Jews for Racial and Economic Justice at the Hands Off March in New York, April 19, 2025. Photo Ellen Neipris.

On May 3, the nonprofit Jews for Racial & Economic Justice received the 2025 ALBA/Puffin Award for Human Rights Activism at a ceremony in New York City. Jews For Racial & Economic Justice Community (JFREJ) is a 6,000-member grassroots organization, widely considered to be the home of New York’s Jewish Left. For over 30 years, JFREJ members have organized alongside their neighbors to transform New York from a playground for the wealthy few into a real democracy, free from all forms of racist violence.

With this year’s award, ALBA and The Puffin Foundation intend to acknowledge the danger that current assaults on human and economic rights pose to vulnerable populations—and the need to continue the fight for economic and racial justice that the Abraham Lincoln Brigade committed themselves to when they took up the fight against fascism.

“I am humbled and deeply honored to be accepting the ALBA/Puffin Award for Human Rights on behalf of JFREJ Community,” said Audrey Sasson, Executive Director of Jews for Racial & Economic Justice, Community. “We are in a moment of profound reckoning in this country, facing an onslaught of unimaginable attacks against all our communities. At JFREJ Community, we commit every day to safety through solidarity and to building a just and democratic world. Nearly a hundred years ago, the volunteers of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade saw fascism rising clearly, and knew an attack on one was an attack on all and took courageous action across borders. We build on their sacrifice and on the long history and lineage of Jewish anti-fascist organizing and resistance. We know there is no such thing as a ‘premature antifascist’—then or now—and will gratefully use this prize to power the critical fights ahead.” (See page 5 for Audrey Sasson’s acceptance speech; see page 4 for a gallery of photographs by Kat St. Martin.)

“At a time when we are seeing unprecedented attacks on democratic institutions advanced by authoritarian policies with complete disregard for human rights,” said Jack Mayerhofer, who chairs ALBA’s Human Rights Committee, “organizations like Jews for Racial and Economic Justice Community remind us of the conviction of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, and their work could not be needed more. JFREJ’s efforts mobilizing partners to reject all forms of authoritarianism and racial violence will be essential for successfully pushing back against the anti-democratic attacks of the Trump and Musk administration and for protecting human rights, both within the United States and abroad.”

“With basic human rights under assault in our own country, the efforts of JFREJ to educate the public and speak out on behalf of populations targeted by unjust actions are more important than ever,” said Neal Rosenstein, President of The Puffin Foundation. “JFREJ and its volunteers offer a profound example of an effective force dedicated to shining a light on the actions of those who would attack and demonize immigrants, refugees, and those whose voices are often unheard. We are honored by their actions and their acceptance of this award.”

One of the largest monetary awards for human rights in the world, the ALBA/Puffin Award is a $100,000 cash prize granted annually by ALBA and The Puffin Foundation to honor the nearly 3,000 Americans who volunteered in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) to fight fascism under the banner of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. The late Perry Rosenstein, the philanthropist and visionary founder of The Puffin Foundation, created and established an endowed fund for this award in 2010.

Other recipients of the ALBA/ Puffin Award for Human Rights Activism include reproductive justice organization Indigenous Women Rising; public-interest lawyer Bryan Stevenson; No More Deaths, a humanitarian organization dedicated to ending the death and suffering in the Mexico–US borderlands;  My Brother’s Keeper, an organization whose mission is to reduce health disparities; and Life After Hate, a leader in the violence intervention community helping individuals disengage from violent far-right hate groups.