What if science could accomplish what politics cannot? In this episode of the Leading Visionaries, host Anjel B. Hartwell sits down with Zafra Lerman, an internationally recognized chemist, educator, and humanitarian. Zafra shares how she has spent decades using science diplomacy to unite scientists across some of the world's most divided regions.

If you've ever wondered what it truly takes to lead with courage, influence others around a bold vision, and create lasting global impact, this conversation offers an inspiring masterclass in purpose-driven leadership.

What You Will Learn

How leadership often begins long before someone realizes they are a leader.

Why courage is built through values and purpose rather than fearlessness.

How Zafra risked her own safety to support imprisoned scientists and political dissidents.

The role science can play as a bridge between nations in conflict.

Why science diplomacy often succeeds where political diplomacy fails.

How creative teaching methods can make science accessible to everyone.

Why persuasion and relationship-building are essential leadership skills.

How childhood experiences shaped Zafra's lifelong commitment to service.

What it takes to bring together scientists from countries at war.

How one person's persistence can create opportunities for peace that seemed impossible.

FAQ:

What is science diplomacy?

Science diplomacy is the use of scientific collaboration to improve relationships between countries, solve global challenges, and build trust across political, cultural, or ideological divides. Dr. Zafra Lerman believes science diplomacy can succeed where traditional diplomacy often fails because scientists can work together around shared goals regardless of political differences.

What are the Malta Conferences?

The Malta Conferences are international scientific conferences that bring together researchers from across the Middle East, including nations with long-standing political conflicts. The conferences provide a neutral environment where scientists collaborate on issues such as water, health, sustainability, and environmental challenges while building lasting professional relationships.

How does science promote peace?

Science promotes peace by creating opportunities for people from different countries and backgrounds to collaborate on solving shared problems. Working together on scientific research builds trust, encourages open communication, and helps participants focus on common goals rather than political differences.

Connect with Zafra Lerman

Website

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LVP 140 Zafra

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Now, here's your host, Anjel B. Hartwell

Anjel: Welcome to another episode of the Leading Visionaries podcast, where we celebrate the ingenious, insightful, innovative, and inspired leading visionaries of our time and provide listeners with world-class examples of the kind of courage, clarity, and confidence it takes to bring visions into reality. This is your host, Anjel B.

She has also advocated for human rights worldwide and helped free imprisoned scientists and dissidents. Lerman has received more than 40 international honors, including the Presidential Award for Excellence in STEM Mentoring from President Clinton, the AAAS Award for Science Diplomacy, the APS Andrei Sakharov Prize for Human Rights, and multiple nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Zafra: Thank you.

Anjel: I wanna start our conversation talking to you about leadership today, because obviously you are an exemplary leader in the area of creating peace and peace initiatives.

And so I'd love to ask you, Zafra, if you could share with us about your own leadership journey. Were you the little girl who was taking the lead in elementary school, or did your leadership kind of evolve over time as a result of circumstances and, uh, life bringing you into that role?

Zafra: No, it started very, very early.

And we were unit number five, and every unit stayed in the same barrack. So you slept 50 girls, one next to the other. And I remember just before we left, one girl said, "Do we have to carry our rifles?" And I said, "No," with a very authoritarian voice. So our unit went out. We boarded the trucks. We drove to the place where the hike was supposed to start, and we were unit number five, the last one.

Why are you taking her word for that?" And he was very, very angry, but three days The poor girls in unit one, two, three, four were c- climbing with this heavy things hanging on them, and unit number five had a very good time. When we came back, there was a big investigation, and then we were punished for a week to carry the rifle everywhere in the camp.

Anjel: Oh my goodness. What a great, what a great story.

All right. So I, I was wondering if the idea of not carrying rifles in the military might have something to do with over the years you have evolved into a leader who is promoting human rights and peace. Like, let's just- Yeah ... start right there in the middle. Okay, we're gonna go on the hike, but we're not taking the rifles.

So help us to understand how you did evolve into this leader who is, is really here to speak about humanitarian rights and peace, and leave the rifles behind.

And with this committee, I worked a lot on human rights. I took a crash course in Russian, went to the Soviet Union, always with a group of scientists as a good cover-up. During the day, we were scientists. We were visiting universities. We were delivering lecture. And at dinner, I would look at the group and see who somehow will not be frightened if I will say something.

And when we collected enough, a few came by themself, to a dark attic in some apartment building, and there I would have, like, 50 dissidents Few families of people that were sent to hard labor in Siberia or were in prison for sure for no crime that they committed. And I would distribute scientific material to them, what is, was illegal in the Soviet Union.

And then I would collect the CVs

of the dissidents that were there, and of those in hard labor and in prison, and bring it back and start working on their behalf. And managed to bring to freedom many of them. There is a whole chapter in my book about that, and there are very funny stories- Mm ... about, uh, these people when they came to the US, but it would take too long to -

Anjel: Yeah.

Anjel: Totally. Yeah. Big. So I wanna stop you right there because you know, we have a lot of listeners who, who have big ideas, and who have big desires, and who have big callings, and who have a big mission. Your mission is, like, life-threatening.

The mission that you engaged in, it was, was life-threatening. And so I just really want our listeners to hear the, like, courage in action. And, and this is one of the things that we like to celebrate here, is world-class examples of the kind of courage, clarity, and confidence it takes to bring visions into reality.

Zafra: I think for my father. I'll give you an example. When I turned six- My father left in my shoe an envelope, so I will find when I get up in the morning.

One-third you will go and donate to the national fund to plant trees in the country. It's arid land. The other third you will go and donate to help all the orphanage that are left from the Holocaust that lost their families, and they are all alone and need help. And the other third you can do what you want."

And when you grow up like that from the age of six- Mm-hmm ... you know what your priorities and in what orders they come.

Anjel: Yeah.

Zafra: Beautiful. So I think it has to g- do a lot with the values that I grew up with.

Anjel: Yeah. Beautiful. Well, we're, we're gonna take a quick break. When we come back, we're gonna let our listeners know where they can find out more about you and your initiatives.

Discover more about this opportunity at leadingvisionariespodcast.com/creativeageleaderlab. Consider joining our community and sharing your feedback and takeaways from each episode. Be sure to share this show in your own spirals of influence with the people who you think might benefit from our content.

I think we have Russia on our li- yep, there's Russia. And we will be right back with Tzara Lerman.

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Anjel: And we are back with Zafra Lerman. You can find out more about her at zafralerman.com. We will have that for you in the show notes. On that site, I'm guessing also, Zafra, that they can buy the book, Human Rights and Peace: A Personal Odyssey. Can... Is that correct?

Zafra: Correct.

Anjel: Great. And- Can you tell us about the, the vision that you got for writing the book?

Like, where did that come from?

But he wants it to include arms control and disarmament and human rights and peace and, and my name came up by a few, by different people that he wrote to. And there is a chapter in the book that is very funny how I came to this place the first time. But I want to make the story, uh, short because we have a short time.

Rap people that did animation. For sure, not any inclination to science, and usually they avoided science. And I developed a way to teach and assess the student through art, music, dance, drama, rap. Everybody could show their knowledge in any way they want They did not have to write a multiple choice test.

And in Princeton, i- i- psychology could satisfy your science requirement. So we developed together a class from ozone to oil spill, chemistry, the environment, and you, using my methods of teaching. The National Science Foundation gave us money to do that, and the National Science Foundation called it their flagship project And in order to prove that my students can be second to nine, to none, they flew every year for a joint symposium with the Princeton students.

Nobody had it. And it became very, very famous, and I had a lot of money and grants to do so. It was very successful, and successful with prisoners, successful with homeless kids that we taught them at night in a dance studio through dance. There are pictures how we sit on the floor with the- with everybody, the periodic table on the floor, and they learned through dance.

Anjel: Beautiful. Well, so Zafra, I'm, I'm just excited about the level of leadership that you have.

And I, I want, again, our listeners to hear one of the things that you did in this process was you took your ideas and you took your connections, and you leveraged your connections, but you also persuaded. And persuasion is something that, you know, enrolling people in your vision is something that's absolutely required if you're going to be a leading visionary, if you're going to get your innovation or your ingenious or insightful or inspired ideas to come into life.

Zafra: What I'm persuading people is that there is a hope in the Middle East. What I am doing since September 11 until now, it's the only platform that brings together scientists from all the countries in the Middle East, with no exception, countries that are now at war with each other, that are at war with each other for many, many years, for five days under the same roof.

And my dream, uh, my memoir, uh, d- devotes several chapters to that. It, there is, uh, only one whole chapter that is titled From Mission Impossible to Mission Possible- Mm ... that describes what it just to get a visa for this group to enter a country. Like for example, the US, eight or nine of my countries has a ban.

Until now, everybody could come to every conference, but it's true, it took so much connection that I had to find even, and somehow, sometimes like doing work like James Bond to find the right connection in the country in order to persuade them To change the, the, not to change the law, but to give the visa upon landing in their country.

Mm. And i- i- it's just sleepless nights till really you get, uh, this visa. And you asked about writing the book. The book should have been ... I

was asked

Zafra: and I signed even contract. One was supposed to be on education long ago. I did not have time to do it because it takes time, and I had to- Mm-hmm ... do other thing.

Education is not in the title, but there is a big chapter on that, too. Mm. And all the proceeds of the book go to the Malta conference, because as you know, there is a lot of money to build weapon of mass destruction. But for peace, I somehow feel myself as a beggar going like that and collecting money for the conference.

Anjel: What a gorgeous vision, Zafra. And, you know, the thing I wanna reflect about you is you've been James Bonding for a long time.

Behind the curtain, behind the Iron Curtain, i- in a dark attic- ... bringing science to- Oh, you read the- ... dissidents ... you read the

Zafra: book on the

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