Your Daily Phil: Hadar Institute looks to spread its egalitarian religious vision in Israel
Good Friday morning.
In today’s edition of Your Daily Phil, we report on the JCC Association of North America distributing grants to Jewish community centers ahead of Israel’s upcoming national holidays. We cover the Hadar Institute in Israel’s inaugural national Shabbaton, and report on the Anti-Defamation League’s decision to review its involvement in an annual antisemitism in law conference after the most recent featured anti-Zionist speakers. In advance of Good Deeds Day on Sunday, April 6, Philip Bendheim shares ways nonprofits can utilize the annual mega-event in the service of their respective missions; and we feature an opinion piece by David Fisher about the Jewish community’s approach to pluralism, both within the Jewish world and in our relationship with other faith communities. Also in this newsletter: Michael Koplow, Ilan Amit and Irwin Jacobs.
For less-distracted reading over the weekend, browse this week’s edition of The Weekly Print, a curated print-friendly PDF featuring a selection of recent eJewishPhilanthropy and Jewish Insider stories, including: Noa Tishby launches national tour with her new nonprofit, Eighteen, bringing Oct. 7 survivors to U.S.; In embracing deported pro-Palestinian activists, Democrats struggle to acknowledge antisemitism; and ‘Friends of’ organizations are outpacing Jewish communal institutions as biggest donors to Israeli nonprofits, study finds. Print the latest edition here.
Shabbat Shalom!
What We’re Watching
The National Hillel Basketball Tournament, which started yesterday at the University of Maryland, will continue through the weekend. More than 400 Jewish student-athletes are expected to participate, with some 1,500 fans expected in the stands.
Saturday night will see the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four matchups between the University of Florida (led by coach Todd Golden) and Auburn (coached by Bruce Pearl) at 6 p.m. ET, followed by Duke (and coach Jon Scheyer) vs. the University of Houston at 8 p.m. ET. The winners of each game will advance to the NCAA Finals on Monday. (That Pearl, Golden and Scheyer are all Jewish ensures that at least one Jewish coach will be headed to the championship game.)
Good Deeds Day, the annual day of service that originated in Israel, will be held on Sunday around the world. Read more about it below.
Also on Sunday, the BBYO youth movement will hold its J Serve volunteering day.
eJewishPhilanthropy will host the first of three World Zionist Congress election debates on Sunday. Sign up here.
What You Should Know
The JCC Association of North America’s Mit-habrim (“connecting”) initiative is dispensing over $1.5 million in grants across 115 Jewish community centers in the coming weeks to mark Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, Memorial Day and Independence Day, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Nira Dayanim.
Employing a 50-50 matching model with Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Ministry, Mit-habrim funds Israel-related programming at JCCs across North America. The initiative — first conceived in 2021 to incentivize and bolster programming surrounding the “Yamim” (Yom HaShoah, Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAztmaut) — was launched in mid-2023. In the aftermath of that year’s Oct. 7 terror attacks, the focus shifted.
“Literally overnight, on the morning of Oct. 8, we pivoted, together with our partners at the ministry,” Leah Garber, JCC Association’s senior vice president of Israel engagement and director general of the Center for Israel Engagement in Jerusalem, told eJP. “We pivoted the initial platform from celebrating the beauty of Israel to now working with our JCCs and offering them opportunities to stand in solidarity with Israel, with the Jewish world, support them, bringing the stories of Israeli heroes, survivors and others to their communities.”
As the program crosses the 18-month line, the organization is seeing a significant return on its investment in terms of engagement, according to Uria Roth, director of the Mit-habrim program. Across the 80% of JCCs participating in the project, there have been 300,000 participants in the programming, according to Roth. And as the Israel-focused programming has seen a 71% increase in participation, 30% of those attendees are participating for the first time.
“We’re trying to go deeper into conversations about Israel. But also to go wider, more than just the usual people that are coming to the JCC. We’re trying to find new audiences in each community,” said Roth.
Though the initiative was initially supposed to wrap up in August after two years of activity, Mit-habrim is in the process of extending its timeline and returning to its original goal. “We are hopeful that very soon we’ll be able to resume the original plan and to bring more of a celebratory perspective of Israel to our JCC members,” said Garber.
AMERICAN EXPORTS
Hadar in Israel hosts inaugural national Shabbaton as it rolls out expansion plan
The Friday-night prayer service at the inaugural Israeli national Shabbaton of Hadar, the New York-based egalitarian house of study that is now expanding its footprint in the Holy Land, featured a twist on the traditional mechitza, or divider. The so-called “tri-chitza” — a portmanteau of tri- and mechitza — put men on one side, women on the other and mixed-seating in the middle, where the bima was also located, offering a tangible image of what Hadar is trying to do — break down religious barriers in Israel, particularly those surrounding gender. “Hadar can offer that religious landscape that is amazingly still unique in the Israeli context. We are really trying to break down the hard barriers between the easy splitting of the society between religious and secular,” Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, one of Hadar’s co-founders, told eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross, who attended the weekend gathering.
Strategic expansion: Last year, Mechon Hadar developed a five-year strategic plan with the goal of both expanding those existing elements and adding new ones, such as constructing a second “flagship learning institution outside of Jerusalem” and launching a pre-army preparatory program, as well as publishing. “Our strategic plan has three anchors: One is spreading our religious vision, two is building institutions and three is creating leadership that can have an influence in existing institutions,” Rabbi Avital Hochstein, president of Hadar in Israel, told eJP shortly before Shabbat last week. “This Shabbaton touches each of those three anchors.”
ON SECOND THOUGHT
ADL announces policy change to conference sponsorship after anti-Israel speakers revealed
After an annual conference on combating antisemitism in law featured speakers affiliated with anti-Zionist organizations last week, the Anti-Defamation League, one of the event’s sponsors, announced a policy shift on Wednesday. The antisemitism watchdog’s future participation and sponsorship in the conference “will be contingent on our ability to exclude such extraordinarily inappropriate speakers,” the group told Haley Cohen for eJewishPhilanthropy’s sister publication Jewish Insider.
Change of tune: A spokesperson for the ADL initially declined to weigh in on any of the controversial speakers, instead noting that the group was “pleased to co-sponsor the conference and to support bringing legal academics and representatives of Jewish organizations together to discuss these issues.” But the following day the ADL — which did not have a role in selecting speakers — suggested there will be a change of course going forward in its sponsorship of the event, which it has helped fund since the inaugural conference in 2021. “It’s deeply troubling that the organizers of this conference invited a former [Jewish Voice for Peace] coordinator and other problematic speakers without consulting us,” the ADL said, referring to JVP as “despicable and too far outside the mainstream to be a credible participant.”
Read the full report here and sign up for Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff here.
ONGOING GOOD
Turning Good Deeds Day into lasting impact: 5 lessons for Jewish nonprofits
“Since its founding in 2007 by Israeli philanthropist Shari Arison, Good Deeds Day” — taking place this Sunday, April 6 — “has grown from a volunteer initiative in Israel into a global movement now spanning 115 countries. Each year, millions of people dedicate their time and energy to acts of kindness and service on Good Deeds Day,” writes Philip Bendheim, director of Yad Sarah’s International Board of Overseers, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “Through years of participation, we’ve learned that success on Good Deeds Day isn’t just about showing up — it’s about being strategic. By approaching the day with intentionality, Jewish nonprofits can translate this one-day burst of energy into sustained impact.”
Mission-minded: “Good Deeds Day shouldn’t feel like a separate project; it should reflect an organization’s core purpose. The most successful initiatives are those that serve as an extension of a nonprofit’s mission… On Good Deeds Day and every other day, our volunteers work tirelessly to deliver free or low-cost medical equipment directly to homebound individuals, and they provide other services as well… We’ve used Good Deeds Day as a platform to raise awareness about our free lending service by encouraging new volunteers to join this cause. While such efforts have resulted in more volunteers, they have also helped more people in need discover the resources available to them. For some, this knowledge is life-changing, enabling them to avoid hospitalization, regain mobility or care for a loved one at home. By aligning Good Deeds Day efforts with our core mission, we’ve turned one-time gestures of kindness into sustained impact that extends far beyond a single day.”
BIGGER AND BOLDER
Beyond the big tent: Harnessing pluralism to forge Jewish identity
“[M]eaningful encounters across profound differences forge stronger identity,” writes education management professional and rabbinical student David Fisher in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy. “Jewish institutions prioritize identity formation but have overlooked pluralism’s power to achieve this very goal. This disconnect persists because we have failed to measure how boundary-crossing experiences strengthen Jewish commitment.”
Reframe to refresh: “Unfortunately, as Yehuda Kurtzer argues in the article “What Happened to Jewish Pluralism?,” many Jewish institutions have embraced pluralism without full readiness for its rigor. We have created wide tents that dampen passionate expression rather than channel it. Today, North American Jewish institutions face a choice: continue with what Kurtzer calls a ‘flattened’ pluralism of self-censorship and institutional boundaries, or embrace a bolder vision. We must reframe pluralism not merely as a practical tool for creating ‘big tent’ institutions, but as a catalyst for Jewish identity formation. By measuring and scaling educational models that combine interfaith engagement with intra-Jewish reflection, we can transform pluralism from a source of institutional stress into a wellspring of Jewish educational revival.”
Worthy Reads
We Are Not the Same: In his column for the Israel Policy Forum, Michael Koplow argues that American Jews and Israeli Jews experience and combat antisemitism differently — and right now Americans are making a mistake by choosing to combat it the Israeli way. “Israeli Jews are a majority in a Jewish state. Leaving aside the legal and ethical questions about policing speech, there is no tactical cost to cracking down on antisemitic speech because the crackdown will never rebound against them… The imperative for Israeli Jews when it comes to fighting antisemitism is maintaining Israel as a sovereign Jewish state, since that is what keeps them safe and secure. There is no downside in this regard to going to extremes to punish anti-Jewish speech and behavior, since it will not expand beyond those who target Jews to encompass Jews themselves. We American Jews have a more complicated set of factors to consider. We are a minority, and we must be concerned any time the state is exercising coercive power against disfavored groups or disfavored speech, even when we are not targeted and even when it is being done in the service of protecting us. There are precious few, if any, examples from history of minority groups or opinions being targeted by a government that did not ultimately train its spotlight on Jews. What starts with others always ends with us. It is why the American Jewish fight against antisemitism has never been only about carving our protections for Jews, but about carving out protections for all minorities and all unpopular speech.” [IsraelPolicyForum]
Grinding to a Halt: In The Times of Israel, Ilan Amit spotlights the impact of the Israeli government’s budget cuts and the U.S. aid freeze on Israel’s Arab sector, which is presently experiencing poverty on “unprecedented levels.” “Arab local government, Arab civil society organizations, and joint society groups were informed last week that Minister of Social Equality May Golan has cut tens of millions of shekels from the five-year development plan for Arab society, redirecting the funds elsewhere. This massive budget cut is expected to broadly damage educational and vocational programs aimed at narrowing severe societal gaps, further weaken the fight against crime and violence, and deepen the crisis of trust between Arab society and the State of Israel… The convergence of USAID’s funding freeze, the Kallner Law, redirected philanthropic attention, and the Israeli government’s budget cuts form a perfect storm. This creates a reality in which the organizations dedicated to reducing gaps in Arab society and nurturing joint partnership spaces may vanish entirely. We are talking about hundreds of NGOs, initiatives, and programs operating throughout Israel in education, employment, tech, and health and involving tens of thousands of Arab and Jewish citizens. Anyone who thinks this is just a handful of Tel Aviv leftists sipping coffee has no idea what’s really happening. This is an employment engine pulling an entire economic train… Now is the time to stand firm and defend the partnerships, progress, and shared future we’ve worked so hard to build.” [TOI]
Craving Human Contact: Nonprofits should consider reaching donors by other means beyond another battery of content on social media, writes Morgan Teel in The Chronicle of Philanthropy. “For years, social media has been a place for organizations, like nonprofits, to connect with their audiences, share their work, and build visibility. But lately, many nonprofits have been questioning whether these platforms truly nurture the kind of community we want to cultivate — or if they simply keep us in a loop of endless content creation, asking more and more of us while giving less in return. One of the most revealing trends in community engagement is how people take meaningful action, whether donating, participating in classes, or attending events primarily off social media. Research shows that as third spaces — cafes, libraries, and community centers — disappear due to economic pressures, urban development, and the rise of digital spaces, people are increasingly seeking connection through word of mouth, email, community partnerships, and real-life experiences. Studies indicate a rising preference for in-person interactions and a growing opportunity for nonprofits to fill this gap. So why do so many organizations continue to invest heavily in platforms that don’t return the same effort? Here are three ways to engage your community more thoughtfully and build stronger connections.” [ChronicleofPhilanthropy]
Resistance is Futile: In The Atlantic, Arthur C. Brooks offers insights on how to stop resisting change — the kind you actually want — and let it happen. “Unless you are a monastic, your life is probably characterized by a lot of resistance, especially to change. Even the most adventurous people are susceptible to this because change almost always means an uncertain or challenging future. Researchers have found that our resistance to change is rooted in at least four sources: routine seeking (a preference for boredom over surprise), emotional reaction to imposed change (stress aversion), a short-term focus (seeing change as a hassle of adjustment), and cognitive rigidity (a reluctance to rethink things). Scholars have argued that change-resistance is a behavioral pattern that can be epigenetic — that is, a trait that becomes heritable because, without altering a person’s actual DNA, it modifies the way their genes are expressed at a cellular level. Change-resistance, the argument goes, gets reinforced and passed on because it provides a way to conserve energy, rather than having to learn the same routines over and over. And people almost certainly evolved a resistance to change in the first place because it leads to stability in decision making, and that makes living in social groups easier. This helps explain why most people naturally resist change… And that also explains why, as natural as change-resistance is, it tends not to improve your happiness. Change in life is inevitable, after all — and always resisting it is onerous.” [TheAtlantic]
Word on the Street
The Conservative movement’s United Synagogue Youth received a nearly $250,000 grant from the Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation to support its new “community director initiative” in Vancouver, British Columbia. The funding will subsidize the program, which is part of USY’s recent organizational overhaul, through 2029…
A new study by the Combat Antisemitism Movement and the Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University found that there was a “relative decline” last year in the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism around the world…
Met Council has provided more than 3 million pounds of Passover foods — matzah, grape juice, eggs, potatoes and more — to upwards of 258,000 people in the New York metropolitan area ahead of next week’s holiday…
Meanwhile, Jews in Manitoba, Canada, will be hard-pressed to purchase the Passover staple of Manischewitz wine after the sweet sacrament was pulled from store shelves as part of the ongoing trade dispute between the United States and its neighbors to the north…
Dr. Miriam Adelson was bumped from Forbes’ list of the world’s top 50 wealthiest people; after ranking 32nd in 2024, she is now ranked 56th…
Irwin Jacobs donated $10 million to California’s San Diego Natural History Museum — one of its largest-ever gifts — which will establish the institution’s Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for Science and Conservation…
New York’s Baruch College is establishing the Antisemitism Studies Laboratory, which is meant to “ bolster research, advance pedagogy and promote community engagement aimed at countering antisemitism locally, nationally and globally; the Laterman Family Foundation has committed $50,000 annually for the next three years to underwrite the lab’s core activities…
The government notified the country’s top public education officials that schools with high numbers of minority students risk losing federal funding if they don’t eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programming…
The Abraham Accords Peace Institute, founded by Jared Kushner in May 2021, will be merged into the Heritage Foundation; outgoing CEO Aryeh Lightstone, who worked in the first Trump administration, is returning to the White House and will work with Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff…
Yad Vashem has opened a new display with lights, sounds and animations projected at the museum’s Valley of Communities, telling the stories of some 5,000 Jewish communities that existed for centuries before being devastated by the Holocaust; the exhibition was funded by the European Union…
A display on Jewish female graduates of the Naval Academy has been restored after the school said that it was taken down “mistakenly” ahead of a visit by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth…
Pic of the Day
Zionist Organization of America President Mort Klein speaks as more than 400 people attend the organization’s annual “superstar gala” on Sunday night at the Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach, Fla. At the event, the conservative Zionist group presented awards to Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon; attorney Alan Dershowitz; Rabbi Moshe Scheiner; Lauren Gross, director of the Gross Family Center for the Study of Antisemitism and the Holocaust; radio host Mark Levin; and philanthropist Gary Schottenstein.
Birthdays
Engineer, inventor (with over 1,000 patents) and businessman, best known for his invention of the Segway, Dean Kamen, celebrates his birthday on Saturday…
FRIDAY: Author of books about her childhood experiences as a Jewish girl in the Netherlands during the Holocaust, she is a longtime NYC resident, Johanna Reiss… Retired MLB player for the Orioles, Senators, Athletics, Rangers and Angels, Mike Epstein… Southern California resident, Gloria Margulies… French-German politician who is a Green Party leader in Europe, Daniel Marc Cohn-Bendit… Hungarian dramatist, novelist and essayist whose recent works are focused upon Jewish characters, György Spiró… Professor of history at American University in D.C., Allan Jay Lichtman… Poet and professor emeritus of English at the University of Pennsylvania, Charles Bernstein… Visiting fellow at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, he is also chief of staff to the former Australian prime minister, Bruce Wolpe… Petah Tikva-born, Emmy Award-winning film director, producer, freelance journalist and writer, Simcha Jacobovici… Retired partner from the M&A group at Skadden, David J. Friedman… Director of the Center for Energy, Climate and Environment at the Heritage Foundation, she has held many high-ranking government positions, Diana Furchtgott-Roth… Former commander of the Israeli Air Force, now a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Maj. Gen. (ret.) Amir Eshel… Founder and president of Stutzman Public Affairs in Sacramento, Robert Stutzman… Chairman of The Western Wall Heritage Foundation and rabbi of the Kotel since 1995, Shmuel Rabinovitch… Tel Aviv-born animator and freelance director in New York City, Tatia Rosenthal… Former member of the Knesset, he last served in 2019 as a member of the Hatnua party, Yoel Hasson… Journalist and author, he is a great-grandson of famed Talmudist Rabbi Yechezkel Abramsky, Sasha Abramsky… Israeli social activist promoting the rights of disabled people, Hanna Akiva… NYC-based artist and founder of the Midnight Society, an artist-run curatorial project, Abshalom Jac Lahav… Actress since she was 6 years old, she has appeared in many movies and television series, appearing as Natasha Lyonne, Natasha Bianca Lyonne Braunstein… Israeli journalist who serves as the senior analyst for The Times of Israel, Haviv Rettig Gur… Actress and YouTube personality, Lisa “Lisbug” Schwartz… One of Israel’s top men’s tennis players until he retired, he had broken into the top 30 of world rankings, David “Dudi” Sela… Fashion editor for Hearst Digital until 2023, now a freelance editor, Daisy Melamed Sanders… Supervising producer at CBS and young leader in the Los Angeles Jewish community, Leslie Schapira… Figure skater, he competed for Israel at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Ronald Zilberberg… Phyllis Wilner…
SATURDAY: Research scientist and former CEO of the Ontario Genomics Institute, he is a lecturer on Jewish medical ethics, Mark J. Poznansky… Marketing consultant, Eugene Kadish… Professor emeritus in the Department of Jewish Thought at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Daniel J. Lasker… CEO of Hess Corporation, a global energy company, John Barnett Hess… British novelist, author of over 50 books specializing in mystery and suspense, his “Alex Rider” series is estimated to have sold 21 million copies worldwide, Anthony Horowitz… Founder of merchant bank Alnitak Capital Partners and chairman of the board of Sodastream, Stanley B. Stern… Russia editor for BBC News, Steven Barnett Rosenberg… Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the first 29 months of the Biden administration, Rochelle P. Walensky… Israeli actress and model, Sendi Bar… Film and television writer and producer and co-founder of Quantity Entertainment, Lee Eisenberg… Assistant managing editor for CNN Politics, Dan Berman… Senior director for United Nations and international organizations policy at Microsoft, Howard Wachtel… Singer-songwriter, Marissa Nadler… VP at D.C.-based Porter Group, Benjamin J. Rosenbaum… Senior political correspondent for Jewish Insider, Lahav Harkov… Israeli political activist focused on disability benefits, Alex Fridman… Director of the Jewish Federation of San Diego’s Coalition Against Antisemitism, Adam Maslia… Policy marketing official at Google, Sarah Horvitz… British Labour party Member of Parliament, Charlotte Louise Nichols… D.C.-based musician and journalist, Jesse Rifkin… VP at Goldman Sachs, Wilson Shirley… Executive and brand consultant at Creative Artists Agency, she was previously director of public relations for the Western U.S. at the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, Camila Seta… Contributing editor at The Free Press, Adam Ross Rubenstein… Harvey Levin…
SUNDAY: Educator often considered the founder of the modern small schools movement, she was a winner of a MacArthur genius fellowship in 1987, Deborah Meier… Holocaust survivor, she moved to Israel in 1978, visual artist, textile designer and art teacher, Helen Berman… Professor emeritus of chemical and biomolecular engineering at NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering, Mark Mordecai Green… Head of MTV Documentary Films, she has won 32 individual Primetime Emmy Awards, Sheila Nevins… Academy Award-winning best director for “Rain Man” (1988), he produced and directed many films including “Diner” (1982), “Good Morning Vietnam” (1987), Bugsy (1991) and “Wag the Dog” (1997), Barry Levinson… Santa Monica-based poet, critic and teacher, she earned her Ph.D. studying Jewish American literature, Nancy Shiffrin… Founder and chairman of Cognex Corporation and a major donor to Technion, Robert J. Shillman… Founder and CEO of Emmis Communications, he was the owner of the Seattle Mariners until 1992, Jeff Smulyan… Political activist, artist and author, Mary Fisher… Former chair of the Federal Election Commission during the Obama administration, she is a lecturer at UC Berkeley Law School, Ann Ravel… Los Angeles-based playwright, performer and teacher of autobiographical storytelling, Stacie Chaiken… Principal of the Nellis Corporation and co-chair of the Washington metropolitan area real estate division of AIPAC, Randall J. Levitt… Movie director, producer, writer and editor, winner of two Academy Awards for best documentary feature, Rob Epstein… Scholar of piyyut (ancient and medieval Hebrew poetry), head of the Fleischer Institute for the Study of Hebrew Poetry, Shulamit Elizur… Philanthropist Jeanie Schottenstein… Professor of constitutional law at the University of North Carolina School of Law, Michael J. Gerhardt… Senior political analyst for CNN and a former senior editor at The Atlantic, Ronald J. Brownstein,… Director, screenwriter and producer of television comedies, Steven Levitan… Former teacher for 23 years at Congregation Tikvat Jacob in Manhattan Beach, Calif., Deborah Granow… Chair and CEO of the Motion Picture Association, he was previously the U.S. Ambassador to France, Charles Hammerman Rivkin… Reporter for The New York Times covering the USDOJ, Glenn Thrush… Screenwriter, producer, actor, director, best known for creating the HBO television series “Entourage,” Douglas Reed “Doug” Ellin… Serial entrepreneur, he has built, operated and sold over $3.3 billion of Internet media companies, Richard Rosenblatt… Israel’s consul general in New York from 2007 to 2010, now CEO of Israeli private equity fund Amelia Investments, Asaf Shariv… Founder and chief investment officer of Hong Kong-based Oasis Management Company, he serves on the board of the Ohel Leah Synagogue in Hong Kong, Seth Hillel Fischer… Chief development officer for Friends of the European Leadership Network, Jay Haberman … Actor and filmmaker, he is best known for his role in 175 episodes of the television series “Scrubs,” Zachary Israel “Zach” Braff… Teacher of classical mandolin at Bard College, Joseph Brent… Resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute since 2019, he is the founding editor of National Affairs, Yuval Levin… Co-founder and executive editor of “Modern Loss” and story editor for Chalkbeat, Gabrielle Birkner… Member of the Knesset for Likud since 2019, now serving as the Minister of Communications, Shlomo Karai… Owner-chef of Ramen Hood in Los Angeles, he was the winner of the second season of Bravo television’s “Top Chef,” Ilan Hall… Executive director of the Jack Miller Family Foundation, Jacob Millner… Head coach of the New York Institute of Technology Division II NCAA men’s basketball team, Evan Conti…
