Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg on Wednesday pledged to make a personal donation of $2.5 million to the Anti-Defamation League, to support anti-hate and anti-bias education programs, research and advocacy, according to a press release.

In a post on her personal Facebook page, Sandberg wrote that she was making the donation due to the rise in anti-Semitic attacks worldwide in recent years.

"As I was sitting in synagogue with my parents on Yom Kippur, my mind wandered to earlier in the day when I saw the news that a gunman had attacked a synagogue in Halle on the holiest day of the Jewish year," Sandberg said in the release. "I couldn't help but think that the situation could have been far worse had the synagogue door not been locked. With my parents' 75th birthdays approaching and the recent and ongoing hate crimes at home and in Europe, I felt compelled to support the ADL and recognize their tireless work and commitment to counter extremism and hate."

In her Facebook post, Sandberg encouraged others to participate in ADL's 11 Actions for 11 Lives social media campaign, encouraging people to take action against acts of hatred to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the attack on three Jewish congregations in Pittsburgh.