button-previous button-next
AJ Greenberg

AJ Greenberg

Want to honor this person? Make a donation to JUF in recognition of this 36 Under 36 honoree. Any donation up to $36 will be matched in full⁠—doubling your impact!  DONATE NOW

AJ Greenberg's passion for creating a Jewish legacy inspired him to co-found bioGraph, a publishing company dedicated to sharing personal stories. He has helped Holocaust survivors preserve their memories through this work and is serving as the Membership and Outreach Chair for the Illinois Holocaust Museum's Young Professional Committee. He also volunteers with The Nora Project, Chicago Jewish Elderly, and the American Cancer Society.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, his focus on storytelling helps decrease loneliness in quarantined older adults, and during normal times, he enjoys bringing the community together at ILHMEC events and mentoring new volunteers. Philanthropy is an essential part of AJ's life and his work exemplifies community and tzedakah.

AGE:
27

PRIMARY GIG:
bioGraph -- a storytelling, bookmaking, and publishing company co-founded with my brother Aaron

ON THE SIDE:
Family, friends, run, bike, hike, travel (not anymore...), writing/producing an album

RELATIONSHIP STATUS:
Single

SOMETHING MOST PEOPLE DON’T KNOW ABOUT ME:
I talk to my grandmas almost every day. I started writing a journal when we began bioGraph and have written over 300 pages.

HOW YOU JEW IN CHICAGO:
In February 2020, bioGraph published We Were Strangers, which is an incredible Holocaust memoir written by Magda Schloss, the mother of my former neighbor Bill Schloss. I ran into Bill at Kol Nidre services in 2018. Over the next 18 months, we brought this typewritten manuscript to life. bioGraph is writing a book with the Illinois Holocaust Museum (tentatively titled "In Our Words") to document survival stories of individuals affiliated with the Museum. The book advances the Museum's mission of applying lessons from the past to transform the future.

IF TIME AND MONEY WERE LIMITLESS, I WOULD:
I'm not even sure what that would look like! I'd travel the world, explore every culture, try every food, climb every mountain...and would probably end up in outer space.

AdvertisementSpertus Institute MA in Jewish Professional Studies
AdvertisementJCYS Register