Joan Halperin, daughter and granddaughter of Sousa Mendes visa recipients, is a retired teacher in the New York City public schools.  She participated in the Sousa Mendes Foundation's 2013 and 2016 "Journey on the Road to Freedom" and gave testimony in the documentary film, With God Against Man. Joan is conversant in Polish, Hebrew, Italian and French and holds a Master's degree in TESOL from Adelphi University. She is the author of My Sister's Eyes:  A Family Chronicle of Rescue and Loss During World War II and co-author of the accompanying Curricular Unit.  She has served on the Board of the Sousa Mendes Foundation and as the Director of its Educational Initiatives Committee, on which she continues to serve as a member.