Gary Samowitz

Gary Samowitz was Stand Up's first CEO, serving for more than ten years. He is passionate about social change and experiential learning. Gary told the Australian Jewish News that he considered his work with Sudanese refugees, building and strengthening relationships between Indigenous elders and Jewish children, and the publication of Stand Up’s Haggadot as some of the highlights of his time at Stand Up. Thank you Gary for all your work to build Stand Up into what it is today.

Today, being Jewish is a choice and there’s a lot of competing interests out there. We need to make being Jewish inspiring and not something you do purely out of guilt. I don’t feel guilt is sustaining.