3 NoVA Teens Each Awarded $36K For Dedication To Building A Better World

NORTHERN VIRGINIA — Three teens from Northern Virginia were each awarded $36,000 by the Helen Diller Family Foundation as part of its annual awards recognizing Jewish teen leaders across the United States.

Anabelle Lombard, 18, of Arlington and Benjamin Joel, 18, and Max Blacksten, 17, both of McLean, were among the 15 Jewish teen leaders who won the Helen Diller Family Foundation’s Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards.

Started in 2007, the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards were the vision of San Francisco Bay Area philanthropist Helen Diller who wanted to honor young leaders who exemplify the spirit of tikkun olam, a Jewish value meaning "to repair the world."

This year’s 15 awardees join 174 previous award winners. The foundation has awarded more than $7 million since 2007. The $36,000 in award funding can be used to further each recipient's philanthropic work or education.

“Young people are striving to solve critical challenges in their communities with creativity, hard work, resourcefulness, and a commitment to tikkun olam,” Phyllis Cook, philanthropic consultant for the Helen Diller Family Foundation said in a statement.

“We are recognizing them as role models for other teens by celebrating how young people can make an impact in communities across the country,” Cook said.

Here's a description of the work of the three teen award winners from Northern Virginia:

Anabelle Lombard, 18, Arlington

• Anabelle and four of her friends co-founded Generation Ratify as a 100 percent youth-led movement to educate and activate youth around constitutional gender equality in the United States. Generation Ratify harnesses the energy and commitment of youth of all genders to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and pass other legislation that promotes and protects gender equality. "For me, tikkun olam means fighting for what you believe in even when the world pushes back," Anabelle said.

Benjamin Joel, 18, McLean

• Benjamin and his brother Alex co-founded Intutorly to change the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on students and provide free online tutoring to elementary and middle school students. After creating Intutorly, Ben had a chance to tutor a 12-year-old Afghan girl whose school had been closed by the Taliban. Inspired by her enthusiasm for learning, Ben and Alex expanded Intutorly internationally.

Max Blacksten, 17, McLean

• Max joined the Youth Climate Action Team, a climate justice advocacy nonprofit focused on placing youth at the forefront of the climate movement. He quickly rose to the position of executive director. Under Max’s leadership, the organization’s reach has expanded to more than 500 members across 45 states and 30 countries, with chapters starting in Canada, Mexico, Singapore, Germany and India.

Applications and nominations for the 2024 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards will open in August after the annual awards celebration in San Francisco for this year’s award winners.