Every other year, The Jewish Federations of North America asks each community to nominate a woman for the Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award. This award recognizes women who exemplify the spirit of the Lion of Judah by proven commitment to the Jewish community through leadership and philanthropic giving. This year, Women’s Philanthropy of Jewish Federation of St. Louis is proud to announce Galia Movitz as the 2016 recipient of the Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award.
Galia, who is a native Israeli, has been a Lion of Judah for more than 20 years and has given to Jewish Federation of St. Louis’ Annual Campaign since 1980. In 1997, she established a legacy gift that will endow her Annual Campaign Lion of Judah contribution. Most recently, as a Co-Chair, she was a driving force for Women’s Philanthropy’s highly successful 2015 “L’Chaim Soul to Sole” event, a first-time community event and fundraiser with 650 women in attendance.
She and her husband Milton were also honored this year at the Jewish Student Union of St. Louis Gala, where they dedicated the Galia and Milton Movitz Senator John Danforth Israel Scholars program for teens. In 2013, they were also honored at the Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School Gala with the Meyer and Marcelle Kranzberg Visionary Award.
Galia is an active life member of Jewish Federation of St. Louis’ Women’s Philanthropy Board. She has served in many positions including President of the Women’s Division, Campaign Chair of the Women’s Division, on the Executive Committee of Jewish Federation of St. Louis’ Board of Directors, Chair of Partnership 2000, was on the CAJE Board and was a recipient of the Grosberg Young Leadership Award. Galia also sits on the Board of Congregation B’nai Amoona, Nishmah: The St. Louis Women’s Project and is a life member of the Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School Board. In 2012, Galia was instrumental in merging the reform and conservative day schools in St. Louis into one community day school which was the first of its kind nationwide.
Galia is an educator in addition to being a community volunteer. She is married to Milton Movitz and has a daughter, Talia and son, Daniel.
The Lion of Judah is a symbol of today’s Jewish woman’s strength, a symbol of her caring about the organized Jewish world and a symbol of her financial commitment of at least $5,000 to the community’s Annual Campaign. Since 1972, the Lion of Judah program has brought together women of all ages and from many walks of life to play an essential role in creating social justice, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, preserving human dignity and building Jewish identity.
All Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award recipients will be honored during the International Lion of Judah Conference in Washington, D.C. in September of 2016.
Past St. Louis winners of the Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award include Nancy Siwak (2004), Sheila Greenbaum (2006), Terry Bloomberg (2008), Leslie Litwack (2010), Jane Roodman Weiss (20012), and Sherri Frank Weintrop (2014).