We are pleased to welcome our 2025-2026 cohort of Naomi Chazan Fellows!
The Naomi Chazan Fellowship is a year-long global program that begins with a subsidized, ten-day study tour in Israel-Palestine with two dozen changemakers in their 20s and 30s from Canada, the UK, Australia, and the US.
Fellows join an immersive experience to explore social issues in Israel and the Occupied Territories, then return home and work to engage their home communities on these issues, take part in leadership seminars, and become part of a global network of young Jewish progressives.
This year’s Fellows are:
Zoe Bernard is a graduate of McGill University, where she completed a degree in Political Science, minoring in Gender and Social Justice studies, and Jewish Studies. She currently lives in Toronto and is pursuing a Graduate Certificate in Public Relations. A former NIFC staff member, Zoe has worked with and for a variety of socially minded organizations. Having grown up in Jewish activist spaces, she has always gravitated towards work that furthers the pursuit of justice and kindness. She is very excited to be joining this year’s Naomi Chazan Fellowship cohort and to continue her activism in the region.
Ben Collins is a writer, graphic designer and photographer currently working in professional communications in the Jewish non-profit world. Previously he has worked as a multimedia journalist at the Toronto Observer, associate producer at i24News in Tel Aviv, and as an editor at the Canadian Jewish News. Before that, he worked in the government at both the provincial and federal levels. He has a BA in Classics from McMaster University and an Advanced Degree in Journalism from Centennial College. He is currently studying Political Science and International Relations at the University of Toronto. In his spare time, Ben enjoys reading, sailing and playing violin.
Ben Hanff is a government lawyer whose practice focuses on justice sector policy reform. He studied Political Science and Theatre at McGill University before earning a combined Law and Public Policy degree at the University of Toronto. Ben is a former editor-in-chief of the Indigenous Law Journal, organizes with IfNotNow, and is an active member of the Danforth Jewish Circle. He brings experience in grassroots organizing, community education, and advocacy, along with a deep commitment to social justice, human rights, and collective liberation.
Erez Zobary (she/her) is a Yemenite Jewish educator and musician from Toronto, Canada. Erez holds a BA of Arts and Education from Queen’s University and graduated as an English and history high school teacher with a specialization in social justice education. With more than five years’ experience working for Facing History & Ourselves Canada, the Toronto District School Board and as an independent artist, Erez brings a rich and varied skill set to her work. Over the last seven years, she has released genre-spanning music, and has performed at festivals and venues across the city, opening for billboard-charting artists like Lawrence and Sammy Rae and Friends, and performing at the Toronto Jazz Fest.
Erez is deeply committed to amplifying untold Jewish narratives, with a special focus on the Yemenite Jewish experience. In 2024, Erez released her self-titled album, a Hebrew name that fittingly translates to Cedar Tree. The nine-song project blends Zobary’s signature sound with the music of her roots: Yemenite, Hebrew, and English phrases sung to soulful melodies; traditional Middle Eastern instruments like buzuq and oud played over contemporary R&B guitar, drums, and bass; and deeply personal lyrics that honour the singer’s heritage and her own experiences as a Yemenite Jewish woman in present times. Erez is currently pursuing a Masters of Information at the University of Toronto, specializing in Judaica librarianship and archive work as she interns at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library.
Toby King (she/they) is a queer Jewish educator, student, poet, and performer born and raised in Toronto. She is a student at the University of Toronto studying theatre, equity studies and education and an educator and B’nei Mitzvah instructor at the Danforth Jewish Circle. Her work explores her intersecting crip, Queer and Jewish identities, and examines, bends and reframes dominant narratives through those lenses. They are a lover of stories, a seeker of justice and a student of Torah; she is deeply invested in the unimaginable and inevitable crip, queer, Jewish future. Toby recently published a zine of their poetry work, entitled Everything is Roots and Glitter: Queer Diasporic Lamentations which you can find on East Toronto Judaica’s website.