To build Safed House, I’ve gathered a remarkable team whose talents span literature, filmmaking, therapy, education, and cross-cultural leadership; each member brings lived experience and a deep commitment to amplifying marginalized voices. Their collective wisdom and creative force ensure that our mission is not only sustained but continually reimagined through their insight, artistry, and unwavering belief in the power of story to foster empathy and change.
Susan Gitenstein Assadi is the co-founder of Safed House and is als the co-producer of the Safed House videos. She founded the organization in 2017 along with her husband during the Syrian crises as a way to give opportunity for Syrian refugees in Arizona to share their diaspora stories. Susan has worked with other non-profits including serving as the Program Chair and on the Board of the Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations, founding a chapter of Seeds of Peace in Arizona, representing Cordoba House and the National Bahai Organization of America. Susan managed public relations for the Phoenix Committee on Foreign Relations and served as their program chair. Susan co-founded GA PR, a public relations firm with offices in Brooklyn, NY and Scottsdale, Arizona, focusing on elevating medium-sized businesses to garner attention usually reserved for Fortune 500 Companies. She is a highly respected national media strategist. Susan has over four decades of experience representing non-profits. Susan holds a MFA from New York University School of the Arts and a BA from Washington University in Political Science.
Sami Assadi, co-founder of Safed House, was born in Safed, Palestine and became a refugee in the 1948 Nakba. Safed House was inspired by his hometown. As a child his family moved from one country to another, dictated by their refugee status. He studied in several countries including Syria, Kuwait, and Italy. A man without a country for most of his life, Sami managed to travel with an international refugee document to New York City where he eventually gained American citizenship. He later found his home in the American deserts of Arizona. Sami passed away on October 29, 2022.
Hannah Lillith Assadi, Safed House chief essay judge and advisor, a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree, teaches fiction at the Columbia University School of the Arts and the Pratt Institute. She is the author of Sonora, which received the Rosenthal Family Foundation Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was a finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction. Her second novel, The Stars Are Not Yet Bells, was a New Yorker and NPR best book of 2022. Paradiso 17, her third novel, inspired by the life of her late Palestinian father and co-founder of Safed House is forthcoming from Knopf in March 2026. Raised in Arizona, she lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Terrance Balousek, Videographer AZ, is a Multimedia Developer at Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management, where he produces compelling multimedia content—including video production, photography, and digital storytelling—to showcase global stories. With a background in journalism, film production, and global management, he brings over a decade of creative and strategic experience to projects that highlight entrepreneurship, education, and cross-cultural leadership. His goal is to combine creativity, strategy, and technology to inspire audiences and shape the future of media and management.
Maha Kapageridis, production coordinator for the Safed House videos and is a juror for the annual essays. Maha migrated to the US from Egypt with her family when she was 6 years old. She grew up in New Jersey and got her BS in Information Systems. She worked in New York City as a Project Manager/Analyst for 12 years before moving to Phoenix in 1993. She worked for such places as the Manhattan District Attorney Office, Accenture, Honeywell, Random House and was very career minded until 2000, when she and her husband moved to his homeland in Greece until 2007. They moved back to New Jersey with their five year old twins and pets. Maha has been a Realtor since moving back n New Jersey and now in Arizona since 2013.
Lindsay Rayball, MAS-MFT, LMFT, is a juror for the annual essays contest. She is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice based in Scottsdale, Arizona, specializing in helping individuals and couples heal from trauma. She uses a strength-based, collaborative approach to create a safe and supportive space for processing painful experiences and rebuilding trust. Lindsay offers both traditional sessions and intensive 1-2 day therapy for couples navigating the effects of trauma. She provides in-person and teletherapy services across Arizona, with a focus on compassionate, client-centered care.
Roger Lurie is a juror for the essay contest. He is an Information Technology Consultant, with an extensive background in senior technology management at Arizona State University. In his semi-retired status, he has recently traveled to Laos on two separate trips to teach English and computer skills in Buddhist Temples. Roger has a passion and caring attitude for mentoring youth through Tempe’s College Connect program, as well as providing career counseling at the Vista Del Camino Community Center. Roger serves as President of a non-profit agency focused on assisting vulnerable residents of our community.
Barbara Trapido-Lurie is a juror for the essay contest. As a research professional in the geography/urban planning program at Arizona State University, she created maps and other visual communication, taught courses in this realm, and supported students’ career development. As a retiree, she works with elementary-age children in several settings including tutoring in a Title 1 school, as well as mentoring high school students in their post-graduation plans.
Gwendolen Cates, Videographer NY, is an award-winning independent documentary filmmaker, photographer, and author. Originally a photographer, her portraits of luminaries from Rosa Parks to George Clooney were featured in national and international magazines including Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, and Parade. Her critically acclaimed book Indian Country (Grove Press 2001) inspired Oprah to begin a series on Native Americans. Her first award-winning documentary film Water FlowingTogether about Navajo-Puerto Rican New York City Ballet star Jock Soto premiered nationally on PBS Independent Lens in 2008. Other productions include We Are Unarmed (2020), a fresh look at the peaceful resistance to the DAPL pipeline at Standing Rock, and The Good Mind (2016) which follows Onondaga Nation leaders as they fight for environmental sovereignty of ancestral lands stolen by New York State in violation of a 1794 treaty with George Washington. Her most recent production is The Doctrine (2025), a feature documentary about the Doctrine of Discovery, 15th century papal bulls issued by the Vatican that authorized colonization and the seizure of Indigenous lands, codified white supremacy, racism and slavery, and became international law. The daughter of a linguist who was fluent in Diné Bizaad (the Navajo language), Gwendolen lives in her hometown of New York City.
William Beckler is a technologist, parent, and climate organizer. He is the CEO of Scaled Sources, a company that builds advanced software generation tools for trading systems. He previously held senior roles at Amazon, Medallia, Travelocity, and other technology companies, where he focused on scaling systems and teams. Bill is an organizer and strategist with the climate advocacy organization Extinction Rebellion NYC. He is the board president of Brooklyn Ethical.
Brooklyn Ethical is a humanist community that promotes ethical living, personal growth, and social justice. Founded in 1906, it welcomes people of all backgrounds who believe in human worth and seek to create a more humane world.
Stephan Said, aka Stephan Smith, member of the advisory board, is an internationally acclaimed musician, writer and activist who has been called this generation’s Woody Guthrie&(Billboard Magazine) and favorably compared to Bob Dylan, John Lennon and Bob Marley in publications such as the New York Times, Billboard Magazine, BBC, NPR and RFI. An Iraqi-American with immediate family in Baghdad and Mosul and a diverse heritage that combines Christianity and Islam, he is a prominent voice for interfaith dialogue, peace, and global justice. His song “The Bell” was “the first major song against the war in Iraq”(Neil Strauss, NY Times) and hailed as “the antiwar anthem of this generation.”(GNN) Stephan pioneered the use of the internet to distribute mp3’s and music videos for social causes on a mass scale, and his essays on music and global affairs have appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, The Progressive Magazine, CounterPunch, Sing Out! Magazine, Folker Magazine (Germany), The Huffington Post, AlterNet, Counterpunch, and others. Since his last album on Artemis Records, Stephan completed his graduate studies in International Affairs from the New School University.
