Jewish Federation of St. Louis has announced the recipients of several awards to be presented at the 2016 Annual Meeting on Thursday, Sept. 1 at Busch Stadium. 

Jean Cavender, Director of the Holocaust Museum and Learning Center, will receive the Fred A. Goldstein Award for Professional Leadership, which recognizes an outstanding professional among those who work in a St. Louis Jewish organization. The award honors individuals who excel in their field, have a significant track record over time, have introduced important innovations, and are perceived as role models by other professionals and volunteers.

 Cavender has broadened the reach of the museum’s message and earned the respect of community leaders over her 13 years as director. She has overseen major projects during her tenure, such as the “Change Begins with Me” exhibit that highlights recent hate crimes and keeps the lessons of the Holocaust relevant, the Art and Writing Contest, and the museum’s 20th Anniversary dinner in 2015 with over 650 guests. The museum welcomes more than 30,000 visitors to the Museum each year and continues to create a safe and meaningful environment for continued education around not only the Holocaust but bias and hate. As the museum lost many of the Holocaust survivors who served as speakers, Cavender has championed the recruitment of second generation and child survivors to bring individual experiences to life. Under Cavender’s leadership, the museum’s work has been recognized in 2015 by Focus St. Louis with the What’s Right with the Region Award and a 2016 Transformational Leadership Award from Cultural Leadership. Cavender is also a past president of JProStl, is on the Board of the Diversity Awareness Partnership and represents the Museum as a member of the Association of Holocaust Organizations.

 Angela Flotken and Burt Garland will be presented with the David N. and Roselin Grosberg Young Leadership Award, which recognizes young adult volunteer leaders who demonstrate active leadership in the Jewish community. 

 After becoming active with Jewish Federation’s Young Professionals Division, Flotken went on to volunteer with a variety of committees at Jewish Federation, and has served on the board of Women’s Philanthropy (WP) since 2011. More recently, Flotken was named a vice chair in the area of engagement and is currently overseeing an upcoming WP community event, leading a committee of more than 80 women. She co-chaired the first L’Chaim event, which drew more than 650 attendees. Flotken also serves on the board of directors of the Women’s Auxiliary Foundation for Jewish Aged. Outside of the Jewish community, she is also involved with the Clayton school district, where her children attend school as well as a number of non-profit organizations in the community.   

 Garland is on the Jewish Federation board, serving as chair of the Planning and Allocations Subcommittee —Enhancing St. Louis’ Attachment to Israel. In this role, Garland leads a committee to strategically allocate more than $500,000 towards programs and services in the community that build a stronger relationship with the State of Israel. Garland is also a Fellow in the Wexner Heritage program, a prestigious two-year program designed to develop and strengthen the skills of current and future Jewish community leaders. Garland’s experience on The Rubin Israel Experience in 2010 led to an continuing commitment to Israel and the Jewish community. Garland is an alumnus of Millstone Fellows, was involved with the JCC Maccabi Games as a volunteer, was a board member of Temple Israel and Jewish Family & Children’s Service and has been active with AIPAC. Professionally, Garland is a shareholder in the St. Louis office of Ogletree Deakins, where he represents companies dealing with labor and employment issues, and continues to provide pro bono legal services to various Jewish organizations in St. Louis.

To register for Jewish Federation’s Annual Meeting, visit BuildJewishSTL.org/Heroes.