Our People

Rabbi David Mason is the Executive Director of HIAS+JCORE. He previously served as rabbi of Muswell Hill Synagogue for over 14 years, and at Kingston Synagogue in South West London prior to that. Born in Edinburgh, he studied at George Watsons College before receiving a BSc and MSc in Econometrics from the London School of Economics. He attended yeshivot in Israel for 7 years before joining the Rabbinate. David also has a Masters in Conflict Resolution in Divided Society from King’s College London. He has built up expertise in inter faith work and social cohesion work as well as in strategic leadership, and was a Trustee at the Council of Christians and Jews and EcoJudaism. Rabbi Mason has developed thinking that connects Jewish ideas and scholarship to social responsibility.

Amos Schonfield is a community builder and activist from London. He has worked to support and mould ecosystems of leaders and communities from marginalised backgrounds with the skills and connections to create a society rooted in social justice and dignity. As Deputy Director of HIAS+JCORE, Amos works across volunteering, education and youth engagement, as well as supporting the rest of the team across the organisation. He also founded and is CEO of Our Second Home, the UK’s refugee youth movement. Previously, he was CEO of Mavar, and has worked at Student Action for Refugees, Noam Masorti Youth, and Yachad (where he remains a trustee). Amos studied International Relations at the University of Leeds and holds an MSc in Migration Studies from the University of Oxford.

Dr Edie Friedman was born in Chicago. A student in the 1960s, she was heavily influenced by the civil rights and peace movements. She came to England to study in Leeds and subsequently worked for Oxfam and the Community Relations Council in Ealing, West London.

She founded the Jewish Council for Racial Equality (JCORE) in 1976 with the aim of providing a Jewish voice on race and asylum in the UK, and has led the organisation since. Over the 45 years, JCORE has campaigned together with the UK’s Black and Asian communities, taken race-equality education into Jewish schools, and supported refugees and asylum seekers through innovative projects.

In 2008 she co-authored Reluctant Refuge – The Story of Asylum in Britain. She has also authored and co-authored a series of race equality education resources covering the primary school to adult age ranges.

Judith has been working in the Jewish community for over a decade and specialises in crisis and change communications with extensive experience in strategic national, political and community based campaigns.

She is currently the Head of Communications and PR at Jewish Care, the largest Jewish social care provider in the UK, leading on communications, PR, and public affairs for the organisation. 

Prior to this, she was the Head of Communications and Campaigns at the Jewish Leadership Council working on campaigns including Enough is Enough, Balfour 100 and Cable Street 80. Judith has spent time working in Parliament and in America, where she ran a leadership development programme for the Jewish Federation of Orange County. She has also previously worked at the Union of Jewish Students where she is now a trustee, and has also served as a trustee of Jewish Women’s Aid and women’s interfaith charity, Nisa-Nashim. 

Judith is passionate about community, equality, and progress.