Matan Honors “Three Beacons of Light”

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Matan, an organization that educates Jewish leaders, educators and communities, empowering them to create learning environments supportive of children with special needs, through training Institutes and consultations across North America, invites the public to this year’s Matan Annual Event. The event theme is Be the Light and three honorees will be recognized as beacons of light for their leadership and vision in Jewish disability inclusion.   

The event takes places on Thursday, June 8, 2017 (6:15 PM Drinks and Plentiful Hors D’oeuvres, 7:00-8:00 PM Program) at Park Avenue Synagogue, 50 East 87th Street, New York, NY. Honorees include Anita Altman, Alexis Kashar and Valerie Weisler.

Alexis Kashar, Torchbearer Award recipient, practiced civil rights and special education law for the first part of her career, and litigated several groundbreaking lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Alexis is now a tech entrepreneur, and serves on the boards of the New York School for the Deaf and the Jewish Deaf Resource Center.

Anita Altman, Trailblazer Award recipient, spent almost 3 decades at UJA-Federation of New York, where she played a transformational role in putting disabilities on the agenda of the New York Jewish community. She also co-founded the ReelAbilities-New York Film Festival, which has since grown into a national program with 17 participating cities across North America.

Valerie Weisler, an incoming college sophomore and recipient of the Illuminator Award, founded The Validation Project when she was just 15 years old as a way to help teens gain confidence and develop the skills they need to address a variety of different issues in the world. The Validation Project into a global organization that works with more than 6,000 teenagers is 105 countries.

To register or for more information, click here.

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