ADL hosting Concert Against Hate in New Orleans

Honorees Andy Kopplin, Ruth Kullman, David Ronnel and Missy Hopson

On April 2, the ADL’s South Central region will host its annual Concert Against Hate, with the presentation of its A.I. Botnick Torch of Liberty and Barney Mintz Community Impact awards.

At 6 p.m. there will be a cocktail hour and hors d’oeuvres from Saba, and an honoree reception with music from Or Shovaly, for event sponsors over $3600. A musical performance by John Boutte will follow the 7 p.m. awards ceremony at the Orpheum Theater.

The Torch of Liberty honorees are Andy Kopplin, president and CEO of the Greater New Orleans Foundation, and community leader Ruth Kullman. The Community Impact honorees are David Ronnel of Little Rock, and Missy Hopson, vice president of talent and learning at Ochsner Health.

Kopplin has served as president and CEO of the Greater New Orleans Foundation since 2016. He led the initiative to grow assets to over $500 million by its 2023 centennial, including $21 million in new endowments to support the Foundation’s leadership activities. He chairs the effort to create a BioDistrict in downtown New Orleans.

He previously served as first deputy mayor and chief administrative officer for New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, helping move the city from near bankruptcy in 2010 to fiscal stability and its highest bond ratings in history by 2016.

Prior to city government, Kopplin served as senior advisor to Teach For America’s Founder and CEO, Wendy Kopp. After Katrina, he was the founding executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, the agency charged with leading recovery efforts, where he developed the strategy and built the bipartisan coalitions that more than doubled congressional appropriations for Louisiana’s rebuilding, from $13 billion to $28 billion.

After earning her master’s in social work from Tulane University, Kullman spent several years working at Jewish Family Services and the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans. Her advocacy and work in philanthropy and non-profits led to her founding Kullman Consulting in 2002, allowing her to support worthwhile organizations that might not have been successful without the funds she raised and to develop long term relationships between her clients and the non-profits.

She has served as board chair for numerous nonprofit organizations, including Planned Parenthood of Louisiana, Touro Synagogue and LCMC Health. At Planned Parenthood, she worked to provide access to and ensure women’s healthcare and reproductive rights. During her tenure as LCMC Chair the hospital grew from six to nine hospitals with expansion to the North Shore, increasing available healthcare for the Greater New Orleans community. As Touro Synagogue’s board chair during Katrina, she participated in the rebuilding of the New Orleans Jewish Community.

Kullman has also served on the boards of the Institute of Mental Hygiene, New Schools for New Orleans, New Orleans Aviation Board, and is a founding member of Live Oak Wilderness Camp, which seeks to build a diverse community of New Orleans’s future leaders who connect and grow together from ages 8 to 22.

Ronnel, a 2022 Central High School graduate in Little Rock, faced antisemitism and hate speech growing up. At the age of 17, he called on legislators and community members to draft a bill to teach public school children about the Holocaust and Jewish history. At the time, Arkansas ranked last in a 50-state survey among millennials about Holocaust knowledge.

As a member of the Holocaust Education Living Proposal Committee, Ronnel was instrumental in the passage of Act 611 of 2021, which makes Holocaust education mandatory in Arkansas public schools and positioned Arkansas as the first state in the ADL South Central region to require Holocaust education statewide.

His legislative efforts also included supporting another bill, which designates the last full week of Arkansas’ public school instruction in January as “Holocaust Education Week.”

In furtherance of his personal mission to build bridges and advocate what is right through education, Ronnel established the Arkansas Holocaust Education Award Donation Fund, a nonprofit organization that recognizes and rewards teachers for their efforts in Holocaust education. The AHEAD Fund has raised over $80,000 to honor educators and promote lessons on tolerance, diversity, and Holocaust education in Arkansas schools.

At Ochsner, Hopson leads initiatives to build an inclusive talent pipeline and advance health equity in the Gulf South. She collaborates with educational institutions, including Tulane’s Cowen Institute, Xavier University of Louisiana, Delgado Community College, and the New Orleans Career Center to establish internship, fellowship, and apprenticeship pathways in nursing and allied health.

Hopson established Ochsner’s Career Center, which provides comprehensive support for career advancement and professional development for entry-level employees. Beyond her role at Ochsner, she serves as vice-chair of the New Orleans Workforce Development Board and actively participates on the boards of the New Orleans Career Center, YouthForce NOLA, Morris Jeff Community School, Ellevate Louisiana, and Dress for Success New Orleans.

As a co-leader of Ellevate Louisiana’s Workforce and Education Committee, she advocates for policies that bridge the gap between education and employment opportunities.

The concert “represents the depth and breadth of ADL’s mission to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to ensure justice and fair treatment to all.”

Tickets for the event are $180, $75 for under age 40. Sponsorships start at $2500.