaveta’s favourite thing to do is to hide in a hammock with her coffee and her beloved books.

Mariam is from Egypt. She enjoys very much politics and history, which directly links to her passion of learning about different cultures around the world.

The international community at her school allows her to interact with different cultures first hand - from the personal stories of her classmates. Mariam also finds religion fascinating and focused her studies on the close linkage between culture, history and religion.

Apart from this, Mariam loves drawing and debating.

Martina is a native of the Philippino American . She attended high school in Paris and obtained her under-graduate degree from Columbia University.

Martina is a strong advocate for the marginalised children, fighting for their rights to quality education, regardless of race, religion or social status. Martina is also the strongest warrior against intolerance, she believes in respecting and learning from others, rejecting unfair stereotypes, bridging cultural gaps, and creating new bonds. She preaches that learning to recognise common ground can be uniting, but learning to recognise and embrace differences can be even more endearing. She often says, it is only through tolerance can we reject prejudice and the best time to start - as young as possible. Today, Martina is a very happy, well-loved and extremely proud teacher of 4th grade students, at the Kellett School in Hong Kong.

In her spare time, Martina is heavily involved in various NGOs in Hong Kong. She also runs a charitable school in the Philippines, catering to children who don’t fit into the so-called “normal” schools.