Past Winners

Baruch College students Orr Izkovich and Amit Gutin won the 2016 competition with their proposal for a Humans of New York-style photo exhibition telling the stories of Israeli citizens from all walks of life. Their exhibit, Faces of Israel, was launched in spring 2016 on their New York campus and has since been displayed at various events and venues both locally and abroad.

Yale student Lea Weiner won the 2017 competition in New York for her proposal for a two-day workshop and mock negotiation on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process with David Makovsky (Director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process) and Ghaith al-Omari (Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute). As part of her plan, Jewish and Israeli students will be trained by al-Omari in how to represent the Palestinian side and Arab students will be trained by Makovsky in how to represent the Israeli side.

Binghamton University students Gabriel Gang, Hannah Werner, Solomon Barer, Talia Chasen, and Joshua Marcus won the 2018 competition in New York in their pitch to host a "Water Gala" at their university. The purpose of the event was to bring many different types of organizations together in hosting an event that saw to highlight Israeli water technology. The event introduced important speakers in for a panel and for a presentation, brought in food, water-related activities and technology for students. The event gathered over 300 people in attendance.

Baruch College students Yerain Abreu and Shoval Tshuva won the 2019 competition in New York with their idea to create the BRAVE initiative, a cohort joining American and Israeli military veterans. Veterans, no matter where they're from, have gone through similar experiences and BRAVE has created a forum to talk, network, and become friends. Since its inceptions, BRAVE has held tabling events, dinners, Shabbatons, and more.

University of Massachusetts Amherst student Stephanie Margolis won the 2020 global competition with her idea to create "The Israel Connection." The project sets to highlights the fact that discourse about Israel should not be a black-and-white issue, by encouraging students to submit thought-provoking images of a place or experience that they had in Israel. That image, along with a curated paragraph explaining its context and importance, will then be added to a six-foot black and white felt cube that shows the range of experiences and opportunities in Israel held dear to other students. Once filled, the cube will be transformed from its black and white juxtaposition to a gallery of Israel, in living color.

Adam Shapiro, Cornell class of 2020, came in second place in the New York competition in 2018. His idea, the Start-Up Nation Mentorship, pairs Israeli executives with student leaders on campuses around the world. Since it's inception, the project has become a program of the World Jewish Congress.

You can learn more about the program here.