Our Recipients' Update

When we came up with the idea to create this prize over seven years ago, we could not have imagined what it has become today. It has been a humbling and inspiring experience to be introduced to the lives and endeavors of Prize recipients whose work deserves our regard and our respect. We feel privileged to be a part of this process and proud of the accomplishments of our alumni, and of the Prize being an early identifier of the importance of their ongoing work and of helping them bring attention to it.

RACHEL ANDRES \| 2008 Rachel Andres continues her work as Director of Jewish World Watch's Solar Cooker Project where she has sustained and built-up a national interfaith coalition to raise funds to provide the simple equipment that dramatically reduces the risk of violence against women and girls in three refugee camps near the Chad-Sudan border. The Project is currently running in three Darfuri refugee camps in Chad ( Iridimi, Touloum and Oure Cassoni) bringing the total people served to over 60,000. Locally and nationally, she continues to speak to organizations, schools and press about the genocide in Darfur and the success of using solar energy as a means to cook food rather than risking attack while leaving the refugee camps to collect firewood. In evaluating the project, Andres and a team from Jewish World Watch, the UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency), and others found an astonishing 86% reduction in journeys away from camp since the Solar Cooker Project began. Other positive effects of the Project have been the preservation of scarce trees, improved health due to reduced smoke inhalation, construction of manufacturing plants to provide income for the refugees, and acquisition of new skills for the refugees. Rachel is working with a British NGO with plans to expand the project to four additional refugee camps within the next year. Jewish World Watch has held meetings with UN High Commissioner Antonio Guterres and other top officials from UNHCR to discuss the project and its potential partnership and expansion to several new camps in eastern Chad. Andres traveled to Geneva Switzerland as an invited guest of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to participate in an international symposium attended by humanitarian and human rights decision-makers from around the world. While in Geneva, she met with UNHCR representatives, and she gave a presentation on the project and the evaluation to the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, Andres was chosen to participate in the Selah Leadership Program sponsored by Jewish Funds for Justice which trains a cross-section of leaders in Jewish and secular organizations to be effective, sustainable, and collaborative agents for social change.
DR. AMITAI ZIV \| 2007 Dr. Amitai Ziv is a young visionary changing the face of medical education through the innovative use of simulation-based training to improve the quality and effectiveness of patient care. Ziv is the Founder and Director of the Israel Center for Medical Simulation [www.msr.org.il], and Deputy Director of Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer. Influenced by his training as a combat pilot in the Israeli Air Force, Ziv has become a world leader in applying simulation techniques to improve the communication skills and judgment of healthcare professionals—training them to make better decisions for their patients, enhance teamwork, improve their responses in emergency settings and extract invaluable lessons from past errors. He has inspired his peers throughout the world to work together in creating new training models that reduce medical errors and provide a safer, patient-centered medical culture, saving untold lives in the process. Since receiving the Prize in 2007, MSR has opened The Schusterman Foundation -- Israel Pediatric Simulation Wing with special focus on pediatric abuse; created MSR on Wheels to improve pre-hospital Trauma Care national preparedness; initiated the MSR and Sheba program for Trauma Training of Peripheral Hospital to train the trauma units of Israel's peripheral hospitals. Dr. Ziv was the recipient of 2007 The Michener Honorary Diploma of Health Science Award at The Michener Institute, Toronto, Canada. He has been nominated as a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) Patient Safety Alliance Expert Committee Advisory Group, Geneva, Switzerland. Dr. Ziv is broadly involved in humanitarian initiatives, developing national training programs in collaboration with other social and medical organizations, including the IDF Medical Corps' preparation for battlefield conditions. He has been sought after by medical centers around the world, including Mayo Clinic, Case Western Reserve University, McGill University, Albert Einstein Medical Center (Brazil) and the US Department of the Army. He has testified before the U.S. Congress and briefed the Department of Homeland Security on emergency medical simulation techniques.
DR. ALON TAL \| 2005 Dr. Alon Tal is an environmentalist who understands that ecology can be a uniting force for bringing people together and bridging differences in the Middle East. He is the founder of The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies [www.arava.org], which has quickly become a regional focal point for environmentalists, recruiting students from throughout the Middle East to pursue degrees in environmental studies in Israel. Eighty percent of Arava's students graduate to key regional environmental positions, transforming the level of cooperation in protecting the environment among the countries of the region. Dr. Tal received his Ph.D. from Harvard University and served as a consultant to the Environmental Protection Agency. In 2006 he organized the first ever UN sponsored conference to be held in Israel. The conference, on Deserts and Desertification, brought together environmentalists from over 80 countries struggling with this issue. Tal was appointed Professor of Environmental Policy at Ben Gurion University in 2007, He became the Chairman of the Land Development Authority at Keren Kayemet le'Yisrael International Board where he works to ensure that that Israel achieves its highest potential in protecting and preserving the environment—impacting all Israelis and their neighbors for generations to come. In December 2008, he chaired the second conference on Drylands and Desertification at Ben Gurion University in conjunction with UNESCO -- in which 450 participants from 55 countries considered key issues in combating desertification. Tal continues to represent Israel at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. In March 2009, he was part of a delegation representing Israeli scientific achievements across England with surprisingly strong support by the local press. Dr Tal serves as a mediator between government agencies, developers, and environmentalists on complex and sometimes controversial development issues. He impacts on positive ‘green' developments within Israel's environmental policies and is part of the team that formed a new "Green Party" that ran in the 2009 elections. He has a small private practice offering pro bono representation for environmental NGOs. Dr. Tal recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Environmental Protection from Israel's Ministry of Environmental Protection. The award recognizes endeavors to transform Israel's environmental movement and its approach to ecological challenges and was granted as part of the country's 60th anniversary celebrations.
JAY FEINBERG \| 2004 When Jay Feinberg was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Prize in 2004, Charles Bronfman described him as a Jewish hero. Shortly after graduating from college, Feinberg was diagnosed with leukemia and required a bone marrow transplant. In 1991, Jews of European descent had less than a five percent chance of finding matching donors. Mr. Feinberg used his personal crisis to create a lifesaving grassroots movement, the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation [www.giftoflife.org]. By enrolling over 135,000 Jewish donors, Gift of Life has increased the chances of a Jewish patient finding a bone marrow match from five to seventy percent, has facilitated transplants for approximately 1,900 cancer patients around the world and has built an umbilical cord blood bank which will increase the chances of a suitable match to nearly 100 percent, enabling Gift of Life to serve nearly all Jewish patients who are in need. Under Feinberg's leadership, Gift of Life has become one of the world's most effective donor registries. Groups in Israel, England, Brazil and North America have adopted Jay's registry model for specialized ethno-centric recruitment strategies. Gift of Life's membership ranks have grown through partnerships with Hillel and Taglit Birthright Israel, enrolling young donors while teaching them Jewish values and leadership skills. Since winning the Prize, Feinberg has served as a policy advisor to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the New Jersey Department of Health. He has also received a National Marrow Donor Program award, Hadassah's World Citizenship Award, and an honorary doctorate from Yeshiva University in recognition of his humanitarian achievements. In 2008, Gift of Life was awarded accreditation by the World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA). The WMDA elected Jay to the Board of Directors, where he serves as Secretary of North and South America.

RACHEL ANDRES \| 2008 Rachel Andres continues her work as Director of Jewish World Watch's Solar Cooker Project where she has sustained and built-up a national interfaith coalition to raise funds to provide the simple equipment that dramatically reduces the risk of violence against women and girls in three refugee camps near the Chad-Sudan border. The Project is currently running in three Darfuri refugee camps in Chad ( Iridimi, Touloum and Oure Cassoni) bringing the total people served to over 60,000. Locally and nationally, she continues to speak to organizations, schools and press about the genocide in Darfur and the success of using solar energy as a means to cook food rather than risking attack while leaving the refugee camps to collect firewood. In evaluating the project, Andres and a team from Jewish World Watch, the UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency), and others found an astonishing 86% reduction in journeys away from camp since the Solar Cooker Project began. Other positive effects of the Project have been the preservation of scarce trees, improved health due to reduced smoke inhalation, construction of manufacturing plants to provide income for the refugees, and acquisition of new skills for the refugees. Rachel is working with a British NGO with plans to expand the project to four additional refugee camps within the next year. Jewish World Watch has held meetings with UN High Commissioner Antonio Guterres and other top officials from UNHCR to discuss the project and its potential partnership and expansion to several new camps in eastern Chad. Andres traveled to Geneva Switzerland as an invited guest of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to participate in an international symposium attended by humanitarian and human rights decision-makers from around the world. While in Geneva, she met with UNHCR representatives, and she gave a presentation on the project and the evaluation to the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, Andres was chosen to participate in the Selah Leadership Program sponsored by Jewish Funds for Justice which trains a cross-section of leaders in Jewish and secular organizations to be effective, sustainable, and collaborative agents for social change.
DR. AMITAI ZIV \| 2007 Dr. Amitai Ziv is a young visionary changing the face of medical education through the innovative use of simulation-based training to improve the quality and effectiveness of patient care. Ziv is the Founder and Director of the Israel Center for Medical Simulation [www.msr.org.il], and Deputy Director of Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer. Influenced by his training as a combat pilot in the Israeli Air Force, Ziv has become a world leader in applying simulation techniques to improve the communication skills and judgment of healthcare professionals—training them to make better decisions for their patients, enhance teamwork, improve their responses in emergency settings and extract invaluable lessons from past errors. He has inspired his peers throughout the world to work together in creating new training models that reduce medical errors and provide a safer, patient-centered medical culture, saving untold lives in the process. Since receiving the Prize in 2007, MSR has opened The Schusterman Foundation -- Israel Pediatric Simulation Wing with special focus on pediatric abuse; created MSR on Wheels to improve pre-hospital Trauma Care national preparedness; initiated the MSR and Sheba program for Trauma Training of Peripheral Hospital to train the trauma units of Israel's peripheral hospitals. Dr. Ziv was the recipient of 2007 The Michener Honorary Diploma of Health Science Award at The Michener Institute, Toronto, Canada. He has been nominated as a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) Patient Safety Alliance Expert Committee Advisory Group, Geneva, Switzerland. Dr. Ziv is broadly involved in humanitarian initiatives, developing national training programs in collaboration with other social and medical organizations, including the IDF Medical Corps' preparation for battlefield conditions. He has been sought after by medical centers around the world, including Mayo Clinic, Case Western Reserve University, McGill University, Albert Einstein Medical Center (Brazil) and the US Department of the Army. He has testified before the U.S. Congress and briefed the Department of Homeland Security on emergency medical simulation techniques.
DR. ALON TAL \| 2005 Dr. Alon Tal is an environmentalist who understands that ecology can be a uniting force for bringing people together and bridging differences in the Middle East. He is the founder of The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies [www.arava.org], which has quickly become a regional focal point for environmentalists, recruiting students from throughout the Middle East to pursue degrees in environmental studies in Israel. Eighty percent of Arava's students graduate to key regional environmental positions, transforming the level of cooperation in protecting the environment among the countries of the region. Dr. Tal received his Ph.D. from Harvard University and served as a consultant to the Environmental Protection Agency. In 2006 he organized the first ever UN sponsored conference to be held in Israel. The conference, on Deserts and Desertification, brought together environmentalists from over 80 countries struggling with this issue. Tal was appointed Professor of Environmental Policy at Ben Gurion University in 2007, He became the Chairman of the Land Development Authority at Keren Kayemet le'Yisrael International Board where he works to ensure that that Israel achieves its highest potential in protecting and preserving the environment—impacting all Israelis and their neighbors for generations to come. In December 2008, he chaired the second conference on Drylands and Desertification at Ben Gurion University in conjunction with UNESCO -- in which 450 participants from 55 countries considered key issues in combating desertification. Tal continues to represent Israel at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. In March 2009, he was part of a delegation representing Israeli scientific achievements across England with surprisingly strong support by the local press. Dr Tal serves as a mediator between government agencies, developers, and environmentalists on complex and sometimes controversial development issues. He impacts on positive ‘green' developments within Israel's environmental policies and is part of the team that formed a new "Green Party" that ran in the 2009 elections. He has a small private practice offering pro bono representation for environmental NGOs. Dr. Tal recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Environmental Protection from Israel's Ministry of Environmental Protection. The award recognizes endeavors to transform Israel's environmental movement and its approach to ecological challenges and was granted as part of the country's 60th anniversary celebrations.
JAY FEINBERG \| 2004 When Jay Feinberg was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Prize in 2004, Charles Bronfman described him as a Jewish hero. Shortly after graduating from college, Feinberg was diagnosed with leukemia and required a bone marrow transplant. In 1991, Jews of European descent had less than a five percent chance of finding matching donors. Mr. Feinberg used his personal crisis to create a lifesaving grassroots movement, the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation [www.giftoflife.org]. By enrolling over 135,000 Jewish donors, Gift of Life has increased the chances of a Jewish patient finding a bone marrow match from five to seventy percent, has facilitated transplants for approximately 1,900 cancer patients around the world and has built an umbilical cord blood bank which will increase the chances of a suitable match to nearly 100 percent, enabling Gift of Life to serve nearly all Jewish patients who are in need. Under Feinberg's leadership, Gift of Life has become one of the world's most effective donor registries. Groups in Israel, England, Brazil and North America have adopted Jay's registry model for specialized ethno-centric recruitment strategies. Gift of Life's membership ranks have grown through partnerships with Hillel and Taglit Birthright Israel, enrolling young donors while teaching them Jewish values and leadership skills. Since winning the Prize, Feinberg has served as a policy advisor to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the New Jersey Department of Health. He has also received a National Marrow Donor Program award, Hadassah's World Citizenship Award, and an honorary doctorate from Yeshiva University in recognition of his humanitarian achievements. In 2008, Gift of Life was awarded accreditation by the World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA). The WMDA elected Jay to the Board of Directors, where he serves as Secretary of North and South America.