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June 30, 2000/27 Sivan 5760, Vol. 52, No.43
ADL hires new director
TAMI BICKLEY
Associate Editor
Exactly one year after the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League resigned, the organization has filled the position.
Richard Kasper, a local attorney, began work at ADL offices as its new regional director Wednesday, June 28. It is his first involvement with the ADL.
"I am looking forward to working with an excellent staff and an outstanding board ... and expanding the presence of the ADL," Kasper told Jewish News. He added that he would like to "bring (ADL's) mission to Arizona in a fuller capacity than has been (done) in the past."
As director, Kasper will, among other things, research discrimination complaints; help to carry out community education programming that deals with recognizing, preventing and coping with hate; invite guest speakers to talk to community members; communicate with the media on local and national hate crimes; work with the FBI and police departments regarding hate crimes; and manage the ADL's Phoenix office, according Rose Mitlak, local ADL office manager.
In carrying out these duties, Kasper said he hopes to take a proactive approach to fighting anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, and to eventually "raise the profile of the ADL so that we are more visible in the community (and) throughout the state of Arizona."
Kasper, 37, previously served as vice president for professional services at the Arizona Community Foundation. Prior to that, he practiced law at Fennemore Craig in Phoenix, specializing in trust and real estate litigation, business disputes and professional liability defense.
Although Kasper is new to ADL, he has been active in Jewish organizations and causes for years. He is a board member of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix and the Jewish Community Relations Council. Also, he is a member of the Commission on Jewish Continuity and Community.
In 1994, Kasper was one of 20 Valley leaders chosen to participate in the Wexner Heritage Foundation's multi-year Jewish education program. And in 1999, he was honored with federation's Sy Clark Young Leadership Award.
Born and raised in St. Louis, Kasper earned his bachelor's degree in Spanish from Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, in 1985. A year later, he received a post-baccalaureate premedical degree from Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, Penn. And in 1991, he received a law degree from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Kasper moved to the Valley a decade ago, but had been a frequent visitor throughout his life because he has family here, he said. He currently lives in Tempe with his wife and 4-year-old daughter.
"We're looking forward to having (Kasper) as regional director," commented Franki Snyder, ADL regional board chairwoman. "We're hoping that his skills combined with those of the board and the executive board, and our hopes for development and programming in the community, make a significant difference in Phoenix."
One program Kasper says he hopes to see instituted more frequently in Arizona, is called "A World of Difference," which teaches diversity to public schoolchildren.
"We have some (other) excellent programs that have been developed on a national basis and in some of the other regions that we're hoping we can put in the schools, and, if it's possible, even in the private sector," Kasper said.
What's most important to him, he said, is reaching out to people beyond the Phoenix area, to let them know that ADL exists and is working to combat hate, anti-Semitism and bigotry.
Kasper eagerly embraces the challenge of being a fresh face for ADL.
"(Being director) will allow me to bring two halves of my life together - what I have been doing professionally and what I have been doing as a volunteer," he said. "Now, I can do it in one place. ... Personally, it's healing to me.
"The ADL has tremendous potential in Arizona, and I think there are a lot of opportunities out here for the ADL, and I'm interested in helping the ADL achieve (its) full potential."
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