Leadership
We are mothers who came together to make a difference. We met over a chance meeting and subsequent conversations about raising children of difference. We shared our stories as parents, laughed and cried together over the challenges and victories, the limitations and ultimately the possibilities these children face particularly as they head towards adult independence. Difference Diaries was developed as a way to create tools and materials for adolescents and young adults as well as a community in which the young people themselves could share their stories, narratives, experiences with one another and offer the world better ways of relating.
Lisa Abelow Hedley
Co-Founder / Producer
Lisa Abelow Hedley started the Children of Difference Foundation to create and produce projects to educate, entertain and support. Lisa, a filmmaker, lawyer, writer, and mother of four created and produced the Emmy Award nominated HBO documentary: Dwarfs: Not a Fairy Tale. Other projects include: Just Sit, Yoga and Mediation For All, Healing Zone, Bridges of Hope, The Family Project to name a few. Lisa is committed through creative outreach to educate and entertain audiences of all ages.
Michele Kuvin Kupfer
Co-Founder / Producer
Documentary filmmaker, behavioral therapist, and educational consultant. Michele grew up in Palm Beach, Florida and Jerusalem, Israel. Michele was a member of the Israeli 1980 Olympic Swim Team. Michele has worked at various hospitals in the US and Israel focusing on the psycho-social issues young people face as they work to be more independent. Michele just finished is a full-length documentary about her experience swimming over a span of 40 years both in America and Israel called Parting the Waters.
Austin Kase
Producer / Editor / Cinematographer
Austin Kase is a Telly award-winning writer, director, and producer and editor. His film Hide Your Crazy, which he wrote and directed, won best thriller at the BAFTA-qualifying Aesthetica Film Festival, and was honored at multiple Oscar, BAFTA, and Canadian Screen Award-He has qualified to many festivals around the world. Austin was selected as a directing fellow at Sundance Collab and as a writing fellow for the ScreenCraft Writers Retreat, the Stowe Story Labs Screenwriting Retreat among many more. Austin continues his creative work in Los Angeles.
