2020 Tikkun Olam Recipients

2020 Tikkun Olam Recipients

The JCPA’s Tikkun Olam Award: Partner in Repairing the World is one of most prestigious awards of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. Bestowing this great honor provides the JCPA an opportunity to recognize individuals who demonstrate a deep commitment and extraordinary effort to improving the lives of people everywhere and who embody the Jewish principle of tikkun olam. By presenting this award, we are acknowledging its recipient’s commitment to the religious values of social justice, tolerance, and civility in the public square. Click here to view past award recipients.

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Honorable Nita M. Lowey, U.S. Representative

Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey is currently serving her sixteenth term in Congress, representing parts of Westchester and Rockland Counties. She was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1988 and served in the Democratic Leadership in 2001 and 2002 as the first woman and the first New Yorker to chair the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. She is also the first woman to chair the powerful House Appropriations Committee. A longtime champion of human rights and enhancing the role of women in development, Lowey has taken a key role in fighting for democracy, justice, and economic opportunity around the world. She has been praised by the Boston Globe as someone who “speaks of the world's victimized women and children as if they were voters in her district.” Lowey was born in the Bronx; graduated from the Bronx High School of Science; and received a Bachelor's Degree from Mount Holyoke College. She served as Assistant Secretary of State for the State of New York before being elected to Congress. Nita and Stephen Lowey have been married for more than 50 years and have three grown children and eight grandchildren.

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Harvey L. Reiter, Community Advocate

Harvey Reiter grew up in Detroit, Michigan, where his parents, Holocaust survivors from Poland, met. He is an active member of the Jewish Council for Public Affair's Policy Advisory Committee and a former JCPA Board member. He is a past president of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington. Among his community activities, he serves on the advisory board of Tzedek DC, a non-profit organization providing pro bono legal assistance on debt issues to low income residents. Harvey is a partner in the Stinson law firm's Washington, DC office. He conducts a wide range of pro bono work. He currently represents a group of plaintiffs, including the City of Gaithersburg, MD, the JCRC of Greater Washington, the JCPA and the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s “public charge” rule. Harvey is graduate of Michigan State University and Boston University School of Law. He is a past recipient of the Community Service Award for Project Citizenship from the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, this year's recipient of the Energy Bar Association's Paul Nordstrom Service Award and the first recipient of his law firm's Distinguished Service Award. Wendy and Harvey Reiter have two grown children and two grandchildren.

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