The Mazals
JFREJ's Annual Awards Ceremony, Celebration, and Fundraiser
![](https://jfrej-web-assets.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/2023/_400xAUTO_crop_center-center_none/Mazals_2023_919.jpg)
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