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Contact: Renee Young
Hadassah National Press
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Hadassah Announces Its 2017 Leaders of Tomorrow  
Award for Young Women Scholarship Recipients

May 11, 2017 - New York, NY - Hadassah has named its 2017 Leaders of Tomorrow Award scholarship recipients, it was announced by Ellen Hershkin, National President, Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, Inc. (HWZOA). This highly selective, merit-based competition awards two high school women full tuition for four weeks at Young Judaea's Teen Summer Program in Israel. The 2017 Hadassah Leaders of Tomorrow Award recipients are: Shira Subar, 17, from Studio City, CA, a junior at the Marlborough School, Los Angeles, CA, and Tessa Stanton, 17, from Marietta, GA, a junior at Alan C. Pope High School, Marietta, GA. Noa Pitkowsky, 16, from The Bronx, NY, a junior at SAR High School, Riverdale, New York, is runner-up. For over a century, Hadassah has enjoyed a productive relationship with Young Judaea, which has created a dynamic corps of young Jewish leaders who become active and engaged Jewish adults.

2017 marks the fourth year that Hadassah has awarded its Leaders of Tomorrow Award to two young women in high school who have proven their leadership skills and shown the potential for even greater leadership roles, potentially in Hadassah.  These two award recipients receive an all-expense paid trip to Israel, while the runner-up receives $1000, to participate in the annual summer Young Judaea Machon program.  This program serves to deepen their love for Israel and offer them a fresh perspective of a country to which they are already devoted. Upon their return, Hadassah will offer them many opportunities to share their rich experiences.

Ellen Hershkin states, “Since its inception, Hadassah has been empowering women to assume leadership roles in the community. We are proud to provide opportunities for leadership and personal growth for women of all ages.  We congratulate these three exceptional young women for their achievements; especially their passion for Israel and the Jewish people.
Barbara Spack, Hadassah National Chair, Young Judaea, states, “We were delighted to choose three young women who personify the passionate spirit and dedication of our organization’s values and mission. We know that Shira Subar and Tessa Stanton, along with runner-up Noa Pitkowsky, will continue to demonstrate their exceptional leadership skills as well as their noteworthy academic achievements as they grow to lead Hadassah groups in the future.”

Shira Subar, 17, a junior at the Marlborough School in Los Angeles, is incoming regional president of Los Angeles Young Judaea, after serving as regional vice president.  After a diagnosis of Crohn’s Disease at age eight, Shira is passionate about science and research and hopes to pursue a career in medicine. She has volunteered with the Irritable Bowel Disease Support Foundation, where she was recently honored at their Los Angeles gala, and The Painted Turtle, a summer camp for kids with chronic and severe illnesses.  Shira anticipates that the four week trip to Young Judaea’s Leadership Program in Israel will help her become a stronger advocate for Israel and Zionism and help her to draw closer to her local Jewish community.

Tessa Stanton, 17, a junior at Alan C. Pope High School in Marietta, GA, has been involved with BBYO, Inc. since 2014   She belongs to the Jewish Club and the Interact Club at Alan C. Pope High school, where she is a member of the National Honor Society and captain of the club soccer team.  She has volunteered at the Atlanta Food Bank for the past several years in addition to looking after children at a local elementary school’s After School Program. Last summer, Tessa completed an internship at the tech startup Cloudtags. Tessa looks forward to the learning and the leadership skills which the Young Judaea summer leadership program provides and sharing these skills with teens in her Georgia community. 

2017 Hadassah Leaders of Tomorrow Award runner-up Noa Pitkowsky, 16, from The Bronx, NY, was born in Israel.  She has been a member of Young Judaea for the past eight years. She is  a junior at SAR High School, Riverdale, NY, where she is captain of the cross country and track team and club leader of the garden club.

Young Judaea's Teen Summer Programs in Israel connect participants with the land of Israel, its culture, and its spirit. With award-winning educational programming and specialty touring options, Jewish teens experience the best of Israel while building leadership and social activism skills. Participants are offered a variety of distinctive trips with a focus on science, social entrepreneurship, advocacy and volunteering, to name a few. In addition to a weekend of leadership training at Tel Yehudah, Young Judaea's senior leadership camp, and a chance to explore personal special interests for one week of their trip in Israel, participants in Young Judaea's Israel Teen Summer Programs have every opportunity to travel the world and have an enduring impact on the communities around them. For more information, please visit http://bit.ly/yjsummer.

About Young Judaea
Young Judaea, the premier Zionist youth movement worldwide, encourages young people from grade school through post-college to become involved in social and educational activities that sharpen their senses of Jewish and Zionist identity. Young Judaea programs include a variety of year-round activities: local havurot meetings; summer camps nationwide; Alternative Winter Break; Year Course in Israel (a freshman gap-year program); Israel summer programs for teens, including YJ Machon and Israel Discovery; Amirim college summer offerings; and WUJS Israel post-college internship and study programs. Young Judaea is a "109 year old start-up," having recently become an independent organization after fifty plus years as part of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Inc. (HWZOA), and is building to meet current challenges and embrace new opportunities. For more information, please visit www.youngjudaea.org

Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Inc. (HWZOA) is the largest Jewish women’s organization in the United States. With 330,000 members, Associates and supporters Hadassah brings Jewish women together to effect change and advocate on critical issues such as medical care and research and women's empowerment.  Through the Hadassah Medical Organization's two hospitals, the world-renowned trauma center and the leading research facility in Jerusalem, Hadassah supports the delivery of exemplary patient care to over a million people every year. HMO serves without regard to race, religion or nationality and earned a Nobel Peace Prize Nomination in 2005 for building “bridges to peace” through equality in medical treatment. For more information, visit my.hadassah.org.