Ezra Berkley Nepon is a writer, performer, and organizer who serves as the Senior Program Officer for Learning and Knowledge at the Global Philanthropy Project, a network of funders and philanthropic advisors working to expand global philanthropic support to advance the human rights of LGBTI people in the Global South and East.

Nepon's writing and performances remix queer and Jewish stories, archived histories, and in-between spaces real and imagined, dating back to being crowned the 1999-2000 Philadelphia Drag King in character as metal-head bar mitzvah boy Ben Hesherman. Nepon has produced a number of Jewish holiday-related plays in Philadelphia including the 2003 "Suck My Treyf Gender: An Anti-Imperialist Purim Cabaret" and many more in recent years. Nepon’s first full-length show, Between Two Worlds: Who Loved You Before You Were Mine, a queer reinterpretation of Yiddish theater classic The Dybbuk, premiered at the Dixon Place Hot Fest (2009) and was later performed in Brooklyn and Cherry Grove (2010). Nepon is also the star and co-writer of a short video, Little Orphan Gender Revolutionary Annie (2011). Co-created with Kate Sorensen and Niknaz Tavakolian, Little Orphan... has been shown in film festivals and other events in Amsterdam, Hamburg, London, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and beyond. 

Nepon is the author of two books which document and analyze people's history: Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue: A History of New Jewish Agenda (2012) which tells the story of a multi-issue, progressive Jewish organization which was active with over 45 chapters across the US in the 1980s, and Dazzle Camouflage: Spectacular Theatrical Strategies for Resistance and Resilience (2016) which looks at two examples of contemporary theater artists, generating analysis about their shared transformative theatrical strategies. 

Nepon received a B.A. in Jewish Studies and Organizational Development (2006), and an M.A. with concentration in Transformative Language Arts (2013) from Goddard College. They received the Leeway Foundation Art and Change grant in 2007, Feyboy Arts Grants for a Queerer Tomorrow (2013), and the Leeway Transformation Award (2014), and joined joined the Board of The Leeway Foundation in 2019. Nepon is a member of Jewish Voice for Peace, and served as a Philadelphia Chapter Steering Committee member from 2013-2018. 

More information: ezraberkleynepon.com