Madeline Canfield is a senior at the Emery/Weiner School in Houston, TX, where she leads the social activism and politics clubs. When escaping the ever-presence of school and studying, she volunteers for her synagogue’s religious school as a TA and for political candidates. She ardently organizes youth around climate justice (passivity is naive in a flood city where kids fear rain), primarily through a local hub of the Sunrise Movement, the Houston Youth Climate Change Coalition, and Zero Hour. She understands the prodigious value of the art of reading and writing—the fellowship will further develop her reverence for this art.

Ilana Drake is a junior at the High School for Math, Science & Engineering in New York City. When she's not in school, she can be found participating in a number of programs: she is a chorister in the Young People's Chorus of NYC, a mentee in Girls Write Now, and a Built by Girls advisee. Ilana was also appointed as a Young Leader of Manhattan and a fellow in YouthBridge-NY. During the summer of 2019, Ilana spent time in Germany through a homestay program, and was a Seed in Seeds of Peace. Additionally, Ilana was the teen secretary for The Greenhouse, and she is a long-standing member of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue.

Neima Fax is a senior at Shalhevet High School in Los Angeles. She is Chief Photo Editor of her school newspaper, an active participant in Drama, head of the Women's Luncheon (feminist club), and a member of the LA Yachad teen board. Her passions include feminism, Zionism, Judaism, photography, reading, writing, and makeup. Neima has attended Camp Stone for seven summers, where she has learned to connect with her Judaism. She is an active participant in her shul, where she reads from the Torah every few months. When she's not out with her friends, she is either taking photos, learning how to be a better feminist, writing poems, doing her makeup, re-watching The Office, or just listening to music.

Ari Fogel is a senior at Minnetonka High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota. She is a member of her youth group’s regional board, studies Hebrew at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and has done studio dance for 8 years. She is passionate about history, sociology, politics, and theology, and does her best to advocate for social justice in her everyday life. In her free time, she likes to spend time on Minnesota’s beautiful lakes and watch documentaries. She loves educating and engaging in meaningful discussion about topics she's passionate about, such as criminal justice reform and reproductive rights.

Belle Gage is a junior at Clayton High School in St. Louis, Missouri. She is dedicated to working with her school’s speech and debate team to develop the skills she uses when speaking out for social justice causes. Belle has participated in many leadership programs to grow herself as an activist, including Anytown and Cultural Leadership, a non-profit organization that teaches youth about the Black and Jewish experiences and creates a platform for conversations around social justice issues. She recently returned from a three week trip following the Civil Rights movement with Cultural Leadership. Belle also helps write and direct a children’s musical each summer, and enjoys playing tennis and tutoring in her free time.

Lila Goldstein is a senior at A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida where she studies creative writing, journalism, and speech. She is passionate about reading, writing, the arts, and Jewish studies, and enjoys volunteering at a local newspaper in her free time. In addition, Lila is an avid record collector and music fan, and she is always willing to discuss her time at URJ Camp Coleman in Cleveland, Georgia.

Eleanor Harris is a junior from Edmond, Oklahoma who is passionate about feminism, Judaism, diversity, LGBTQ+ issues, mental health, the environment, and more. She is involved in NFTY and is currently president of her temple youth group. As a Rising Voices Fellow, Eleanor hopes to bring an interesting perspective to the table, learn more about Judaism, feminism, and writing, and make new friends who share her interests.

Shoshanna Hemley is a junior at City High School, in Iowa City, IA. She enjoys theater, mock trial, social justice, and student government. She is also an editor on the school newspaper. She enjoys traveling and has lived on three different continents. Her friends know her as being very outspoken and passionate about social justice.

Isabel Hoffman is a senior at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland, where she is a member of the drumline, president of the social action club, and co-founder of the hiking club. An alumna of URJ Heller High School in Israel, Isabel has a passion for Israeli culture and Jewish life. In her free time, Isabel loves learning Hebrew and playing guitar. In the future, she hopes to travel the world, and to continue writing music with her friends.

Ellie Klibaner-Schiff is a junior at Maimonides School in Brookline, MA. She is Assistant Editor-in-Chief of her school's newspaper, a member of the mock trial team and the math team, and plays volleyball and tennis. Ellie was also a youth violence reporter for Since Parkland, a project of The Trace, where she worked alongside 200 other teen journalists to document the lives of kids killed in America by gun violence in the year following the Parkland shooting. In her free time, Ellie enjoys hanging out with her friends and has also recently learned to knit.

Hannah Landau is a junior at de Toledo High School in Los Angeles, where she is involved in theater, debate, and mathletes. She is the club president for her school’s literary magazine and for Girls Learn International. Hannah is a dancer, and she also tutors bar and bat mitzvah students. Hannah is a meme connoisseur and a spelling bee champion (favorite word: defenestration). She is a proud attendee of Camp Ramah in Ojai, an experienced shopper, and strives to improve herself and the world around her every day.

Ellanora Lerner is a senior at the Fishers Island School and the Vice President of Programming for her local chapter of BBYO in New London, Connecticut. She is involved with karate, basketball, and theater, and is a teacher's assistant at her local religious school and an alumna of the Religious Action Center's Teen Justice Fellowship. She writes in a number of genres and is currently a staff writer for Risen Zine. She aspires to center marginalized voices, read more books, and to someday be a high school teacher.

Mica Maltzman is a senior at Georgetown Day School in Washington, DC, where she is an editor for the school's newspaper, the head of the Jewish Student Coalition and a group called Student Voices, and a member of Model UN. Outside of school, she can be found at dance or a NFTY event as she serves as her region's Programming Vice President for the upcoming year. Beyond obsessively reading the news, she also likes to spend her free time thrifting or attempting to understand what her phone is saying in Spanish.

Lilah Peck is a junior at Charlotte Country Day School in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she serves as the copy editor of her school newspaper and president of the interfaith club, where she leads forums relating to Jewish identity and current events. She is an active member of NCSY and BBYO. She spends her summers at Camp Ramah Darom, and she is an alumna of Ramah’s Israel semester program, Tichon Ramah Yerushalayim. She loves musical theater, and when she is not in rehearsal she can be found at Zumba at the JCC, listening to Jack Johnson, or enjoying a cup of bubble tea.

Ella Plotkin-Oren is a senior at El Cerrito High School in California. Nothing makes her happier than working at Camp Kee Tov, where she was a long time camper. During the year, she works alongside survivors of genocide to research and disscuss patterns of genocide. She is a very active member of her local Jewish youth group, and interns with StandWithUs. Ella also loves her work as a teen volunteer at UC Berkeley’s public science center, and as a volunteer tutor for fourth graders. Whenever she can find free time, she loves exploring the Bay Area with her two little sisters.

Maddy Pollack is a senior at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin, Texas. Her favorite things include theater, ballet, and, of course, reading and writing. She has a dog named Roxi and she is passionate about gun control, climate change, and reproductive rights.

Sasha Azizi Rosenfeld is a sophomore at Columbia High School in Maplewood, NJ. She is the co-leader of her school’s current events club and a member of its Jewish Student Union. She is an active participant in an Israeli/Palestinian conflict, culture, and history class at NYC’s LGBTQIA+ synagogue. She also works at her Hebrew school, teaches Haitian refugees English, and co-leads a class for elementary school students about the effects of climate change. Sasha runs cross country and loves Camp Havaya, hanging out with her friends, the rain, fruit, and her dog, Opal.

Dahlia Soussan is a junior at Kehillah Jewish High School in the Bay Area, California. She is active in her school community as the president of the Israel Club, a leader of her school’s minyan, a member of Jewish Life Committee, and a volleyball player. She enjoys engaging and grappling with the complexities of the US/Israel relationship through Israel Club events and by facilitating conversations about Israel. Outside of school, you can find Dahlia writing fiction and prose, cooking, on long phone calls with friends, or passionately discussing political, religious, and cultural issues. Her summers are spent at Camp Ramah in California.

2020-2021 Rising Voices Fellows

2018-2019 Rising Voices Fellows

2017-2018 Rising Voices Fellows

2016-2017 Rising Voices Fellows

2015-2016 Rising Voices Fellows

2014-2015 Rising Voices Fellows

2013-2014 Rising Voices Fellows