“From Me to We to Action”
By Debra Shein
A new fund honoring the life of Sarah Cohen-Doherty (1982-2020) has recently been launched at OJMCHE. In her all-too-short life, Sarah strove tirelessly to promote equitable education, particularly for preschoolers, and to teach young people the lessons derived from the Holocaust. Among the social justice initiatives at OJMCHE, the fund will support professional development for new and emerging teachers that will assist them to instill the values of tolerance and social justice in children of all ages. In turn, this will work to support Oregon’s statewide mandate to educate students about the Holocaust and genocide. Such education begins with teaching the core values that work to prevent such occurrences from continuing to happen. Sarah embraced the sage Hillel’s teachings: “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?” The Sarah Cohen-Doherty Human Rights Education Fund was established by Sarah’s loving parents, Ruth and Gerald (Jerry) Cohen.
While still in middle school, inspired by the film Schindler’s List, Sarah embarked on a lifelong journey to educate young people about the Holocaust and acceptance. Her conviction was evident from the start. As she wrote in the opening of her eighth-grade paper on the topic, “Have you ever seen a picture of a concentration camp? Or maybe heard a story from a survivor? There are people who claim that the Holocaust never happened, but apparently they have not seen the pictures, heard stories from survivors, or visited the concentration camps.”
This early passion led her to a career in teaching and advocacy, capped by the effort to place a measure enacting “Pre-K for All” on the 2020 ballot for Multnomah County. Her untimely death left her family, colleagues, and community grieving. Following the successful passage of the measure, memorial resolutions commemorating her life and work were entered into the Congressional Record and passed by the Oregon Legislature, both noting: “Whereas Sarah Cohen-Doherty devoted her life to the fight for early childhood literacy and education equity . . . exemplified what it is to be a community changemaker . . . believed that we have the power to transform our world and make it a better place . . . . led by example with her passion and commitment . . . and was widely admired for her intelligence, warmth, and grace . . . we recognize and honor her contributions to the people of this state” (from Senate Concurrent Resolution 1, 81st Oregon Legislative Assembly 2021, and the Congressional Record, June 10, 2021).
In high school, Sarah facilitated dialogues at primary education sites, often with Holocaust survivor Alter Weiner. As a student at Willamette University, she majored in religious studies and then went on to earn a Master’s in Arts of Teaching with a focus on early childhood, literacy, and critical learning. After starting her career, Sarah still found time to lead presentations on the Holocaust and even created a lending library filled with books for all ages to borrow. The collection has been given to OJMCHE to share with teachers throughout the state.
Sarah worked first as a preschool educator and curriculum developer, then as a policy advocate with several social justice organizations, eventually becoming the Community Impact Manager at Social Venture Partners Portland (SVP), a unique philanthropy dedicated to “mobilizing skills, money, and influence to collectively build community capacity for solving problems together.” In her role, which she loved, Sarah leveraged her expertise in the field of early childhood education to help the organization target its efforts and connect volunteers to programs needing their help.
SVP has created an annual Sarah Cohen-Doherty Community Impact Award honoring those whose work and spirit reflect that of Sarah’s, and they established a memorial fund in her name to promote efforts around diversity and equity. Her memory and commitment to the values of equity and inclusion will also be honored by a playground named after her at La Plaza Esperanza, a community facility soon to be built by the Latino Network in Gresham.
Sarah’s parents have both dedicated their careers to the field of aging. Ruth, a social worker by training, was a pioneer in the field of geriatric care management and served as the president of what is now known as the national Aging Life Care Association. In 2018, she began Evolving Elders, an organization that provides training and education for persons as they age and their families in matters of resilience and caregiving, as well as making transitions in life. After graduating law school, Jerry’s first job was as a legal service developer for the Missouri Division of Aging. After then gaining another graduate degree, he ran a Center on Aging and Disabilities at the University of Missouri-Kansas City before serving as the first Oregon director for AARP. Upon retiring in 2019, he joined Ruth in Evolving Elders. They reminisce that when it came time for Sarah to choose her direction in life, she said, “You guys have the old people covered. I’m going to work with children!” And so her career was launched.
But as it turns out, their interests in opposite ends of the age spectrum ended up merging. After starting at Social Venture Partners, Sarah brought Jerry in as a volunteer on various projects, including training others on how to be more effective in advocacy. He continues Sarah’s efforts with SVP by working on an initiative to engage older volunteers to participate in early childhood programs. He recalls that he used to have long discussions with Sarah about getting systems to work together, how to have the long-term care and early childhood sectors cooperate instead of competing for workers and volunteers. They truly embraced the concept of l’dor v’dor (from generation to generation).
To donate to the Sarah Cohen-Doherty Human Rights Education Fund, visit https://dev.ojmche.org/support/donate/general-donate/