NCJW Colorado Section Scholarship
About the Scholarship
The National Council of Jewish Women, Colorado Section Scholarship is granted by the section itself to women who have demonstrated the values of NCJW. Recipients of this scholarship demonstrate a connection to Jewish values and a desire to volunteer and advocate in their community for issues that improve the quality of life for women, children and families and safeguard individual rights and freedoms.
2022 Scholarship Recipients – Adrien Kaplan and Liv Kuijper
Adrien Kaplan
My name is Adrien Kaplan (they/them), I’m from Boulder, CO, and I am a current student at Cornell College, double majoring in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies and Religion with a focus in Judaic Studies. I’m the current co-president of my campus Hillel, and I’m pretty easy to find running around encouraging others to come to Shabbos dinners with us (you’ll get to bake your own challah!). I’ve also spent this past summer working in research and writing a piece about LGBTQ+, disabled, Jewish individuals and the place we occupy in the world. You can usually spot me engaging in protests, hanging out with my fraternity brothers, hunched over a Yiddish textbook (Duolingo only gets you so far), playing D&D, going way too in depth on the lore of the Cars movies, or blasting the Beastie Boys out my car window.
Liv Kuijper
My name is Liv Kuijper and I was born in New York City. When I was nine years old, we moved to Denver where I attended The Denver Waldorf School from 4th grade until graduation this year. Being one of very few Jewish kids at the school was a very different experience from what I was used to in New York City and I was concerned that I would not have opportunities to express my Jewish identity. Luckily, I was able to find a bustling Jewish community at Temple Emanual Denver where I went to Hebrew School, celebrated the holidays, and went to Shwayder Camp every summer. I was also very fortunate to be able to go on the Israel Study in the summer of 2021 which was an experience I will treasure for the rest of my life. In September 2022 I will be a freshman at The University of Denver, where I plan to join the Hillel House and continue to take part in Denver’s warm and welcoming Jewish community.
2021 Scholarship Recipient – Noga Margalit
My name is Noga Margalit and I am honored to have received the NCJW Colorado Section Scholarship this year. I was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado while living in Israel throughout my summers. Both my parents are Israeli Immigrants so I have always been involved in the Israeli community in Boulder and my heritage back in Israel. I recently graduated from Fairview High School, I am going to continue my education at the University of Colorado Boulder. I will be at the school of Engineering and Applied Science majoring in Creative Technology and Design along with learning languages. After college I hope to pursue a career internationally in design.
2020 Scholarship Recipient – Naomi Kirshner
I was born and raised in Durham, North Carolina, and after living many places in and out of the United States I settled in the Denver, Colorado, area in 1998. I have a BA in history from Brandeis University and a Master of Public Policy degree from the University of Michigan. I worked as a program director at a Denver area synagogue for 17 years. In the fall I will begin a Master of Social Work degree at Metropolitan State University in Denver, with the intention of becoming a licensed clinical social worker focusing on working with older adults. I will also begin a field placement for the 2020/2021 academic year at Jewish Family Services in the Jay and Rose Phillips Aging Care and Connections program. I love hiking and flowers (weeding not so much, but it needs to be done) and I volunteer with Agape Hospice and Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver.