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Organizational Leader

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Jacqueline Koch Ellenson

A rabbi and community leader, Jacqueline Koch Ellenson has balanced her concern for both Israeli and American women as chair of the Hadassah Foundation and director of the Women’s Rabbinic Network.

Emma Nuschi Plank

Emma Nuschi Plank’s multidisciplinary approach to child development helped doctors, teachers, psychologists, and social workers find a common language to work together.

Randi Weingarten

When she was elected president of the American Federation of Teachers in 2008, Randi Weingarten became the first openly gay leader of an American national labor union.

Betty Berzon

Two years after psychologist Betty Berzon came out as a lesbian in 1971, she won the fight to have the American Psychiatric Association declassify homosexuality as a mental illness.

Toba Spitzer

Toba Spitzer became the first openly gay head of a rabbinic organization in 2007 when she became president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association.

Katie Orenstein

Noting how few women were viewed as experts or opinion-makers in their fields, Katie Orenstein founded the OpEd Project in 2008 to ensure women (and their priorities) shape discussion on important issues.

Safra Catz

As president and then CEO of Oracle, one of the world’s largest software companies, Safra Catz has helped shape the present and future of the computer world.

Ruth Fredman Cernea

While she spent her career studying Jewish communities from Washington, DC to Myanmar, Ruth Fredman Cernea may be best known for her part in creating the annual Latke Hamantash Debate at the University of Chicago.

Liebe Sokol Diamond

Born with a congenital defect that had caused the loss of several fingers and toes before birth, Liebe Sokol Diamond went on to become a leading pediatric surgeon.

Brooke Stern

After witnessing a number of failed philanthropic projects in Uganda, Brooke Stern created Supporting Opportunities for Ugandans to Learn (S.O.U.L.), empowering Ugandans to lift themselves out of grinding poverty and providing self-sustainable solutions in education, healthcare, and business entrepreneurship opportunities.

Laura Stachel

Stunned by the poor conditions in which Nigerian doctors were working, Laura Stachel created We Care Solar to offer hospitals “Solar Suitcases” that fuel reliable lights.

Laura Spero

In Nepal, where oral decay is the most prevalent childhood illness and adults fully expect to lose all their teeth as they age, Laura Spero established Jevaia Oral Health Care to provide sustainable, community-based rural dental care.

Karen Sokal-Gutierrez

After recognizing a neglected epidemic causing severe pain to children around the world, Karen Sokal-Gutierrez founded the Global Children’s Oral Health and Nutrition Project (GCOHNP) to improve diet and dental care for children and their families.

Catherine Lieber Shimony

From American Jewish World Service to Global Goods Partners, Catherine Lieber Shimony has dedicated her career to international development, helping women across the globe develop the skills they need to better support their families and lead their communities.

Jessica Posner Odede

Jessica Posner Odede first came to Nairobi with dreams of volunteering with a theater program, but her experiences in the slums of Kiberia drew her to co-found Shining Hope for Communities, creating a girls’ school as a hub for social services ranging from medical aid to clean power and water initiatives.

Helen Lieberman

Shocked by the poverty of South Africa during the worst years of apartheid, Helen Lieberman founded Ikamva Labantu (Future of Our Nation) to offer black South Africans access to education and social services.

Amy Lehman

After being stranded by a typhoon in an isolated region of Sub-Saharan Africa, Amy Lehman was driven to provide health care for the communities there by creating the Lake Tanganyika Floating Health Care Clinic/Water-based Aid, Value, Engagement.

Melissa Kushner

Having lost her own father at an early age, Melissa Kushner founded goods for good to ensure that orphans in impoverished countries were not left without support.

Anya Cherneff

A longtime opponent of human trafficking, Anya Cherneff found a new way to literally empower women in Nepal by founding Empower Generation to teach women and girls to become clean energy entrepreneurs.

Danielle Butin

Danielle Butin created the Afya Foundation to bring much-needed medical supplies to crisis-stricken communities, providing aid after the 2010 Haitian earthquake, the 2011 Japanese tsunami, 2012’s Hurricane Sandy, and the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone.

Sivan Borowich-Ya'ari

Using Israeli innovations in solar technology, Sivan Borowich-Ya’ari created Innovation: Africa to bring more reliable electricity to developing communities throughout Africa.

Jessica Beckerman

In 2005, while still an undergraduate at Brown, Beckerman co-founded Muso, an organization that works to eliminate maternal and child mortality in the developing world through a combination of health care and preventative medicine.

Susan Hess

A lifelong volunteer, Susan Hess used her talents as a fundraiser to help the Louisiana SPCA, City Park, and other organizations mobilize after Hurricane Katrina.

Jeanne Manford

In 1973 Jeanne Manford’s fierce love for her gay son in the face of national condemnation of homosexuality led her to create a support network for other families, Parents of Gays, later known as PFLAG.

Amanda Simpson

A skilled pilot and aeronautics engineer, Amanda Simpson made history in 2010 when she became the first openly transgender presidential appointee, as senior technical advisor to the Bureau of Industry and Security.

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