LOS ANGELES, Feb. 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — March 2021 is an important month for NA’AMAT USA as it partners with NA’AMAT Canada for their first virtual Gala. Coinciding with International Women’s Day, the event will celebrate the latest recipients of NA’AMAT’s Professional Scholarship Program. The 180 scholarships will enable Israeli women to pursue undergraduate and post graduate degrees at universities in Israel. Past scholarships have funded research in various fields from immune therapy for Alzheimer’s Disease to helping marginalized women support their daughters’ professional trajectories. Previous and current scholarship recipients will take part in the gala.
Hagit Pe’er, President of NA’AMAT Israel explained this NA’AMAT platform, “This vital scholarship program began more than four decades ago thanks to the dedication of NA’AMAT’S original pioneer women, led by Golda Meir. These were visionary women who wanted to assist in advancing higher education among women in Israel.”
With the focus of the event on women’s education and empowerment in Israel, it was a natural fit to have Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer participate. Before she became the nation’s foremost and beloved sex therapist, Dr. Ruth, as a 10-year-old child in 1938 Nazi Germany, became “an orphan of the Holocaust.” She was rescued by Operation: Kindertransport and evacuated to an orphanage in Switzerland. At age 17, the future Dr. Ruth emigrated to Israel and served as a sniper in the Haganah. Her desire for further education led her to Paris and the U.S. where she obtained Masters and Ed.D degrees at a time when such education was not readily available to women. “The youth of today – like my granddaughters – cannot even imagine the barriers we faced,” Dr. Ruth point’s out. “Today, a woman can study whatever her heart desires and work at whatever her heart desires.”
In September 2020, Dr. Ruth received NA’AMAT’s Golda Meir Humanitarian Award, previously bestowed upon another famous Ruth, the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. With her passion for education, lifelong commitment to women’s empowerment and gender equality, and love of Israel, Dr. Ruth Westheimer speaks glowingly of NA’AMAT. “Bravo to the women of NA’AMAT, because a long time ago they already realized that getting together gives them strength, and that volunteering was very important for self-confidence and for socialization. I am delighted to be part of NA’AMAT!” NA’AMAT is delighted to partner with Dr. Ruth. In fact, it recently dedicated “The Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer Scholarship for Gender Studies.”
NA’AMAT is excited to present its first virtual Gala. “Doing an event virtually opens up many new opportunities for NA’AMAT USA,” said Jan Gurvitch, National President. “Not only does it allow us to present in a way we might not be able to do in person, it also opens up attendance to all our members in North America and worldwide.”
For more information about this event and NA’AMAT USA, visit us on the web at naamat.org.
Media Contact:
Deanna Migdal
818.431.2200
291683@email4pr.com
SOURCE NA’AMAT USA
