{"id":15745,"date":"2014-05-23T16:05:26","date_gmt":"2014-05-23T22:05:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=15745"},"modified":"2014-05-26T09:46:09","modified_gmt":"2014-05-26T15:46:09","slug":"padilla-goodman-becomes-fifth-community-director-of-adl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/padilla-goodman-becomes-fifth-community-director-of-adl\/","title":{"rendered":"Padilla-Goodman becomes fifth community director of ADL"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By KAREN LOZINSKI, <em>Special to the CCJN<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The walls of Allison Padilla-Goodman\u2019s office at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) are papered with maps in bold colors\u2014maps of the states that define the South Central Region: Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas. Their bright hues contrast with the deep, churning grays of the quick spring thunderstorm that punctuates the afternoon.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_15746\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a title=\"Allison Paddilla-Goodman\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Allison-Goodman-Phone.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15746\" class=\"wp-image-15746 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Allison-Goodman-Phone-300x208.jpg\" alt=\"Allison Goodman Phone\" width=\"300\" height=\"208\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Allison-Goodman-Phone-300x208.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Allison-Goodman-Phone-1024x710.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/208;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15746\" class=\"wp-image-15746 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Allison-Goodman-Phone-300x208.jpg\" alt=\"Allison Goodman Phone\" width=\"300\" height=\"208\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Allison-Goodman-Phone-300x208.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Allison-Goodman-Phone-1024x710.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-15746\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">New South Central Region ADL community director Allison Padilla-Goodman fields a call to her office (Photo credit by Karen Lozinski).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Padilla-Goodman is welcoming, open and confident; she\u2019s ready to talk about her myriad experiences and achievements in education, research, writing, and social work, and what she plans in her role as the recently installed fifth community director of the ADL\u2019s South Central Region.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne thing that has been a driving philosophy in my life is that I\u2014very honestly and very humbly\u2014really believe that everybody in this world has the power to do something great. Everybody has a gift to share,\u201d Padilla-Goodman asserts.<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s careful to temper this hopeful claim with a dose of realism, courtesy of her work. Many of her published works and academic presentations confront the societal and economic obstacles faced by diverse populations in a post-Katrina New Orleans environment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course, as a sociologist, it\u2019s important to also consider context: socio-economic status, gender, institutionalized racism, history, (and) experience,\u201d she relates. \u201cIf there were more of a push to understand people and their context, history, situations, and experiences, there could be more understanding of (people\u2019s) value too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Much like the Mississippi River has continually defined the shape, character, and destiny of the Crescent City, an abiding love of education and scholarship runs through Padilla-Goodman, which is understandable when one considers her impressive history of service in education in three diverse settings: New Orleans, New York, and Hong Kong.<\/p>\n<p>A fourth-generation New Orleanian, she is grateful for her work and experiences abroad. Yet, no matter where she has lived, Padilla-Goodman has always remained steadfast in her conviction that New Orleans is home. She carries an enduring love for the city and reflects romantically on the pre-Katrina home she shared with her husband in the Seventh Ward, an area that afforded the two of them regular opportunities to revel in Sunday afternoon \u201csecond line\u201d parades.<\/p>\n<p>A lifetime of learning, a career in education, and solid fieldwork in the service of others have paved the way to Padilla-Goodman\u2019s new role at the ADL.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_15747\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a title=\"Allison Padilla-Goodman reading\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Allison-Goodman-Reading.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15747\" class=\"wp-image-15747 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Allison-Goodman-Reading-300x246.jpg\" alt=\"Allison Goodman Reading\" width=\"300\" height=\"246\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Allison-Goodman-Reading-300x246.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Allison-Goodman-Reading-1024x842.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/246;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-15747\" class=\"wp-image-15747 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Allison-Goodman-Reading-300x246.jpg\" alt=\"Allison Goodman Reading\" width=\"300\" height=\"246\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Allison-Goodman-Reading-300x246.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Allison-Goodman-Reading-1024x842.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-15747\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A scholar by avocation and occupation, Padilla-Goodman is a firm believer in the power of education. (Photo by Karen Lozinski)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>She assumed the directorship in April, after Talora Gross\u2019 abbreviated stint in the position in 2013 <a title=\"Talora Gross ADL article\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/talora-gross-takes-first-steps-at-adl\/\" target=\"_blank\">(See related CCJN story her<\/a>e.). Padilla-Goodman follows in the fabled footsteps of local ADL founder A. I. \u201cB\u201d Botnick, who served as the director for almost three decades. He was succeeded by Jerry Himmelstein and, more recently, by Cathy Glaser, all of whom have held this important and highly visible position.<\/p>\n<p>A sociologist who recently completed her doctoral dissertation at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center, Padilla-Goodman\u2019s journey in the education profession and service to the causes of social justice began with Summerbridge, now known as Breakthrough Collaborative. Founded in 1978, the organization provides an accelerated summer program for underserved and overlooked middle school students, with a staff comprised of pre-professional, hands-on teaching residents.<\/p>\n<p>Padilla-Goodman credits this experience as profound, both personally and professionally, stating: \u201c[It] opened my eyes and inspired me to understand other people better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Through her career, Padilla-Goodman has served as both the dean of faculty for Summerbridge in New Orleans and Hong Kong. She has also had several stints as the program director in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n<p>Padilla-Goodman\u2019s academic background and achievements at the collegiate level have afforded her the impetus to travel and work both in the United States and abroad. A semester in Florence, Italy spent as an undergraduate at Middlebury College in Vermont proved life changing and provided the fodder for her eventual baccalaureate thesis when she met and befriended a group of Albania refugees from Kosovo.<\/p>\n<p>Through their eyes, Padilla-Goodman gained perspective on growing up and living in a war-torn region and the intense loss and atrocities that invariably result from that situation<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI met these people and they were really fun, but there was so much more behind their everyday than my everyday,\u201d she explained. \u201cThere was so much resiliency and wisdom they had, that I didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Upon her return stateside, Padilla-Goodman switched her major from Art History and Italian to Anthropology and Sociology, a move which then took her to Tulane University\u2019s Stone Center for Latin American Studies for her master\u2019s degree. Later, she matriculated to CUNY for another master\u2019s and very recently worked both in New York and New Orleans on her doctoral degree.<\/p>\n<p>Padilla-Goodman taught at the collegiate level while researching, writing, and publishing articles and papers and also working in the field as a sociologist, most recently as the director of Special Projects at the Harriet Tubman Charter School in Algiers.<\/p>\n<p>She also served as the director of youth programs at SilenceIsViolence, which was founded following the horrific and senseless murders of local musician Dinerral Shavers in late 2006, and filmmaker Helen Hill in early 2007.<\/p>\n<p>According to its website, the mission of SilenceIsViolence is \u201cto call upon both citizens and public officials to achieve a safe New Orleans across all communities.\u201d The organization engages youth in positive expressions in order to counter the culture of violence that has characterized the city.<\/p>\n<p>When asked about possible links between her efforts with SilenceisViolence and the ADL, Padilla-Goodman, is quite forthright.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSilenceIsViolence is a wonderful organization that works with victims and perpetrators of violence and tries to get [the latter] to stop,\u201d she explains. \u201cThey understand there\u2019s an important space in New Orleans that needs to be cultivated for violence to stop, and that\u2019s culture and education.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She continues: \u201cI think ADL is similar in some ways. ADL is willing to get in the trenches. There\u2019s work to be done on the ground that\u2019s really important. ADL has put education at the forefront of their policy initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the education to which she refers is not necessarily aimed at instructing the younger set. \u201cIt\u2019s not just training youth\u2014there\u2019s police training, and training community leaders on how to respond to hate crimes and extreme violence,\u201d she emphasizes.<\/p>\n<p>Padilla-Goodman views the ADL\u2019s South Central office as particularly critical to the organization\u2019s mission as a whole, acknowledging the encompassing framework of ADL\u2019s efforts with fighting anti-Semitism as a springboard to secure justice for all.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Deep South is one of the most important regions to do social justice, anti-racism, understanding, and empathy-centric organizing. The Deep South is a hotbed for those issues,\u201d she states.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the work Padilla-Goodman has planned for the ADL involves interfaith and intercultural efforts, predicated on a belief that Judaism is more than faith \u2013 that it is a means of deep cultural affiliation and identity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think there are some interesting places to do more alliance building, and building a bigger umbrella for people willing to fight against hate in New Orleans,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n<p>An enthusiastic proponent of arts education as well as scholarship in general, Padilla-Goodman also takes a strong stance as a sociologist on the woeful state of arts education in this country.<\/p>\n<p>She believes the consistent and regrettable devaluing of arts education is a byproduct of recent education reform. This disturbing development, along with overwhelming advents in technology, the deep permeation of the media in societal psyche, global-economic integration, and the growth of the corporate model have all contributed to the lack of teaching creativity to youth, she says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think, in a lot of schools, teaching creativity is not one of the goals, and creativity is one of the most important things you can get out of a K-12 education,\u201d she muses. \u201cIf you can\u2019t be creative, you don\u2019t know what you can do, and you can\u2019t unlock your potential.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Padilla-Goodman concludes: \u201cThe state has kind of put its foot on the neck of music and arts education, and it\u2019s been squeezed and squeezed. It\u2019s really important to support arts education\u2014music, art, creative writing, dance\u2014those things are crucial for people to know who they are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Padilla-Goodman%20becomes%20fifth%20community%20director%20of%20ADL\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15746,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[8918,8784,8790,8795,8788,8909],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15745"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15745"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15792,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15745\/revisions\/15792"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}