Benjamin comes from a family of Jews from southern Morocco who had to immigrate because of rising antisemitism. From a young age, he has been confronting racism. As a teenager, he became active in civil society to bring about change and work toward protecting the most vulnerable from violence. Today, he mobilizes the resources of his multicultural background and his international experiences to help people with diverse identities understand each other, overcome the challenges they face, and dismantle oppression together.
He teaches about racism and antiracism with international perspectives, and the resolution of identity-based conflicts, after teaching genocide prevention.
He is an Affiliate Professor at ESCP Business School on its Paris and Turin campuses, and an Adjunct Professor at Sciences Po Paris.
He previously taught at the Kyiv Mohyla Academy (Ukraine), the University of Rwanda, the Yerevan State University (Armenia), Brandeis University (US), after acting as Lead Teaching Assistant at Harvard (US).
Benjamin is an international expert in social innovation, antiracism and public policy, with over 20 years of experience at the community and institutional, domestic and international levels in politics, civil society, the private sector, philanthropy and academia.
He was an advisor to the Under Secretary General of the United Nations, in charge of intercultural cooperation, the fight against racism and antisemitism. Previously a Senior Consultant to the World Bank, CARE International and the Open Society Foundations, he has conducted missions regarding Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.
He created Toward Antiracism Now Inc. to help organizations become boldly diverse, and Europe Prykhystok (“refuge”, “shelter” in Ukrainian) to support children victims of the war in Ukraine in brokering innovative partnerships between local authorities, NGOs and civil society organizations from various countries.
He established a 40-country federation of community-led antidiscrimination NGOs working in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, as well as a 400-member international and multipartisan network of Parliamentarians for human rights and democracy, active in over 25 countries, after acting as a Political Advisor in France to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Bernard Kouchner and to the Minister of Justice Christiane Taubira.
Benjamin is a Fulbright Scholar and a co-founder of the Harvard Antiracism Policy Journal.
His work has been featured in The Stanford Social Innovation Review, The Guardian, Le Monde, La Repubblica, El Pais, Die Zeit, Le Soir, The Sunday Times, Die Welt, Corriere della Sera, and elsewhere.
His fiction work explores the transgenerational impacts of migration, systems of domination and resistance, and has been featured in The Massachusetts Review, The Other Side of Hope, and Fiction International literary magazines.
He holds Master degrees in Telecommunication from Télécom ParisTech and in International Business from ESSEC Business School, and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School.