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New award supports and elevates leaders advancing innovative, solidarity-based approaches to confronting antisemitism
NEW YORK, NY (October 21, 2026) — Nathan Cummings Foundation (NCF) and the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable today announced the inaugural recipients of The 36 Award, a new prize designed to elevate and support the pursuit of new ideas to address antisemitism and the people who are behind them. Together, we seek to celebrate and support those willing to cross traditional boundaries to develop innovative solutions. Chosen from more than 150 nominations, the inaugural recipients are:
Award Winner
Myrieme Nadri-Churchill, Executive Director of Parents for Peace, a helpline for families to prevent antisemitic and extremist violence in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Honorable Mentions
David Brody, civil rights attorney and the founder of the Alliance of Jewish Americans, a new national legal organization that fights antisemitism and white nationalism.
Patrisse Cullors, artist, organizer, and host of Bridging Histories, a dialogue series for Black-Jewish solidarity at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles
Wynn Howell & Hon. Ilana Spiegel (co-honorees), leaders of a social justice coalition following the antisemitic firebomb attack in Boulder, Colorado
Brendan Murphy, founding director of the Bearing Witness Institute for Interreligious and Ecumenical Dialogue at Marist School in Atlanta
As the winner of the award, Myrieme Nadri-Churchill will receive a $25,000 grant, and each of the honorable mentions will receive $8,000 to advance their work. Together, the recipients represent a range of identities and demographics within and beyond the Jewish community. They were selected because of their exceptional work addressing antisemitism by building relationships and coalitions that bridge divides.
Antisemitism is not new, but the challenges we face today require new approaches,” said Rey Ramsey, President & CEO of Nathan Cummings Foundation. “I deeply admire the leaders I met through this process, all of whom are advancing innovative solutions that confront hate while building the relationships, trust, and solidarity needed for communities to thrive together.
The 36 Award was established in 2026 to elevate new approaches that connect efforts to address antisemitism to broader efforts to advance racial and economic justice. The award recognizes antisemitism as a distinct form of oppression that is also interconnected with other forms of bigotry and hate.
“Confronting antisemitism is part of the larger project of building a multiracial, inclusive democracy where all of us, including Jewish Americans, can thrive,” says Abby Levine, CEO at the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable. “The 36 Award reflects that conviction and supports the practitioners who are dedicating their lives to developing effective solutions.”
“Many of the most promising approaches to confronting antisemitism remain underrecognized, underfunded, and largely unknown,” said Isaac Luria, Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives at Nathan Cummings Foundation. “The people achieving meaningful change understand that lasting safety cannot be built in isolation. The 36 Award shines a light on leaders advancing catalytic ideas and building solidarity across differences.”
About The Award Recipients
Winner:
Myrieme Nadri-Churchill is Executive Director of Parents for Peace, whose Antisemitism Intervention & Recovery (AIR) Program is the world’s first confidential helpline dedicated specifically to helping prevent antisemitic violence before it occurs. After growing up in Morocco and experiencing discrimination as a biracial child of Black Muslim and white Christian parents, Nadri-Churchill dedicated her career to preventing violent extremism and helping people abandon extremist ideology, repair relationships, and rebuild their lives. When her organization saw an intense rise in calls about antisemitism after October 7th, she launched a program to help families recognize anti-Jewish radicalization early, access expert guidance, and intervene effectively.
“Myrieme’s work embodies everything that led NCF to support a prize to recognize social innovators working on antisemitism and solidarity,” said Isaac Luria, Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives at Nathan Cummings Foundation. “Her unique solution is making a measurable impact to decrease the number of hate crimes while applying knowledge from the public health field – and it’s extraordinary, because it isn’t led from within the Jewish community, but allied with it.”
“Myrieme’s public health framing for the challenge of antisemitism inspires me as a field-builder and as a parent. Her model deserves to be replicated widely and woven into the incredible work happening across the social change and Jewish ecosystems,” said Abby Levine, CEO of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable.
“Jewish tradition teaches us that every person is created in the image of God—and calls on us to pursue justice, honor our shared humanity, and take responsibility for one another. At this moment, upholding those values means recognizing that the fight against antisemitism is inseparable from the work of building solidarity across racial, ethnic, and religious differences. None of our communities can thrive in isolation, and none should have to face hatred alone. The 36 Award celebrates leaders who put these values into action, reminding us that our collective strength lies in the relationships we build, the differences we honor, and our shared commitment to a world where every community can live with dignity, safety, and belonging,” says Sara Brenner, Executive Director of the Jewish Community Foundation of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.
Honorable Mentions:
Civil rights attorney David Brody heads the Alliance of Jewish Americans, a new national Jewish civil rights organization addressing antisemitism and white nationalism through legal investigations, litigation, and coalition-building. Through the Alliance, he aims to create a civic home for Jewish Americans while building solidarity with immigrant, LGBTQ+, and other communities. Previously, David litigated high-profile cases against neo-Nazis and the Proud Boys and represented Capitol Police officers attacked on January 6.
Artist, organizer, and abolitionist Patrisse Cullors is rebuilding Black-Jewish solidarity through Bridging Histories: Black-Jewish Dialogues for Peace and Unity. This initiative, which she developed in partnership with the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles after the October 7th attack on Israel by Hamas, is bringing Black, Jewish, and Black Jewish leaders together for a year of sustained dialogue, shared learning, cultural exchange, and healing. Drawing on her experience as one of the co-founders of the Black Lives Matter movement, she is creating space to confront antisemitism and anti-Black racism while building relationships that can withstand grief, disagreement, and political differences.
Wynn Howell & Hon. Ilana Spiegel (co-honorees) organized a united response to the deadly firebombing attack on June 1, 2025 in Boulder, Colorado, against Jewish demonstrators gathered in support of Israeli hostages in Gaza. When some politicians began to use the attack (perpetrated by an Egyptian national) as an excuse to threaten immigrant communities and asylum seekers, Howell and Spiegel galvanized social justice leaders, Jewish leaders, and immigrant rights leaders across faiths to denounce the assault and the ensuing rhetoric. In the months that followed, they built a coalition of solidarity to increase safety and justice for both immigrants and Jews.
Atlanta educator Brendan Murphy is addressing antisemitism through Holocaust education, interfaith dialogue, and relationship-building. He founded the Bearing Witness Institute at Marist School to challenge Christian communities to confront the history of Christian antisemitism while bringing Jewish, Christian, and Muslim students together to build friendships across religious differences. What began as a single high school Holocaust course has grown into a nationally active institute reaching thousands of students, educators, clergy, and community members through lectures, educational programs, and interfaith initiatives.
About The 36 Award
Named after the Jewish concept of 36 righteous individuals in each generation who quietly sustain the world — the 36 Award seeks to discover, amplify, and support compelling individuals doing courageous, coalition-based work to address antisemitism who may not yet have the recognition or resources they deserve.
The 36 Award was founded on the conviction that addressing contemporary antisemitism requires bold, intersectional thinking. It recognizes antisemitism as a distinct form of oppression that is also interconnected with other forms of bigotry and hate. The award elevates solutions that cross traditional boundaries, build solidarity and coalitions across communities, and use new platforms and messages to address antisemitism and hate more broadly.
Recipients were selected through a rigorous process, including readers such as Aaron Dorfman, Rabbi Jill Jacobs, Jonathan Jacoby, Rabbi David Saperstein, Eric Ward, and Maya Wiley, based on the criteria of innovation, courage, solidarity, and potential for impact. Additional funders for the award include the Henry Luce Foundation, The Irving Harris Foundation, The Jewish Community Foundation of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, and other philanthropic partners.
More information about the recipients and selection process is available at 36award.us. Photographs, biographies, and additional media materials are available upon request.
About Nathan Cummings Foundation
Nathan Cummings Foundation is a multigenerational family foundation, rooted in the Jewish tradition of social justice, that invests in systemic solutions that contribute to and advance racial, economic, and environmental justice. The Foundation prioritizes partnerships with organizations led by those most impacted by and most capable of dismantling systems of oppression, particularly communities of color. The Foundation seeks to further its mission by leveraging 100% of its assets, including capital, knowledge, people, relationships, and voice, in pursuit of impact. The Foundation recently launched an initiative to address antisemitism to spotlight solutions to a rising hatred.
About the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable
The Jewish Social Justice Roundtable is a network of 67 nonprofit organizations that strengthens and aligns the Jewish social justice field in order to make justice a core expression of Jewish life and help create an equitable world. The affiliated organizations represent 2,100+ staff in 33 states and DC and manage combined budgets of over $390 million.
