We salute the outstanding people working to enhance Jewish life in all facets of our community.
Through the many awards we grant each year, we recognize some of these exemplary people and the great value of their contributions.
See a complete list of past recipients or read more about previous winners on our blog.
Award Nominations
Our awards each year recognize some of the exemplary people enhancing all facets of Jewish life in our community and the great value of their contributions.
Robert Sinton Award for Distinguished Leadership
In honor of Robert Sinton, a businessman and community leader whose dedication to the Federation and other Bay Area organizations spanned more than five decades, this leadership award embodies his passion for Jewish communal volunteerism and includes a financial stipend to a Jewish agency or organization chosen by the recipient.
Judith Chapman Memorial Women’s Leadership Award
In memory of Judith Chapman, an esteemed volunteer leader, friend, and member of our Jewish community, this award honors a woman who exemplifies significant and sustained volunteer leadership, and who values her Jewish identity and the importance of tzedakah in her life.
Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award
Honoring the first president of the Jewish Community Federation, the annual Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award for Young Leadership, inaugurated in October of 1959, recognizes an outstanding young leader in the local Jewish community.
Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards
The Diller Teen Awards recognize young changemakers who have significant impact in leading initiatives that embody the values of tikkun olam, repairing the world. Every year, the Helen Diller Family Foundation awards up to 15 Jewish teens (ages 13-19) with $36,000 each for their leadership efforts. For more information, contact Diller Teen Awards.
Diller Education Awards
Helen Diller cared deeply about the future of the Jewish community and understood the key role that exceptional educators play in assuring the next generations are proud, knowledgeable, and connected. With this in mind, the Federation and the Helen Diller Family Foundation created an awards program that puts a spotlight on Jewish educators and elevates their important role in the community. Each year we honor outstanding educators with the Diller Education Awards and will open nominations for the Diller Prize for Distinguished Lifetime Achievement for the first time in 2020. Learn More
The Anne and Robert Cowan Writer’s Prize
Established at the Federation in 2004, this award recognizes writers who have made an exceptional impact in the Bay Area through their uniquely Jewish perspective. Awardees must be emerging published Jewish writers who live in the Bay Area, are considered exceptionally gifted by their peers and readers, write with a high degree of creativity and intelligence, and engage thoughtfully with Jewish themes in their work. The Cowan Writer’s Prize includes a grant of $5,000. Please see the blog post announcing the 2022 Prize winners.