Calif. Teens Win Diller Tikkun Olam Awards
Five California teenagers won Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards for their innovative social action projects.
Each will receive an honorarium of $36,000 toward the project or the recipient’s future education.
The winners are Zak Kukoff , 17, for his Autism Ambassadors, a national non-profit that empowers teens to teach and better understand their special-needs classmates; Joseph Langerman, 19, for his Voices Against Cruelty, Hatred and Intolerance, a student-run program that promotes awareness and prevention of bullying in schools; Daniel Rosenthal, 15, for his Magic Is Medicine, a magic performance initiative to bring joy to the sick, disabled, elderly and others in need; Adam Weinstein, 18, for his Archimedes Learning, a math and science enrichment program for underprivileged fifth-graders in Los Angeles; and Celine Yousefzadeh, 19, for her Fashion with Compassion, a student-run fashion show that raises funds for Israeli charities.
It is the sixth year for the Diller Teekn Tikkun Olam Awards; more than $1 million has been given out to 30 California teens. The award is the vision of Bay Area philanthropist Helen Diller and The Helen Diller Family Foundation.
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
— Alyssa Katz, editor-in-chief
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
