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Andrea Lee-Zucker
Experience designer, artist, poet, coach, social entrepreneur
Andrea Lee-Zucker is a multifaceted individual with a strong commitment to social justice and community engagement. She is a native of Charleston, South Carolina, and serves as a steering committee member for Charleston Alternative to Detention, an initiative that advocates for community-based alternatives to juvenile detention.13
Professional Background
Andrea is an interdisciplinary artist, coach, experience designer, and social entrepreneur. She co-founded Antigravity Ventures, which invests in leaders and technologies aimed at improving the world and people's lives in scalable and inclusive ways.1
Philanthropic Involvement
In addition to her work with Charleston Alternative to Detention, Andrea is involved in several other philanthropic endeavors:
- Board member of The Conrad Foundation, which empowers high school students to use science, technology, and entrepreneurship to solve global and local challenges
- Serves on the US board of IsraAID, an NGO that provides urgent aid and disaster recovery assistance worldwide1
Personal Philosophy
Andrea's approach to life and work is characterized by:
- A sense of playfulness and wonder
- Helping people bridge their hearts and senses to live in harmony with themselves, their environments, and the universe
- Belief in unlocking divine potential by embracing one's true self
- Emphasis on joy, play, curiosity, faith, and taking small but powerful steps1
Family Background
Andrea comes from a family with a strong commitment to social justice. Her father, Jerry Zucker, was a successful businessman who instilled in her core values such as never being a bystander to hate and maintaining a sense of urgency in all endeavors.2
Andrea Lee-Zucker's work with Charleston Alternative to Detention aligns with her broader mission of creating positive change and advocating for justice in her community and beyond.
Highlights
On one of the holiest days of the year, a day meant for celebration and joy, innocent people in Israel woke up to terror. My description is missing the worst of the details surrounding the gruesome nature of this. The trauma is devastating and ongoing…
And though the pain cannot be removed or undone, we—those physically distant from the crisis—must not let sorrow lead to paralysis. We must take the actions each of us can to assist with healing, supporting, protecting and caring for people who have been harmed, are in need, or are in harm’s way.
I have mentioned before that I serve on the US board of IsraAID an Israel-based, nongovernmental, humanitarian aid organization that supports disaster and emergency-affected communities across the world. In this case, the IsraAID team must now use its expertise and resources at home and is providing psychosocial support and urgent aid to vulnerable communities, evacuees and their families.
IsraAID’s initial emergency response programs include:
- Establishing Child-Friendly Spaces (CFSs), which offer a safe environment to provide displaced children with therapeutic and educational play, crafts, and sports.
- Distributing resilience kits for children and their families. These include recreational activity books, toys, games,and other stress relief items. They maybe complemented by hygiene kits.
- Equipping parents with tools and techniques to support their children’s wellbeing through parents’ guidance forums, in collaboration with therapists. Topics will include how to talk about conflict, behaviors to expect, positive management tools,and positive coping mechanisms.
- Ensuring mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) provision for professionals working directly with those affected. This includes staff at Evacuation Centers, where displaced families are being accommodated; teachers;and volunteers from community-led organizations and local NGOs. IsraAID will deliver capacity-strengthening programs for these partners so that they can support displaced and conflict-affected communities appropriately in the context, as well as care for themselves.
- Training psychosocial support (PSS) specialists on emergency-specific methodologies and principles of intervention, including psychological first aid(PFA), PSS, and key humanitarian principles, such as Do No Harm, in crisis contexts;and establishing mechanisms to coordinate volunteers.
This response will undoubtedly expand in scope and scale. The need for support is vast and deep in this dark moment. IsraAID is providing a key element of support among so many essential needs. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. And if you’d like to support, you can find the link in the comments.
I pray, I pray, I pray that G-d will help us navigate this painful crisis, and PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE bring hostages to safety, bring families safely back together, end further violence, allow people to heal and, PLEASE bring light and peace to ALL people.
Today, February 24th, one year has passed since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
As I’ve mentioned, I serve on the IsraAID US Board, which has been one of the most deeply impactful experiences of my life. In the past 12 months, the IsraAID teams in Ukraine, Moldova & Romania have directly reached over 330,000 Ukrainian people in 35 cities. However, as we mark one year of conflict, 17.7 million Ukrainians still need urgent humanitarian support.
In the beginning of the crisis, investment in humanitarian aid was coming in rapidly. Today, following one year, investment in humanitarian aid is much slower but more needed than ever.
The story of this year belongs to the people who have been working, every day, in their communities, to respond to crisis and build resilience. This past week I was lucky enough to spend time with Alena Druzhynina, one of the IsraAID Ukraine mission leaders. She shared personal stories about the challenges of daily life, the astounding resilience of the Ukrainian people, and the deep and highly effective work of the IsraAID team in areas ranging from supply chain distribution to mental health and psychological first aid training to providing new water sanitation systems to give access to potable water in places where all the infrastructure was destroyed.
Please explore these resources to help you learn more about IsraAID’s response and support to Ukrainian communities:
EXPLORE: IsraAID’s response, month by month on this interactive timeline - https://lnkd.in/e8CBiAMj
WATCH: https://lnkd.in/evP3aKwx
GET INFORMED: Read our in-depth report - https://lnkd.in/e9gD_BZd
SHARE: Make sure that your friends and family know about the human impact of the ongoing crisis. Forward these resources on!
DONATE: You can make a difference by donating to IsraAID’s Emergency Response Fund – click here https://lnkd.in/e6XxCpSx
Thank you for your support, we couldn’t do it without you.
With gratitude and respect, Andrea
