THE TEAM
Dr Bea Lewkowicz
is a social anthropologist and oral historian, and director of two oral history projects, Sephardi Voices UK and the AJR Refugee Voices Archive. She received her PhD from the London School of Economics and her thesis on the Jewish Community of Salonika was published in 2006 (The Jewish Community of Salonika. History. Memory. Identity). She directed and produced many testimony-based films and has curated several exhibitions, such as Continental Britons, Double Exposure, and Sephardi Voices.
Executive Director
Daisy Abboudi
Three years ago Daisy began a personal research project, setting out to record stories from Jewish community of Sudan, where her grandparents grew up. Having an MA in Classics she was surprised to find she had fallen in love with oral history and so was delighted to join the Sephardi Voices team in 2017
Deputy Director
Frank Battersby
has been working as a freelance Cameraman and Director/Cameraman for 25 years. He has worked across all disciplines but the majority of his work has been in factual, educational and corporate film making. He lives in North London with his partner and two sons.
Cameraman
Simon Waxman
has been a videographer and editor for many years, working on a wide variety of projects, including documentaries.
Editor & Digitisation manager
Sharon Rapaport
Sharon Rapaport is an Israeli oral historian and documentary filmmaker, specialising in documenting life stories and community histories. Her expertise includes life history interviews, building archives and developing educational programmes. She was involved with Sephardi Voices UK from its inception until 2016, when she returned to Israel, where she now works for Yad Vashem, documenting life history testimonies from Holocaust survivors.
Former Interviewer and Programme Director
TRUSTEES
Alec Nacamuli
Alec Nacamuli was born in Alexandria and left after the Suez crisis in 1956. He is an executive with a major IT services company, a council member of the Association of Jews from Egypt and of the Nebi Daniel International Association which strives to protect the Jewish heritage in Egypt. He writes articles and gives lectures on the Jews from Arab countries, and is a volunteer guide on Ancient Egypt at the British Museum.
Vered Aaron
was born in Jerusalem and has a BA from the Hebrew University. She moved to London in 1985. In 1987 she founded Young Hadassah, UK. She is involved in many charities: CBF, UJIA, KKL, CECI UK, Sheba Medical Centre, and chairs Friends of Israel Cancer Association in the UK. She is married with three children.
Elie Chilton
Born in Alexandria and left Egypt in 1958 following the Suez war. He is an entrepreneur who has started a number of industrial businesses in Scotland and latterly created a consultancy business focusing on financial and business strategies for small to medium size companies. He is a non-executive finance director with a biotechnology company and on the board of the Jewish Literary Trust, publishers of the Jewish Quarterly magazine.
Elliot Jebreel
was born in Manchester, to parents who left Iran after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. He wants to make sure that the history, culture, and stories of his parents, and grandparents, are not lost. Elliot works as civil servant, and his Jewish community involvement ranges from setting up the Civil Service Jewish Network to volunteering with Limmud. He is also a graduate of the Adam Science Foundation Leadership Programme, and in his spare time is a keen cyclist.
Edwin Shuker
was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1955. He was forced to leave with his family in 1971 and they came to the UK where he graduated from Leeds University. He is an international businessman with a wide range of communal and charitable involvement. He is the Vice-President of the European Jewish Congress and a member of the Executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews.