Sheri Frank,
Human Rights Specialist

Sheri Frank would like to work herself out of a job.

But she knows the odds of that are very unlikely.

“I would love there to be no discrimination,” said Ms. Frank, who works for the New York City Human Rights Commission. “But that’s not happening anytime soon.”

A Human Rights Specialist, Ms. Frank has dedicated her career to fighting racism, intolerance and social injustice.

A former teacher and a law school graduate, Ms. Frank spends a lot of time in the public schools. She probably gets her greatest satisfaction and inspiration from teaching an anti-bias curriculum to youngsters.

“Here you really have an opportunity to teach people and hope it sinks in,” Ms. Frank said about her work in the schools.

Ms. Frank conducts classes for junior high and high school students in Brooklyn. She is particularly concerned about reaching new immigrants, because many of them are living in a diverse community for the first time in their lives.

“What you hope with students is that you can instill the idea that they need to think before they act,” Ms. Frank said.

“You want them to understand that we all have to learn to respect each other if we are going to get along and live together,” she said. “They are usually very receptive.”