Media Contact:
Alix Friedman
Afriedman@hadassah.org
NEW YORK, NY – Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, is pleased to announce that Claire Eisenstadt of Northbrook, Ill., Marissa Bishop of Houston and Mia Finestone of San Rafael, Calif., have won its 2023 Leaders of Tomorrow Award. Each will receive a $1,000 scholarship towards the tuition for Gesher (Hebrew for “bridge”), the annual Israel summer leadership program of Young Judaea, the oldest Zionist youth movement in the United States. Details about the winners can be found below.
The Leaders of Tomorrow Award grew out of a partnership, now more than 100 years old, between Hadassah, the largest Jewish women’s organization in the United States and one dedicated to the land and people of Israel, and Young Judaea, which offers and encourages young people to engage in social and educational activities that strengthen their Jewish and Zionist identity.
The winners of the 2023 Leaders of Tomorrow Award, chosen following a merit-based competition, are young women whose leadership roles as students have demonstrated their potential to assume even greater leadership roles as adults. The award offers them the opportunity to learn about the rich culture and history of Israel and the Jewish people while honing the leadership skills that will enable them to make a difference in their communities.
Said Rhoda Smolow, Hadassah National President, “We congratulate Claire, Marissa and Mia on winning the 2023 Leaders of Tomorrow Award. We look forward to watching them grow into the women who will lead the next generation of Hadassah members.”
“It is exciting to see these exceptional young people take on leadership roles in their schools,” added Greta Rothschild, Hadassah National Young Judaea Chair. “They exemplify Hadassah’s mission to empower and inspire women to become leaders in their communities.”
ABOUT THE WINNERS
Claire Eisenstadt, 16, is finishing her junior year at Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, Ill.
- Young Judaea: President of Young Judea Chicago, delegate to CYJ [Camp Young Judaea] Midwest-Camp Tel Yehudah National Convention
- Leadership Roles: First-chair trumpet player in high school orchestra, swim instructor. Other activities include swim team and high school dance and musical theater program
- Noteworthy Leadership Experience: While studying F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and seeing antisemitic comments and stereotypes go unremarked by her English teacher, Claire spoke up and was ultimately invited by the school administration to help create a lesson plan on antisemitism.
Marissa Bishop, 17, is finishing her junior year at the Emery Weiner School in Houston.
- Young Judaea: Attended Camp Young Judaea Texas, of which she is a teen board member, and Tel Yehudah, Young Judaea’s summer leadership training program
- Leadership Roles: Editor-in-chief of high school newspaper, assistant director of high school theater productions
- Noteworthy Leadership Experience: After being named editor-in-chief of her high school paper when only a sophomore, Marissa created new editing and brainstorming systems that helped her lead the staff to increase the paper’s readership by nearly 40 percent.
Mia Finestone, 16, is finishing her junior year at the Jewish Community High School of the Bay in San Francisco.
- Young Judaea: Attended Camp Young Judaea Midwest in Wisconsin and Tel Yehudah, Young Judaea’s summer leadership training program
- Leadership Roles: Captain of varsity basketball team, co-editor-in-chief of high school yearbook, adviser for Teen Talk, a youth health education program
- Noteworthy Leadership Experience: When her partner in planning major school activities transferred to another school, she rose to the occasion, learning how to inspire, delegate and enlist the help of others and leading her grade to triumph in the annual color war over the reigning champion, the senior class.