Young award winners pave the way to a bright future

Three outstanding young leaders will be recognized for their service to Chicago's Jewish community at the Jewish Federation's Annual Meeting on Sept. 17.

Katie Berger will receive the Davis, Gidwitz & Glasser Young Leadership Award, presented to volunteers 40 and under who have demonstrated exemplary dedication and have made significant contributions to Chicago's Jewish community.

• Berger, who has been described as "passionate about building a stronger Jewish community," is on the JUF/Federation Board and three major commissions and committees. After holding key roles with the Young Leadership Division, including a stint as Campaign Chair, she was a prime mover in creating the Ben Gurion Society Advisory Council, which strengthens NextGen leaders' engagement with JUF. She also chairs the Jewish Women's Foundation's Economic Security/Legal Reform Subcommittee.

Emily White of JUF's Israel Education Center and Elyse Saretsky of JUF's Young Leadership Division will receive the 32nd annual Samuel A. Goldsmith Young Professional Award, honoring Jewish professionals whose exemplary performance at a Jewish agency in the Chicago area has benefited the entire Jewish community.

• White guides JUF's programs and response to antisemitism and Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions efforts on campuses across Illinois and beyond, while also helping shape strategies nationally. Her work was a major factor in shifting federal government response on campus antisemitism and has tangibly helped make campuses safer for Jewish students, faculty, and staff.
• In less than two years as YLD Director, Saretsky has introduced a "change-positive mentality" that has reshaped programming, strengthened staff and lay leadership, expanded the Division's outreach to new audiences, and envigorated collaboration among departments within JUF. She also has taken on leadership roles defining core organizational priorities throughout JUF, and is described by one supervisor as "one of the fastest rising young leaders in our organization.

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