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Hannah Joy Sachs is the US National Director for Humanity in Action. Prior to this role, she served as the Communications and Community Manager for Humanity in Action, Inc. in 2021 and as the Berlin Fellowship Program Coordinator in 2020. Hannah is also a Senior Fellow (Berlin Fellowship 2018, which she reflected on here).
Hannah was adopted from China and raised in a white Jewish family in the suburbs of New York City. Her upbringing inspired her to research racial and cultural identity development within the transracial transnational Asian American adoptee community, first studying Sociology at Davidson College and then completing an MSc in Migration Studies from University of Oxford.
Hannah is passionate about experiential education. Before joining Humanity in Action full-time, Hannah was a program leader and course instructor on immersive programs for high school, college, and GAP year students across Asia and North America. Courses she has led include studying visions of democracy in Myanmar; learning about conservation efforts in Indonesia; tracing rural to urban migration patterns in Thailand and China; and exploring racial dynamics and food inequality post-Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, USA. Though the pandemic has altered what student travel looks like, Hannah has remained engaged by leading short-term programs with organizations including Where There Be Dragons and Putney Student Travel.
Outside of work, Hannah is a horseback rider and loves volunteering with Pegasus Therapeutic Riding Center whenever she has the chance. Additionally, Hannah is engaged in activist work within the North American Jewish community, working to amplify the voices of Jews of Color. She also remains involved in Chinese American adoptee networks.
Updated February 2022
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(Dis)ordered Lineage
A short personal story by Hannah Joy Sachs was recently published by Jewtina y Co., a Jewish and Latin organization on a mission to nurture Latin-Jewish community, identity, leadership and resiliency, and celebrate Latin-Jewish heritage and multiculturalism.
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Hannah Joy Sachs at the Davidson Forum
Senior Fellow and US National Director Hannah Joy Sachs recently returned to Davidson College, her alma mater, to speak at the Symposium on Reformed Christianity and Social Ethics.
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We thank the Landecker Democracy Fellowship Admissions Committee 2022
Thank You to the 2022 Landecker Democracy Fellowship Admissions Committee for the Landecker Democracy Fellowship 2022/23. From August to September, 2022 members of the Admissions Committee read over 150 applications and interviewed more than 90 finalists.
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Humanity in Action promotes Hannah Joy Sachs as new National Director for the United States
We are excited to announce that as of February 1, 2022, Hannah Joy Sachs has assumed the position of Humanity in Action’s National Director for the United States.
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We thank the Landecker Democracy Fellowship Admissions Committee 2021
We thank the members of our Admissions Committee for the Landecker Democracy Fellowship 2021/22. From August to September, 2021 members of the Admissions Committee read over 150 applications and interviewed more than 90 finalists.
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Resources for an Anti-Racist Passover
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Identity Formation through Cultural Education: Getting to know Hannah Joy Sachs
Get to know our Communications and Community Manager for Humanity in Action Inc, Hannah Joy Sachs.
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"Yellow Peril" in the Age of COVID-19
I hope that when we look back on this unprecedented time, the pandemic is defined by these acts of kindness, empathy, collective cooperation, innovation, and scientific achievement. And yet, I fear that instead, for so many Asian Americans, this time will evoke memories of "yellow peril" in its ugliest forms.
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Thank you to our 2020 US Review and Admissions Committees
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Blog Post by Hannah Joy Sachs: "In Fellowship"
Humanity in Action Senior Fellow Hannah Sachs shares a personal reflection about her experience with Humanity in Action and being in community with her cohort of Fellows.