Every year, The Mazals is an opportunity to join together in lifting up the incredible vision, courage, and dedication of the people in our community and wider movement who’ve demonstrated — whether quietly behind the scenes, or loudly and proudly on the frontlines — creative leadership in moving a transformative agenda. The Mazals is also a time and place for us to bask in the glow of our collective accomplishments and to ground ourselves in our love, respect, and admiration for one another.

Below is a complete list of all previous honorees 1995 - 2021:

1995

Henry Schwarzschild (z”l)

1996

Sam Wallach (z”l) and the Teacher’s Union

The Chinese Staff & Workers’ Association

1997

Allen Ginsberg (z”l)

Judith Malina (z”l)

Emcee: Jenny Romaine

1998

Martin S. Needleman

Southside Fair Housing Committee

Emcee: Marilyn Kleinberg Neimark

1999

Dr. Roscoe C. Brown, Jr. (z”l)

Dr. Sandi Cooper

Mrs. Edith B. Everett

Welfare Rights Initiative

Emcee: Marjorie Fine

2000

Marilyn Kleinberg Neimark

Donna Nevel

Emcee: Marlene Provizer

2002

Dr. Alan Berkman (z”l)

The Innocence Project

Robert Meeropol

Susan Rosenberg

Laura Whitehorn

Youth Force

Emcee: Ossie Davis (z”l)

2003

Domestic Workers United

DRUM: Desis Rising Up and Moving

Adam Shapiro and the Shapiro Family

Henry Foner (z”l)

Annette Rubenstein (z”l)

Emcees: Jesse Ehrensaft-Hawley and Ellen Gurzinsky

2004

Tami Gold

Juan González

Amy Goodman

Naomi Klein

Richie Pérez (z”l)

Art Spiegelman

Emcee: Reno

2005

Audre Lorde Project

Jessie Cagan (z”l) & Leslie Cagan

Rev. James Alexander Forbes

Seymour Melman (z”l)

Michael Ratner (z”l)

Emcee: Kate Clinton

2006

Tony Kushner

Grace Paley (z”l)

The Members of Transport Workers Union Local 100

2007

New York AIDS Housing Network

Frances Goldin

Adrienne Rich (z”l)

Debbie Almontaser

Emcee: John Guare

2008

Ann Cook

Families for Freedom

Deborah Meier

Mikey Weinstein

Emcees: Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez

2009

Picture the Homeless

David Rothenberg

Himmelstein, McConnell, Gribben, Donoghue & Joseph

Emcee: Jennifer Miller

2010

Si Kahn

Adrienne Cooper (z”l)

Stephen Said

Emcee: Marjorie Fine

2011

Jose Antonio Vargas

United We Dream

Freedom Riders Reverend C.T. Vivian and Joan Pleune

Emcee: Ariel Federow

2012

Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz (z”l)

ACT UP

Eric Ward

Emcee: Deb Margolin

2013

Rinku Sen

Alan Levine

Communities United for Police Reform

Emcee: Jenny Romaine

2014

Debby King

Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum

Andrea Ritchie and Streetwise & Safe

Emcee: Urvashi Vaid

2015 - 25th Anniversary

Cynthia Greenberg

Jenny Romaine

Black Lives Matter Founders Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi, and Patrisse Cullors

Emcees: Linda Sarsour and Eric Ward

2016

CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities

Deepa Iyer

Yavilah McCoy

Emcee: Kate Bornstein

2017

Rabbi Ellen Lippmann

Linda Sarsour

We Dream in Black

Emcee: Yehudah Webster

2018

Marisa Franco & Mijente

Justice Committee

Ruby Sales

Laura Wernick

Emcee: Barbara Smith

2019

Mariame Kaba

Tiffany Cabán

Make the Road NY

2009 JFREJ Board of Directors

Emcee: Audrey Sasson (Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in absentia)

2020

Anthonine Pierre and Brooklyn Movement Center

Jews For Jamaal

Let My People Go

Nurses of NYSNA

Emcee: Morgan Bassichis

2021

Joo-Hyun Kang

Shoshana Brown

The Fund Excluded Workers Hunger Strikers

Upper West Side Open Hearts, Shams DaBaron (Da Homeless Hero) and the Men of the Lucerne

Emcee: Jaslin Kaur

2022

[Gap Year - The Mazals will resume in the spring/summer of 2023!]

2023

VOCAL-NY Homelessness Union

Rachel McCullough

Imara Jones

Emcee: Megan Madison