Mia Martin-Escandarani shows her commitment to unifying her community through her efforts to interact with others to bring more understanding and compassion to bear on faith differences. Building upon the values she witnessed in her grandparents’ and parents’ lives, she brought the mantra, “truth, compassion, justice” into her own active pursuit. Mia simply states, “I had the ability, and the world needs repair.”
Through the Jewish Community Relations Council Student-to-Student program, Mia attends interfaith dialogues. These conversations allow a space for respect, curiosity, and empathy between groups, allowing Mia and others to see their shared humanity, discover commonalities, and embrace differences.
In presentations to numerous Fairfax County high schools, other religious youth groups and cultural community centers, Mia and her group spoke about their experiences and lives as Jewish teens to other students. She wanted to create a safe space where teens could ask questions without fear or feeling awkward -- to talk and bring uncomfortable topics about religion and societal differences with the goal of increasing compassion. “I think these connections are hopeful and enduring, especially when hate and violence are an issue,” Mia said.
These experiences brought Mia to accept cultural and faith perspectives that are different from her own, like those she learned from her exchanges with teens of Latter Day Saints and the American Turkish Friendship Association.
To further her knowledge and experience, Mia completed a 14-week course and became a student ambassador and docent for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum through the Bringing the Lessons Home program. She is quick to clarify this was possible only with the support of her parents who drove her to and from the Metro, week after week. As an active docent, she now gives groups of all ages tours of the Holocaust Museum permanent exhibition, including a tour to her Edison classmates before they performed the play Anne Frank in 2023. She recognizes the resilience that can be built by remembering and protecting historic lessons.
Mia recently became a StandWithUs Kenneth Leventhal High School Intern to continue her growth in fighting antisemitism and educating others. Through this community, she found resources and workshops that helped hone her skills to engage more productively with those holding differing perspectives. She admits exchanges with people who disagree with her can be hard, but Mia says she has learned to remain calm and bravely asserts, “We cannot stop having these conversations or we lose our connectedness as humans.”
She also has her eye on Edison High School’s future. She is close to founding a Jewish Student Union at Edison so that this bridge-building work will continue when she departs for college this year. And she knows that potential leaders are waiting in the wings.
Mia says that she aspires to continue to live what she espouses to her tour visitors at the Holocaust Memorial: “Silence allows evil to take place. None of us can be bystanders. We must do something!”