In 2017, social justice advocates who were part of the movement to install the San Francisco “comfort women” memorial founded the Education for Social Justice Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) NGO that promotes social justice education. ESJF is based in San Francisco, the unceded ancestral homeland of the Ohlone. In addition to advocating for social justice education, we are committed to supporting local and international communities experiencing educational and gender injustice.
ESJF is in special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council; it supports and participates in UN NGO platforms as part of civil society.
ESJF is in special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council; it supports and participates in UN NGO platforms as part of civil society.
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At ESJF, we incorporate lessons learned from history into dignity-affirming and critical-thinking-based curricula to address sidelined voices.
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We are committed to supporting local and global communities experiencing educational or gender injustice.
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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Sung Sohn
Co-Founder & Executive Director Sung Sohn is a former bilingual classroom and resource teacher with the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). In 1994, she founded SFUSD's first and only Korean/English Two-Way Immersion Program. In 2017, she co-founded the Education for Social Justice Foundation (ESJF), a San Francisco-based 501(c)(3) NGO, where she serves as executive director. Since 2023, ESJF has held special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council. Sung also serves as the director of feminist foreign policy at the US Women’s Caucus. Over her career, she has published Korean Two-Way Immersion Curriculum Guide (1994), “Comfort Women” History and Issues: Teacher Resource Guide (2018), and “Comfort Women” History and Issues: Student Resource Guide (2018). Russ Lowe Co-founder Russ Lowe is a former office director at Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s San Francisco office and state liaison for Asian and Asian American Affairs for about two decades. He co-founded The San Francisco Journal, which ran from 1976 to 1980. The San Francisco Journal operated with an all-volunteer staff and focused on issues in the Asian American community, reflecting its struggles and progress, often ignored by the mainstream media. One of the main contributions of this journal was helping to dismantle the stereotyping of Asian Americans as a “model minority” defining AAPIs as a whole, instead highlighting the diversity among different groups. Christina Tang Teacher Committee Chair Christina Tang received her Single Subject Credential in Social Studies at San Francisco State University after completing her B.A. in History at the University of California, Berkeley. She has taught in a public high school since 2010. Christina was one of the Thank-a-Teacher 4 Social Justice awardees In 2020. She was chosen to participate in ESJF’s decolonization study tour in Germany in the summer of 2023. Eric Mar Advisor Eric Mar is a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (2008–2016), where he worked with local and international organizations to install the Women’s Column of Strength memorial in 2017. He is the past commissioner and president of the San Francisco Board of Education (2000–2008) and has been active in social justice movements for more than 35 years. He is an Emeritus Professor in Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University, where he has taught public policy, government, law, and social movements in the nation’s first and only College of Ethnic Studies. He is co-editor of Mountain Movers: Student Activism and the Emergence of Asian American Studies (UCLA Asian American Studies Press, 2019). |