11/22/2024
WATCH: Dassi Shtern Receives 2024 Irene Zehman Volunteer Award
The Jewish Federation of Cleveland announced today that Dassi Shtern is the 2024 recipient of the Irene Zehman Volunteer Award. Each year, the Federation recognizes a Jewish woman or group of women who demonstrate the highest ideals and practices of volunteer service on behalf of the Jewish and/or general community. Shtern is the current and founding board chair of Chaviva High School, a high school for Orthodox Jewish girls. She was honored at the Federation’s Women IN Philanthropy MaIN Event on November 21.
Chaviva High School was founded by Dassi with her husband and six other couples who were dedicated to empowering young women through innovative and individualized learning, combining foundational Torah values with a fresh perspective to education. Dassi has also volunteered with Bikur Cholim for over 20 years. She is a member of Agudath Israel of Ohio’s Government Relations Committee and a board member for the local Yachad chapter of the Orthodox Union – an international organization dedicated to enhancing the life opportunities of Jewish individuals with developmental disabilities. In her professional life, Dassi is the director of special education and SEGULA for the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland, providing educational opportunities to families who seek a Jewish day school education for students with special needs.
“Girls are remarkable, and they can do remarkable things,” Shtern said. “We help our students at Chaviva High School realize this. I am so humbled to be chosen for this award. The Zehman family has spent many years acknowledging women who have done extraordinary things in this community, and I am proud to be part of the distinguished list of recipients who have made change in such impactful ways.”
The Irene Zehman Volunteer Award was established in 1980 by Roslyn Z. Wolf and Judith Z. Sherman, both of blessed memory, in memory of their mother, Irene Zehman, who devoted much of her life to giving back to the community through volunteering. Recent recipients of the award include Judy Immerman Payne, founding executive director of Goods Bank NEO, Heather Schlang, chair of Share What You Wear, and Shoshana Dessler Jacobs, co-founder and executive director of Israel Medical Fund.
“Through her work with Chaviva and other organizations, Dassi has shown the powerful role women play in transforming communities and inspiring the next generation of female leaders,” said Ilana Isakov Katz, Women IN Philanthropy chair. “By actively investing in them, she inspires them to realize their voices, ideas, and actions matter profoundly in shaping the future.”
In addition to the presentation of the Irene Zehman Volunteer Award, the Women IN Philanthropy MaIN Event featured special guest Adeena Sussman, The New York Times best-selling cookbook author, writer, and chef whose work explores the intersection of Jewish, Israeli, and culinary cultures.
For more information about Jewish Federation of Cleveland and Women IN Philanthropy, please visit www.jewishcleveland.org.
