Yev Gelman (he/him) is NJAIJ's Digital Organizer, where he crafts, manages, and executes organizational  and coalition communications. Yev brings his communication, writing and digital design skills to benefit the NJ immigrant community and the larger coalition's work. Since leaving Russia and coming to the U.S. at 12 years old as an asylum-seeker, Yev has worked and studied to become a passionate art-maker and generous community member. He is a graduate of Fordham University's B.A. programs in Creative Writing and Theatre Directing, and is someday hoping to bridge his interests and create healing through theatre art with immigrant and refugee populations. When not working or writing mediocre poetry, Yev loves to bike, read, and tend to the tomato plants in his garden.
  • Three things –– the first is, obviously, political rights and humane treatment under the law regardless of status, race, or ethnicity. The second is economic mobility, an inclusive social care system, and the opportunity for dignity in work (which includes equal payment!) Finally, and crucially: visibility, respect, and universal recognition of the ways in which immigrant communities add to the nation's economy and cultural capital.
  • The often-forgotten part of advocacy, which is the small, person-to-person conversations that take place within families and communities. I believe that our greatest power as activists is our empathy and care, so I see being able to practice care for members of my community to be one of the most rewarding forms of activism. Likewise, I find it crucial to have difficult conversations with people on opposite sides of the political spectrum in order to awaken their empathy in future interactions.

  • Some of my favorite books are The Idiot by Elif Batuman and In the Light of What We Know by Zia Haider Rahman, which both deal with immigration, displacement, and cross-cultural relationships. My favorite movies are Amelie (which I've been re-watching yearly since I was 8 years old) and Everything Everywhere All At Once.