Thursday, June 5, 2025 | 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Karen Mayers Gamoran Family Center – Hillel UW
4745 17th Ave NE, Seattle
Community members, Jconnectors, students, and stakeholders are invited to join us as we close out this year, thank our outgoing board members, install our new board members, and honor our Pruzan and Nachshon award recipients!
We will also bid final staff farewells to:
Amee Huppin Sherer, Executive Director (10 years)
Lucas Sachs, Springboard Fellow (2 years)
Reception
Hors d’oeuvres, Sweet Treats & Drinks
6:30 – 7:00 pm
Annual Meeting
7:00 – 8:00 pm
Congratulations to our well-deserved 2025 award winners!
2025 Pruzan Fellow
Arvin Hakakian
2025 Nachshon Awardees
Undergraduate: Leon Feigelson and Solomon Lubell
Jconnect: Perry Blankinship and Natalie Delman
The Pruzan Fellow
The 2012 HillelFEST Fundraising event honored Herb and Lucy Pruzan for their five decades of leadership and dedication to Hillel at the University of Washington. As part of this celebration, Lucy’s brother, Gordon Sondland, and his wife, Katy Durant, gave an endowment gift that created the Pruzan Fellow in honor of Herb and Lucy.
Each spring at Hillel’s Annual Meeting, a Pruzan Fellow is designated from among the emerging undergraduate leaders at Hillel UW. The intent is for the Pruzan Fellow to become a key leader, role model, and driving force behind the undergraduate student programming at Hillel UW.
The Nachshon Award
Each year, Hillel UW awards deserving students and Jconnectors the “Nachshon Award.” This award is named after the Biblical character Nachshon ben Amminadav. The Midrash (story) relates that during the Exodus, when the Israelites reached the Red Sea, it did not automatically part. The Israelites stood at the banks of the sea and cried with despair, but Nachshon entered the waters. He walked in head-deep until the sea parted. Nachshon is remembered as someone who took initiative, was an innovator, and led the people in important times. He was a person who was willing to fill a void, stepping up when nobody else was ready to do so. Hillel UW is pleased to award the Nachshon Awards to those who stepped up and initiated, filled a void, and truly showed passion and courage in leading our community this past year.
