Denver Student Named to 40th Cohort of The Bronfman Fellowship

Outstanding High School Students from Diverse Jewish Backgrounds Selected to Study Together and Join a Dynamic Community of North American and Israeli Leaders

May 2026 – The Bronfman Fellowship has selected its historic 40th cohort of 26 intellectually curious 11^th-graders from across North America, among them Dalia Arch-Andorsky of Denver, a student at the Denver Jewish Day School. Others in the cohort include a debater who is ranked first in the country in Extemporaneous Speaking; a student of Shaolin Kempo karate who trained with Jackie Chan’s stunt team in China; an acrylic painter who studies artistic mediums ranging from wheel-throwing to silk-screen printing; twin sisters, known as the ClimaTwins, who host a podcast about sustainability; and a volunteer at a Romanian orphanage serving Jewish Ukrainian refugee children. During a time of rising polarization, antisemitism, and threats to democracy around the world, the Fellowship is committed to cultivating young Jewish leaders who can build a more interconnected, pluralistic future.

The 26 Fellows, who come from a broad spectrum of the American Jewish community, will participate in a transformative Fellowship-year experience in which they explore the complex tapestry of Jewish texts and ideas in conversation with one another and a faculty team of leading rabbis, educators, and artists. They also build relationships with a diverse group of peers in the Israeli fellowship program, Amitei Bronfman. The Fellows begin their Fellowship year in July, with an immersive summer in the U.S. and Israel.

This extraordinary group of young people was chosen through a highly selective review process. Fellows are recognized for their intellectual curiosity, emotional maturity, and emerging leadership, and are selected by a committee dedicated to building a thoughtful, pluralistic cohort. In addition to submitting applications, finalists take part in in-person interviews and a collaborative group workshop. The Bronfman Fellowship has an acceptance rate comparable to that of the most competitive universities; last year, 78% of Fellows went to Ivy League universities.

For the past 40 years, The Bronfman Fellowship has educated and inspired exceptional young Jews to have a significant impact on the world as community builders, deep thinkers, moral voices, and cultural creators. The nonprofit Fellowship was founded by Edgar M. Bronfman, z”l, formerly CEO of the Seagram Company Ltd. and a visionary Jewish philanthropist. Mr. Bronfman passed away in December 2013.

“I am deeply impressed by the energy, diversity, and intellectual firepower of this group of Fellows,” said Becky Voorwinde, CEO of The Bronfman Fellowship. “I look forward to watching them grow on their Fellowship-year journeys, and to seeing them challenge and inspire one another and their communities throughout their lives.”

Adam R. Bronfman, president of The Samuel Bronfman Foundation – a primary funder of The Bronfman Fellowship for the past 40 years – said he was “impressed and heartened” by the new cohort, who “speak to my father’s belief that young people can change the world in ways that previous generations couldn’t have envisioned,” he said. “My father treasured the Fellowship as an investment in the Jewish future, and I am proud to continue his work. It brings me joy to witness the magic that happens when Jews from all backgrounds come together to access Jewish wisdom and have important conversations. I look forward to getting to know the 2026 Fellows personally, and to joining some of those conversations myself.”

The 2026 Fellows are from 13 states and the District of Columbia, and represent a wide range of Jewish backgrounds, including Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Just Jewish, and secularly/culturally Jewish.

The Fellowship promotes the study of Jewish texts, traditions, history, and culture as a way for Fellows to expand their perspectives and engage with one another and the world. The Fellows will study with an esteemed faculty, including Dr. Yitz Landes, Assistant Professor of Rabbinic Literatures and Culture at the Jewish Theological Seminary, who is serving as the Fellowship’s Director of Faculty; Dr. Evan Parks, a Germanic Languages scholar from Columbia University and the Fellowship’s Director of Education; Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, Executive Director of the Bronfman Center for Jewish Life at New York University and University Chaplain; Darshanit Dr. Miriam Udel, Professor of German Studies and the Judith London Evans Director of the Tam Institute for Jewish Studies at Emory University; and Lead Facilitators Risa Dunbar, a fifth-year rabbinical student at Hebrew College; and Yahel Halevi, a BA student at the Glasgow School of Art. The Fellows will also participate in arts workshops led by contemporary Jewish artists including acclaimed painter Joshua Meyer; multidisciplinary artist Anat Keinan; and Marisa Scheinfeld, photographer and founder of Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project.

In addition to learning with stellar educators, Fellows also have the unique opportunity to engage with leading intellectuals, artists, and religious and cultural leaders. Past speakers have included Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl, Senior Rabbi at New York City’s Central Synagogue; award-winning journalist Matti Friedman; Israel policy expert Michael Koplow; and poet and literary scholar Joy Ladin. After their Fellowship Year, the Fellows join an extremely active and vibrant alumni community of more than 1,600 individuals across North America and Israel.

About The Bronfman Fellowship

The Bronfman Fellowship cultivates Jewish leaders in Israel and North America, providing spaces for them to imagine authentic leadership and foster pluralism. While it began as a summer program, its impact today is much deeper and focuses on four initiatives: The Bronfman Fellowship for North American teens, Amitei Bronfman for Israeli teens, Campus Commons for North American college students, and the Alumni Leadership Network.

The Bronfman Fellowship, the flagship program for outstanding young Jews, taps 26 North American teenagers at a formative point in their lives, the year before college, when an intense, immersive experience will have the most impact. Founded in 1987 by Edgar M. Bronfman, z”l, the Fellowship reflects Mr. Bronfman’s early and impassioned belief that for the Jewish people to thrive, Israeli and American Jews from a variety of backgrounds must be engaged in open and creative discourse with one another. The alumni embody Mr. Bronfman’s vision that young people who are enriched and energized by their Judaism are poised to contribute not only to Jewish life, but to improving the world. 

The Fellowship is an opportunity unlike any other: a space where young people who want to see the world through a lens broader than their own can explore issues with depth, candor, and joy, while forming friendships to last a lifetime. Fellows wrestle with major issues in contemporary Jewish life, meet some of today’s most influential figures, and expand their perspectives as they build community with those representing different backgrounds, worldviews, and approaches to Jewish life and practice. The year begins with a five-week summer study program that takes place in the U.S. and Israel and includes an encounter with a parallel cadre of outstanding Israeli teenagers. Programming continues throughout Fellows’ senior year of high school with a series of lively in-person and virtual seminars, gatherings, and projects.

Upon graduating high school, the Fellows join an alumni community that has become a model for lifelong engagement, as Bronfman alumni continue to exchange ideas and inspire one another to contribute their talents, vision, and creativity to the Jewish community and the world. Leaders of note among Fellowship alumni include Daniel Handler, a.k.a. Lemony Snicket, author of the best-selling Series of Unfortunate Events children’s books; Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Everything Is Illuminated; and Rabbi Deborah Sacks Mintz, composer and Director of Tefillah and Music at Hadar Institute. Alumni also include entrepreneurial Jewish leaders who have founded organizations like Keshet, Sefaria, and YidLife Crisis; and serve in central leadership roles at major organizations like The Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, the Jewish Women’s Archive, Central Synagogue, Hillel International and The Foundation for Jewish Camp, to name a few. 

Our Israeli alumni have also ascended to positions of influence in government, civil groups, the private sector, and cultural institutions. Israeli alumni include attorneys at the State Justice Department, noted journalists, successful filmmakers (including a Tribeca Film Festival winner), political advisers to Members of Knesset, members of elite IDF units, and university lecturers. 

For more information about The Bronfman Fellowship, including how to apply, please visit www.bronfman.org.

2026 Bronfman Fellows by state:

Alaska

Fairbanks, AK. Leo Tape is a junior at West Valley High School, where he participates in soccer and cross-country running. He plays violin in the school orchestra and has played in the All-State Orchestra for the past three years. Leo is involved in activities with congregation Or HaTzafon and with Fairbanks Jewish Center – Chabad Lubavitch, and he enjoys winter recreation and music.

Arizona

Phoenix, AZ. Emmett Ungar is a rising senior at BASIS Phoenix high school who lives with his family in North Central Phoenix. Most mornings you’ll find him on Tempe Town Lake, blades in the water before the sun rises, where he rows with Tempe Junior Crew. At school he plays tuba with the Symphonic Band, rated “Superior – With Distinction” by the Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Association (ABODA), and with his district’s Honor Band. He competes at the international level with Mu Alpha Theta, a national mathematics honor society. In addition to school, he spends afternoons and weekends lifeguarding, building bots that swim, and coaching Special Olympics athletes. During summers and breaks he interns as a member of the AzCati microalgae lab at ASU Poly, and he’s currently exploring e-textiles through MIT BeaverWorks and OCW. At any given moment, he’s up for a game of AZA Mountain Region Ultimate Soap. He credits his parents and grandparents, the JCC and Beth El pre-schools, and Pardes Jewish Day School for his love of Jewish life and learning. Emmett is excited to participate in The Bronfman Fellowship, and looks forward to building community alongside the other Fellows.

California

Atherton, CA. Logan Spinner is a junior at Crystal Springs Uplands School in Hillsborough, California. He attended Sunday school at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills, where he was also bar mitzvahed. At school, Logan serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Gryphon Gazette, the student newspaper, and is a co-leader of the school’s Jewish affinity group. He also founded and serves on Congressman Sam Liccardo’s Youth Advisory Commission, where he works with other students on civic engagement and public policy issues. Logan trains and competes nationally in Shaolin Kempo karate. He was selected to train in Beijing with Jackie Chan’s stunt team and also trained and performed at the Shaolin Temple. He helps teach women’s self-defense classes through his dojo and plays varsity golf at school. Logan studies and speaks Mandarin and has conducted research with Stanford professor Larry Diamond examining Chinese state media and propaganda narratives. His writing has also been published in the San Jose Mercury News.

Burlingame, CA. Michaela Miller is a junior at Castilleja School in Palo Alto, California. She previously attended Wornick Jewish Day School from kindergarten to eighth grade and has spent the past nine summers at Camp Ramah in Ojai. At Castilleja, Michaela is the leader of the Reproductive Justice Club and the Women in Politics Club. She is deeply involved in Jewish teen leadership, currently serving as treasurer on the Central Region West BBYO Regional Board, where she works to ensure that Jewish teens across the Bay Area have access to meaningful programs and financial support to participate fully in the community. She also serves on the Leadership Council of the Jewish Teen Foundation, where she works with other teens to research social issues and allocate philanthropic funding to organizations making an impact in their community. Michaela pursues Jewish learning with the Shalom Hartman Institute Teen Fellowship Program. Michaela is also a competitive rower who trains and competes throughout the year.

Kensington, CA. Daphne Kalir-Starr is a great-granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and feels a strong connection to her ancestral family, Daphne considers Judaism an integral part of her identity, alongside her Latina heritage. From ages six to thirteen, Daphne attended Rodeph Sholom School, New York City’s only Reform Jewish Day School, of which she is a proud graduate. Daphne is a two-time national champion in Extemporaneous Speaking, an activity in which she is also ranked first in the country by the National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) based on cumulative tournament performance. She is also a member of the NSDA’s Student Leadership Council, where her focus is expanding access to speech and debate in under-resourced communities. Last summer, Daphne had the privilege of attending the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio and the Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop, which she considers life-changing experiences. Daphne is a leader at Equality in Forensics (EIF), the largest 100% student-run speech and debate non-profit, where she works with the organization to provide free online tutoring and other resources to hundreds of students nationwide, and teaches a beginner’s lab in Extemp herself. Daphne has volunteered in meal preparation and distribution to unhoused members of her community, in New York City and then the SF Bay Area’s East Bay, since age eight — a way she seeks to embrace the Jewish aim of Tikkun Olam.

Colorado

Denver, CO. Dalia Arch-Andorsky lives in Denver, Colorado. She identifies as a modern Orthodox Jew and attends weekly Shabbat services at her synagogue The Denver Kehillah. She currently attends the pluralistic Denver Jewish Day School, where she is passionate about law, history, and literature. She is a staff writer for her school’s newspaper, and is a founding member of her school’s Speech and Debate team. She also competed in the Marshall Brennan Moot Court Competition in tenth grade, and, after winning Best Petitioner at Nationals, serves as a teacher’s assistant for the Moot Court team. Running is another passion, which Dalia pursues through varsity cross country and independently. Outside of school, she is a member of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency Teen Journalism Fellowship. She also enjoys playing flute in the Denver Youth Artists Orchestra’s Conservatory Orchestra.

Connecticut

Old Lyme, CT. Owen Shapiro has participated for three years in Jewish Community High School, a program of the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut that brings together Jewish teens from across the region for weekly class and discussion.  At school, Owen serves as a captain of the Mock Trial team, is Vice President of Model United Nations, President of the Geo Challenge Club, and on the Math Team. He also serves as President of his class. He spent summer 2025 on a State Department program learning Tajik and living with a family in Tajikistan. He was a member of Mount Snow’s freestyle mogul team for several years and began teaching skiing this ski season.

District of Columbia

Silas Gordon is a junior at Maret School in Washington, DC, where he is a student council representative, debate team captain, and proud member of the golf and ultimate frisbee teams. Silas is also a member of Adas Israel Congregation, where he helps teach Hebrew school and participates in Adas’s teen learning program. He has interned at Thrive DC, an organization helping to alleviate poverty in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of DC, and on a Michigan political campaign.

Florida

Boca Raton, FL. Ayden Sherman has developed a strong foundation in Reform Judaism at Temple Beth El in Boca Raton, where he continues to participate as a religious school student, a teacher’s assistant, and a BOFTY (Boca Beth El Temple Youth group) Board member. Ayden’s search for knowledge and community extends far past his temple’s walls: as a student of Spanish River High School, Ayden is seeking his Cambridge AICE and AP Capstone diplomas. Ayden leads his school’s Future Florida Educators of America (FFEA) program as vice president where he focuses on developing youth community engagement and service programs.

Hollywood, FL. Aviva Zippin isa junior at the Jewish Leadership Academy (JLA). At school, Aviva serves as co-president of Model United Nations, writes for JLA’s digital publication The Inkwell, and was the co-editor of the school yearbook. Beyond the classroom, she is an Eagle Scout and serves as the Junior Assistant Scoutmaster for Troop 18, and she was recently elected Secretary for the Lodge Executive Committee in the Order of the Arrow. Aviva is also the founder of The Empowerment Center FL, an initiative focused on supporting and empowering young people in her community.

Miami Beach, FL. Ellie Feldman is a student at Ransom Everglades School in Miami Beach. Ellie has demonstrated a strong commitment to service, leadership, and community engagement through her work in environmental advocacy and local service initiatives. Growing up in Miami Beach and witnessing the effects of climate change firsthand, she has become deeply involved in sustainability efforts and climate-focused programs in South Florida. Ellie has completed more than 500 hours of community service and serves as a Board member of the Miami Youth Climate Summit, helping support regional environmental programming focused on ocean conservation and climate action. She is also a Food Rescue U.S. South Florida intern, where she works to reduce food waste by transporting surplus groceries to local shelters and supporting hunger relief efforts in Miami. At Ransom Everglades, Ellie plays an active leadership role as the Newsletter and Engagement Officer for the Volunteer Service Council and previously served on the Food and Shelter Committee, helping organize service initiatives and connect students with volunteer opportunities. She is also Head of the Waste Committee on the Environmental Sustainability Council, where she has organized campus environmental events and helped expand composting initiatives. In addition, Ellie serves as an educational leader with the Health Information Project, facilitating peer discussions on topics such as mental health and wellness. Her leadership and service have also been recognized through the Service and Outreach Core Value Award and her participation as a Temple Beth Sholom Israel Fellow.

Surfside, FL. Isaac Pack is an 11^th-grade student at Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale. He is an active member of his school’s student government program, and has served as president of his grade for two years. He is also an active member of the Israel Leadership and Jewish Heritage clubs. He was chosen by his school to participate in a conference on Open Dialogue at Vanderbilt University geared towards understanding how to engage in meaningful conversations with others. At Pine Crest, Isaac is part of a three-year Social Entrepreneurship program, where students learn how to create businesses that work to better the world while making a profit, and has given pitch-style presentations at national competitions including the Diamond Challenge for high school entrepreneurs. He is a two-time DECA international qualifier for Hospitality and Entrepreneurship and is a recipient of the Broward County Non-Public School Association Pinnacle Award for exemplary character and service. He studies Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art that utilizes acrobatics along with traditional fighting movements and is an active participant in the South Florida Carioca Capoeira community. He serves on the Youth Council for his town of Surfside, Florida, where he works on sustainability initiatives and with youth representation in local government. 

Iowa

Ames, IA. Liza Mendelev is a current junior at Ames High School. Growing up, Liza attended a local Hebrew school every weekend, and starting from age nine, spent her summers at Camp Ramah. In the eighth grade, she began participating in numerous fellowship programs through the Tikvah Foundation, and became involved with her local chapter of United Synagogue Youth. Currently, she is also an active member at her synagogue, leading and organizing monthly services involving her peers, and acting as a member of the Religious Observance Committee. At her school, she is the Secretary of Student Council, a leader/coach of her town’s middle school debate team and takes part in National History Day competitions. Liza is also involved with dance and during the summer, volunteers with the organization Raising Readers. When she’s not studying for tests or hurriedly scraping together constructives for debate, you can find her at home spending time with family, writing her own stories, and re-watching her favorite movies.

Louisiana

New Orleans, LA. Gracie Eckstein is a Junior who splits her time between the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA) and Benjamin Franklin High School. At NOCCA, she receives training in a variety of artistic mediums ranging from wheel-throwing to silk-screen printing.  Gracie is a talented acrylic painter whose work has received awards in competitions such as Rau for Art and Scholastic, and has been featured in literary magazines both local and international. At Benjamin Franklin, Gracie has received academic honors in Chemistry, Spanish, AP Human Geography, and English. She spends her time baking up a storm as the president of the Jewish Culture Club, where she also organized a service project to support New Orleanians experiencing food insecurity. Gracie is very involved in the Touro Synagogue community where she serves as Programming Vice President for her Jewish youth group, as well as a Sunday School teaching assistant. Gracie has participated in the Shalom Hartman Institute Teen Fellowship for two years, studying Jewish texts and contemporary issues with significant Jewish thinkers and peers from around North America.

Massachusetts

Brookline, MA. Leone Levi D’Ancona is an 11^th-grade student from Brookline, Massachusetts at Boston University Academy (BU Academy) in Boston. Born in London, England to Italian parents, Leone was raised in a traditional Jewish household and identifies as a Spanish Portuguese and Mizrahi Jew. Before coming to BU Academy, Leone attended the Jewish Community Day School of Boston. Leone was a camper at Camp Yavneh for six summers and currently attends Washington Square Minyan, a halakhic egalitarian congregation. With a passion that spans both STEM subjects and the humanities, Leone has pursued a wide range of academic and extracurricular endeavors. Last summer, Leone spent two months at the Vaccine and Immunology Center at Mass General Brigham and Harvard Medical School, researching the effects of the neurodegenerative disease ALS on the immune system. At Boston University, Leone has taken coursework in physics, computer science, and mathematics. At BU Academy, Leone co-leads the school’s Philosophy Club and is a member of its Ethics Bowl team, which this year qualified for the Ethics Bowl National Championships in North Carolina. As an elected Student Council representative, Leone brings the same reflective, ideas-driven approach to school leadership, where he makes a point of keeping his constituents happy with donuts and hot chocolate during the long New England winters. Away from the classroom, Leone rows on the crew team and recently completed a half-marathon. He was also a 2024-2025 Diller Teen Fellow.

Cambridge, MA. Samuel Mayle lives in Cambridge, MA. He attended the Acera School for middle school and currently attends Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, where he chose to enroll to better engage with a wide range of perspectives and diverse opinions. Sam is a Hartman Teen Fellow and sings in HaZamir: The International Jewish Teen Choir. At his high school, he leads the Investment and Mock Trial clubs, while also competing in the Maimonides Moot Court Competition. Sam is a participant in MIT PRIMES Circle and an intern at Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories. He has spent the last five summers at Camp Yavneh in Northwood, NH, where he developed a passion for Jewish and Israeli music. His academic interests include Computer Science, Law, and AI alignment. He is currently taking a Jewish Law and Philosophy class on the laws surrounding poverty and charity. In his free time, Sam plays squash, tennis, and ultimate frisbee. Sam was raised in a Modern Orthodox household with roots in New York and Australia.

Maryland

Chevy Chase, MD. Elana Ernst is a junior at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School and a member of Ohev Shalom, a Modern Orthodox synagogue in Washington, D.C. She served as the 2022 Montgomery County Youth Poet Laureate, and her writing has been recognized by the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards at the regional and national levels. In the summers, Elana enjoys backpacking all over Colorado with Ramah in the Rockies. Last summer, she was also lucky enough to spend a month in Israel volunteering at a school in Be’er Sheva for kids with special needs, practicing her Hebrew, and trying to master the Israeli public transportation system. 

New Jersey

Princeton, NJ. Harry Dweck is a current junior at Princeton High School. He is an avid reader, particularly of philosophy, science fiction, and journalism. Harry is very involved with his school’s student newspaper and Ethics Bowl team, and is also a member of the Princeton High School orchestra, where he plays cello. In his free time, Harry enjoys playing in a string quartet with friends, and has attended Kinhaven Music School for the past three summers.

New York

Bronx, NY. Daniela Gribetz is in her junior year at SAR High School in Riverdale, NY. At school, she is a leader in her school’s women’s prayer group and a member of the Model UN team. She was a teen journalism fellow and peer mentor with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, works as a Hebrew tutor for kids in kindergarten through middle school, and regularly chants Torah at local synagogues. Since she was in first grade, she has been a member of the Riverdale Children’s Theater; she also plays classical piano, crochets, and loves to swim and hike. For the past five years, she has hosted a podcast with her twin sister called “ClimaTwins” (climatwins.com); an aspiring meteorologist and glaciologist, she can probably tell you the ten-day forecast for wherever you’re headed.

Bronx, NY. Sophie Gribetz is from Riverdale, New York and attends SAR High School. She plays piano, performs in musicals, chants Torah in local synagogues, competes at Model UN, and, together with her twin sister, hosts a podcast about sustainability called “ClimaTwins.” She spent two years living in Jerusalem and speaks Hebrew natively. She enjoys teaching Hebrew poetry, exploring nature, creative writing, traveling, learning languages, and spending time with her friends.

Bronx, NY. Matan Hakimi of Riverdale, New York, is a student at Heichal HaTorah High School. He has strong interests in philosophy, scientific research, and Jewish texts, and enjoys exploring ethical questions and how different perspectives shape people’s values and understanding of Judaism. Outside the classroom, he is involved in community service, including volunteering and working with individuals with disabilities, and recently participated in a volunteer mission to Romania, assisting an orphanage serving Jewish Ukrainian refugee children. He also pursues creative work in the arts and independent research projects that allow him to explore new ideas. Through his studies and community involvement, he seeks to deepen his understanding of Jewish thought while engaging thoughtfully with a wide range of perspectives.

Brooklyn, NY. Ellie Bar-Lev is currently a Junior in the “Law and Society” track of Brooklyn Technical High School, in New York City. She is an active member of her school’s Congressional Debate team and has been involved with local politics for most of her high school career. Ellie served as an intern for the electoral campaigns of State Senator Zellnor Myrie and City Councilwoman Crystal Hudson. She is the co-founder of the Youth Working Families Party, and is currently involved in grassroots organizing efforts for several local congressional campaigns, as well as other forms of protest and advocacy. Her family belongs to Lab/Shul Synagogue in Brooklyn, and she was a member of the AJC Leaders for Tomorrow 2024 Cohort. When Ellie is not in school or otherwise involved with different internships/programs, you’ll find her practicing her photography around New York City, or DJing with different genres of music. 

New York, NY. Abigail Maksin is a student at the Ramaz Upper School in Manhattan. Born and raised in Brighton Beach, she has grown up in a vibrant Russian and Ukrainian culture. Abigail attended a public school in Brooklyn up until seventh grade, when she joined a newly created mehina (beginner) program to help her catch up in her Judaics. She is now thriving in honors Judaic classes, engaging in meaningful conversations in her classes. Abigail is the president of her school’s environmental club, psychology club, as well as president of the Israel advocacy club through her involvement in the StandWithUs Kenneth Leventhal High School Internship. She is also the junior editor of her school’s literary magazine, Parallax. She has won several awards for her school’s Model UN team as well as the Model Congress team. Abigail is currently performing research on how physical activity affects child cognitive development through Columbia University’s BrainSTORM research mentorship program. She has also initiated her school’s LearnToBe chapter, an organization where she tutors underprivileged children.

New York, NY. Talia Yost is a junior at Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn, New York. She practices Reform Judaism and attends Congregation Beth Elohim. Talia is currently a Junior Editor for her school newspaper, The Saint Ann’s Ram, and co-founder of Young Democrats for Change (YDC) club at her school. She is also an award-winning creative writer and street photographer.

Plainview, NY. Hayley Donner Maultasch is a sophomore at Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School and an active leader in both her school and the Jewish community. At school, she serves as Executive PR Secretary on the Student Government Executive Board and is the founder and president of the Peace of Mind Club, a student-led initiative focused on promoting teen mental health awareness and support. Hayley is also involved in peer mentoring, youth outreach programs, and is a member of the varsity tennis team. In the Jewish community, she serves as Regional Treasurer (Gizborit) for BBYO’s Nassau Suffolk Region, helping lead and support Jewish teens across Long Island, and previously served as her chapter’s treasurer. She is also a Kenneth Leventhal High School Intern with StandWithUs, where she receives training in Israel education and combating antisemitism. Hayley is active at Temple Chaverim in Plainview and participates in advocacy initiatives through her temple youth community. Additionally, she conducts independent research through her school’s science research program examining the linguistics of Holocaust survivor testimonies and the role of storytelling in the transmission of intergenerational trauma. She has been recognized for her leadership and service through several youth and academic organizations and remains deeply committed to strengthening Jewish life, education, and community engagement.

Texas

Dallas, TX. Henry Lipnik is a junior at Greenhill School in Dallas, TX where he is a captain on the swim team and a member of the quiz bowl team. He attends Temple Emanu-El with his family, where is now one of the leaders in the social justice Madrichim program and teen youth group.  Outside of these activities, Henry is also a lifeguard at the Dallas JCC. He loves to travel and explore new cultures and histories.