OUR TEAM
Joshua Laterman
Founder
At the urging of his children from their awareness of the growth of hate online, in September 2024, Joshua Laterman and his family foundation, the Laterman Family Foundation created the “Laterman Family Foundation AddressHate Initiative” with the philanthropic grant of $1 million dollars to fight antisemitism and hate on social media. The goal of AddressHate is to maximize technology to identify the sources of hate, root out the technological vehicles for their advancement and promulgation, and find technological solutions to thwart and end hate.
Mr. Laterman is a Director of the Laterman Family Foundation, which was founded by his parents, Frances Iger Laterman and the late Bernard Laterman to make multigenerational commitments to a wide array of religious, health, public education, and social justice, literary, and scientific charities and institutions.
A substantial portion of the Laterman Family Foundation’s annual gift-giving are for the welfare of the Jewish people, and the support of medical, educational, cultural, and philanthropic organizations affiliated with Jewish institutions.
Mr. Laterman is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Baruch College Fund (BCF), a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to promote the educational welfare of the students at Baruch College. He follows in his late father’s footsteps at BCF where he continues his family’s commitment to public education, Baruch College, its diverse student body, and strengthening Black and Jewish relations.
Nima Veiseh
Chief Technology Officer
Nima Veiseh is a seasoned technology executive, academic researcher & TED Speaker. With 19 years of experience, Nima is a Chief Data & Technical Advisor for a diverse group of firms and executive teams, including those in CPG, healthcare, supply chain, non-profit, and financial services.
Nima comes to our organization as our Executive Director and Chief Technologist, helping to guide execution and technology strategy for our organization.
He trained as a field economist under Nobel Prize winner Esther Duflo, and is the author of “Markets with Memory”, a data science textbook. He is fascinated by how people and technology can work together to further human well-being, economic progress and business objectives. He has conducted research in 51 countries, and has degrees from Columbia University, Georgetown University, The George Washington University & the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Dr. Matthias J. Becker
Senior Research Advisor
Matthias is Senior Research Advisor at AddressHate and a linguist specializing in pragmatics, cognitive linguistics, discourse analysis, and social media studies. His research focuses on antisemitism, prejudice, and hate, with a particular interest in how implicit hate speech circulates in mainstream political and online discourse.
Since 2020, he has led the international project Decoding Antisemitism at the University of Cambridge, the largest study of online Jew-hatred in Europe, bringing together 20 experts from multiple disciplines and integrating qualitative, multimodal, and AI-based methods.
He also served as lead editor of the Decoding Antisemitism Lexicon (Springer, 2024), an open-access volume with over 45 chapters, widely downloaded worldwide. His doctoral thesis was published in English as Antisemitism in Reader Comments (Palgrave, 2021).
Matthias regularly advises governments, international organizations, and tech companies, including the U.S. State Department, the European Commission, and META.
Dr. Melda Buyukozturk
Senior Scientific & Editorial Advisor
Dr. Buyukozturk is a rigorously trained biomedical and translational scientist whose 15 years of experience in STEM research, operations, and regulatory leadership forms the foundation of her editorial approach at the Journal of Digital Discourse and Social Harm (JODDASH). Her background in neurobiological disease investigation and track record of cross-collaboration equips her with a deep understanding of how scientific method, evidence standards, and human complexity should inform emerging conversations about AI and its neurological implications for humanity.
With training from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, UC Irvine, and Brandeis University (Ph.D., Cell and Molecular Biology), she brings analytical discipline, scientific integrity, and cross-functional collaboration to JODDASH and AddressHate, elevating the quality and reliability of the scholarship the journal advances.
Emily Carmeli
Strategic Initiatives & Partnerships
Emily works at the intersection of culture, communication, and technology. At AddressHate, she leads partnerships and strategic initiatives that bridge academia, industry, and civil society to build collaborative systems for understanding and countering digital hate.
With over a decade of experience in consumer branding, community strategy, and storytelling, Emily brings a creative lens to coalition-building and public engagement. She advises leading fashion and media brands on audience and comms strategy and has built and taught courses on innovation and consumer behavior at Parsons School of Design.
Her work focuses on designing initiatives that translate complex research into accessible narratives—connecting ideas, institutions, and audiences around a shared goal of safer, more empathetic digital spaces.
Christina Aliberti
Strategy & Operations
Christina brings a decade of operational experience across startups and growth-stage companies, including SYKY and The RealReal. Her work spans managing large-scale events and strategic partnerships, leading cross-functional go-to-market planning, and building scalable systems to support growth. At SYKY, she played a key role in launching innovative initiatives at the intersection of fashion and technology, and at The RealReal, she drove national retail expansion while scaling operations in lockstep. Across her career, Christina has focused on creating impactful consumer experiences and fostering collaboration to bring ambitious ideas to life.
Dylan Costa
Content Manager & Designer
Dylan is a creative professional specializing in visuals and messaging that drive connection and impact. At AddressHate, he supports the mission by designing print and digital assets, creating social media content, and helping translate our story to share. His past work has focused on campaigns that inspire engagement and action, particularly in youth democracy and voting rights initiatives, where he has helped shape content and campaigns that reaches communities across the country.
His experience spans nonprofits, startups, and purpose-driven organizations, building campaigns that uplift communities, make complex ideas accessible, and encourage civic participation. Dylan brings both strategy and creativity to every project, combining thoughtful design with a deep understanding of audience engagement. His work reflects a belief that well-crafted visuals and messaging can strengthen movements, spark meaningful change, and empower people to take action.
John Murry
Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer
John Murry is a seasoned financial executive with over 30 years of experience managing companies and their finances. He is the Chief Financial Officer for a variety of for profit and nonprofit entities. He also serves on several company's Board of Directors. John has experience with a diverse set of businesses including software, technology, marketing, healthcare, service and manufacturing. Broad financial experience with public and private companies including several Private Equity firms that successfully rehabbed struggling businesses.
John comes to our organization as our Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer helping build and guide this young business to make a difference in this world.
John has degrees from Lakeland University and Marquette University. He has taught Accounting and Business Analysis at the college level. John is a graduate of General Electric's Financial Management Program with honors as the top graduate worldwide.
Advisors
Sarah Valente
Advisor
Dr. Sarah Valente co-directs the Sandra Kahn Wasserman Jewish Studies Center at CUNY's Baruch College in New York City. She teaches literature and Jewish Studies at the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, has served as the Marvin & Edward Kaplan Lecturer at City College, and taught at the YIVO Institute. Drawing from her academic training at the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies in Dallas, the Leo Baeck Summer University in Berlin, and the Arquivo Histórico Judaico Brasileiro in São Paulo, she teaches courses related to Latin American Jewish Studies, Holocaust Studies, and Antisemitism Studies. To date, Professor Valente has happily taught four hundred and sixty-nine graduate and undergraduate students. Fluent in three languages, she takes an interdisciplinary and multidimensional approach to her teaching and research, which she has presented at numerous conferences in the U.S., Israel, Serbia, and England. Dr. Valente earned a Ph.D. in history of ideas from The University of Texas at Dallas, where she was a distinguished Belofsky Fellow in Holocaust Studies for five years. Most recently, Dr. Valente earned a Diploma on Curriculum Development in Critical Contemporary Antisemitism Studies from The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism at The University of Oxford.