The ASF’s Leadership
Jason Guberman
Jason, a social entrepreneur who specializes in building broad coalitions and melding intellectual and technical innovation, is the American Sephardi Federation’s Executive Director, founding Executive Director of Digital Heritage Mapping, and coordinator of DHM’s flagship initiative, the Diarna Geo-Museum of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish Life, which was a 2017 cover story in Newsweek and profiled in the June 2020 issue of the Smithsonian Magazine.
A summa cum laude graduate of Sacred Heart University, where he served as the first Jewish class president, was a fellow of a Muslim civil rights organization, and organized a Freedom Concert against the Iranian regime, Jason was named to Connecticut Magazine’s “40 under 40” and to the New York Jewish Week’s “36 under 36.” He has presented Diarna at Stanford University’s Digital Humanities Center and the USC Shoah Foundation, conferences of the Association of Jewish Studies, Association of Jewish Libraries, Limmud UK, US Department of State/Moroccan Rabita Mohammadia of Ulema, and the World Wide Human Geography Data Working Group (WWHGD), guest lectured classes at Harvard’s Middle East Studies Center and at Wellesley College, represented the American Sephardi Federation at the Mecca-based Muslim World League’s “National Conference on Peace, Harmony and Coexistence” in Sri Lanka, at the Moroccan Royal Inauguration of Bayt Dakira in Essaouira, and on the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations’ Missions to Morocco, Egypt, Israel, Cyprus, United Arab Emirates, and elsewhere, written for AJS Perspectives, Sh’ma Journal, Wexner Foundation Newsletter, The Algemeiner, Newsweek, and MyJewishLearning.com, as well as appeared on NPR’s “Here & Now” and in SmartHistory. Jason is an alumnus of the Tikvah Fund’s Fellowship and Core18 Leaders Laboratory.
Anna Vasquez
Anna Vasquez (Giorganashvili) is a dedicated professional who was born and raised in the country of Georgia. She earned her B.A. in Humanities and Social Science with honors from Telavi State University and has almost a decade of experience in the banking industry. Since 2018, she has been an integral member of the American Sephardi Federation, where she serves as an Executive Assistant and Results Specialist.
In her role, Anna goes beyond managing office routines and tasks. She provides valuable support in various aspects of the ASF's operations. With her strong work ethic and commitment to excellence, Anna ensures the smooth functioning of the organization and contributes to the success of its programs and initiatives bringing her diverse skill set to work.
Aryeh Tepper, Ph.D
Dr. Aryeh Tepper is the American Sephardi Federation’s Director of Publications. He edits Sephardi Ideas Monthly, Sephardi World Weekly and The Sephardi Report, and serves as the Co-Director of the Omni-American Future Project, a collaboration between the ASF, the Combat Antisemitism Movement and The Jazz Leadership Project. Aryeh co-hosts “Straight Ahead: The Omni-American Podcast” together with his Co-Director at the Omni-American Future Project, Greg Thomas.
Aryeh is the author of Progressive Minds, Conservative Politics: Leo Strauss’ Later Writings on Maimonides (SUNY Press, 2013), and is a Fellow at The Azrieli Center for Israel Studies at Ben Gurion
University. He is also the Director of Israel Studies at SIGNAL Group. Aryeh’s articles, essays and translations covering topics from Classic Sephardic Judaism to the jazz tradition to International Relations have appeared in English and Hebrew in The Tel Aviv Review of Books, Moment Magazine, The Literary Review, Interpretation, The Weekly Standard, Mosaic, The Diplomat, Commentary, Forward, Akdamot, Ha’aretz, Maqor Rishon & more.
Aryeh lives in the southern Negev town of Ofaqim, where he serves on the steering committee of the Municipal Archive and Museum.
Ruben Shimonov
Born in Uzbekistan, Ruben Shimonov is an educator, community builder, and artist passionate about Jewish diversity and intercultural understanding. He is the American Sephardi Federation's National Director of Education & Sephardi House—an innovative initiative that works to enrich Jewish campus life and young leadership with the vibrancy, richness, and wisdom of the Sephardic and Mizrahi world. He is also the Founding Executive Director of the Sephardic Mizrahi Q Network. Previously, he was the Director of Community Engagement & Education at Queens College Hillel and Director of Educational Experiences & Programming for the Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee. As a visual artist, Ruben uses his multilingual Hebrew-Arabic-Persian calligraphy to build interfaith bridges and celebrate the diversity of the Greater Sephardi world. His art has been featured in international publications and exhibits, including at the U.S. Embassy in Uzbekistan. Ruben has brought his multilingual calligraphy workshops, as well as his lectures on Sephardic and Mizrahi Jewish histories, to conferences, universities, and museums around the world. He recently concluded an Artist Residency and Visiting Lectureship at the Tuohy Center for Interreligious Understanding at John Carroll University.
