Justin Hefter has dedicated his life to protecting young people who stand up for democracy and human rights in some of the most dangerous countries in the world. To that end, he has co-founded two nonprofit organizations: The 30 Birds Foundation and The African Middle Eastern Leadership Project (AMEL). The 30 Birds Foundation has evacuated more than 450 schoolgirls, family-members and activists for girls education from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and is working to secure the educational futures for Afghan women. The AMEL Project provides young activists with the tools, networks and support to promote dignity and rights across Africa and the Middle East. In addition to his work with 30 Birds and AMEL, Justin supports human rights cases independently as a consultant, advocate and public speaker. He has consulted on cases of activists from Yemen, Sudan, Uganda, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, Nigeria and Vietnam. He is widely known for his efforts to help the peace activist Mohammed Al Samawi escape from extremists during Yemen’s civil war in 2015, as told in Mohammed’s memoir and soon-to-be film The Fox Hunt.
Justin has won several awards for his work, including the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Medal of Valor and the American Jewish Committee San Francisco’s Lloyd Sankowich Award for Outstanding Leadership. Justin is a Seeds of Peace GATHER Fellow, an Ariane de Rothschild Accelerating Humanity Fellow, a member of the Schusterman ROI Community for Jewish leaders, and a member of the American Jewish Committee’s Interfaith Steering Committee. Prior to launching AMEL and 30 Birds, Justin was the co-founder and CEO of Bandura Games, a video game startup he cofounded with Israeli and Palestinian partners that developed video games to connect kids from across conflict zones. Justin’s work has been featured in multiple books, including The Fox Hunt by Mohammed Al Samawi and See, Solve Scale: How Anyone Can Turn an Unsolved Problem into a Breakthrough Success by Brown University Professor Danny Warshay. He currently serves on the board of directors for AMEL, 30 Birds and the American Jewish Committee San Francisco. He has previously served on the board of Stanford University Hillel. Justin holds a BA in Public Policy from Stanford University and a Masters in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School. At Harvard, Justin worked closely with Professor Ronald Heifetz as a course coach, co-teaching Adaptive Leadership to Harvard graduate students.
The 30 Birds Foundation is a nonprofit that evacuates primarily minority schoolgirls and their families from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. After helping more than 450 people escape the country, the Foundation is working to ensure the evacuees are able to continue their education and advocacy in support of democracy and human rights. Furthermore, 30 Birds is exploring innovative ways to continue to support the education and careers of women and girls who have been left behind.
The African Middle Eastern Leadership Project (AMEL) is a nonprofit founded in 2017 that operates an online university for human rights activists. AMEL trains, connects, and protects the next generation of young leaders who are advocating for women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, religious freedom and other human rights causes across Africa and the Middle East. AMEL recruits the top young activists from across 40+ countries in the MEA region, and then brings in seasoned experts and activists who have found success in the field to teach on democracy, human rights, genocide-prevention and the Holocaust, digital security, physical security, non-violent movement building, trauma-therapy and self-care.