JA 18 Under 18 2024
REBECCA FISHKIN
Rebecca is a champion for education and tolerance. As a 12th grade student, she is president of City College’s Jewish Student Union and was unanimously elected president of Baltimore’s largest B’nai B’rith Youth Organization (BBYO) chapter. She’s also one of three female-identifying leaders in the entire 20,000-member BBYO organization to run a premier BBYO summer leadership camp. Thoughtful and curious, Rebecca has earned three BBYO international awards. Her faith and family history—she’s the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor and daughter of a public defender—inspire her role as an advocate for change. Wanting to expand her horizons and knowledge, Rebecca joined a school Civil Rights tour of the South, after which she convened City College’s Multi-Cultural Alliance and advocated for a Diversity and Equity student government committee. These activities underscore her belief that anything is possible through education and understanding.
“[Rebecca] will use her strengths of community-building as well as her strong resilience to make a positive change in her local and college community, and I will make a bet that she will continue making positive change on a worldwide level.” —Felicity Ross, teacher