User:CaseyCor15/sandbox

Kenneth Weiss
Kenneth Weiss was born in Tel HaShomer (a neighborhood of Ramat Gan) in Israel in 1976. His father, Matthew, was born in New York and immigrated to Germany with a religious group, where he met Kenneth’s mother. Later, Matthew immigrated to Israel with his wife, where they had Ken.

During the Six Day War in 1967, Kenneth’s mother, Shuli Natan, sang the song “Jerusalem of Gold,” which became the unofficial national anthem of Israel. Due to this renowned performance, she became widely known in Jewish communities and across the world.

When Ken was growing up, Israel was a violent place with many wars. Ken grew up learning about the fallen soldiers and brothers of the many wars that took place. Although the tension between Israel and other nations fluctuated, violence always remained.

Due to this violence, to become a citizen in Israel, someone has to serve in the army. Males have to serve for 3 years, and females have to serve for 2 years. However, Kenneth only served for 1 and a half years due to the hope for peace that the United States and Israel foresaw under the Clinton administration. Ken and his friends went to the army’s psychiatrist and said that they were crazy, so they were released from the army.

Ken met his future wife, Nissa, while he was DJ-ing, and she was a singer in a band in Tel Aviv. They started producing music together and eventually grew close and married.

In 2003, Ken and Nissa immigrated to the United States. They had their first child in White Plains, New York, where Ken’s father was born. This was a challenging time for them in the United States due to the events that took place on 9/11 of 2001 and the lack of jobs available. They moved back to Israel shortly after, and they had their second child there in 2006.

Ken, Nissa, and their two children immigrated to Ireland in 2007 until 2009 to explore new opportunities. Soon after they lost money during the recession in 2008, Ken took the offer working for MathWorks in the United States, a software development company. Ken was optimistic that the new Obama administration would promote an immigrant-friendly environment.

In 2009, when they immigrated to the United States for the second time, Ken started his job at MathWorks, who helped him with his immigration from Ireland to the United States. He could get green cards for his entire family because his father was born in America.

Once Ken was here and settled down, he began learning about the climate. His father always told him it was for the future generations, so Ken was not worried until 2012, when he became associated with 350, a climate-based organization. Once he saw the unpromising data, he felt a calling to try to change the path the world was on. Thus, he joined the battle for our future and gained him a sense of purpose that he hadn’t experienced before.

Once Ken realized that he could make changes in his own town through the town meetings, he began to introduce new climate policies into the town meetings. He presented a new divestment article to take pension funds going towards fossil fuels and put the money towards clean energy. He presented the divestment article in front of the Framingham town meeting, and almost unanimously, the town meeting members voted in favor of his divestment article.

Ken also worked to pass an article of municipal aggregation, which aims to allow everyone to buy electricity together. He reflects back on his attempt to pass this article, saying that he was naive at this time, and the article did not pass. However, he did pass a unanimous article so that Framingham would declare, at some point, that they would be 100% renewable energy. One of his most successful articles that he passed was the plastic bag ban in Framingham. Along with Mike Croci and his friend Brigitte, Ken took the next step towards a clean town and world. While being interviewed, Ken stated that he thinks plastic bags are the epitome of the tension between free market enthusiasts and the environmental community. He views his ban as a great victory, but knows there is much work still to be done.

Ken also eats a plant-based diet, determined to help his own health needs as well as the environment He believes having a plant-based diet helps the world on a large-scale and on the individual level, which is why it is so important. Along with his diet, Ken grows his own vegetables in his garden. He views this as a form of meditation and a therapeutic hobby.

One of Kenneth’s toughest times was when Trump got elected in 2016. He felt rejected by the United States due to his immigrant background. Ken relied on his family and friends to push through the hopelessness he felt. When asked, Ken says he is not sure whether or not the United States will be his home forever, but he is hopeful that he can inspire everyone possible to protect the climate and protect the rights of diversity and unique cultures.

Ken is the perfect example of a hard-working, determined, and successful immigrant who betters their community and the people around them. But Ken is not just an immigrant. He is a great man and friend to all, and he will lead the future generations into the battle for our world.