BOLD Rising Star Award
Nominations for the 2026 BOLD Rising Star Awards are now open.
Brandeisians of the last decade, known as BOLD alumni, are already leaving their mark on the world.
They are award-winning writers and poets. They are scientists fighting climate change, and mathematicians working to make their field more inclusive. They are business leaders, bringing their innovative ideas to market. And they are activists, standing up for the underdog.
Yet so early in their careers, BOLD alumni are only just getting started. That makes them Rising Stars. And we want to celebrate them. The BOLD Rising Star Award is a recognition of alumni who have graduated within the past 10 years and are already making significant contributions to their chosen fields.
Know any BOLD Rising Stars? Are you one? Nominate yourself or a friend today.
About the Award
Winning perks
Selected honorees can expect to be profiled on the Brandeis alumni website, social media, and communications channels, seeing their personal stories and professional accomplishments promoted to a community of more than 60,000 people. Additionally, awardees will be given opportunities to further engage with current students and the Brandeis community, based on their interests and availability.
How it works
A selection committee made up of members of the Alumni Association will review all nominations submitted by the Brandeis community and select awardees based on a variety of factors, including industry excellence, thought leadership, innovation, and social impact. The selection committee is committed to identifying and selecting recipients who reflect the richness and diversity of the BOLD alumni community.
Past Recipients
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- Natan Odenheimer ’15 is a freelance journalist with The New York Times' Jerusalem bureau and a member of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.
- Eric Moyal ’17, MA’18, MS’22 founded the nonprofit Project Insulin. His goal is to create a generic insulin to be sold at cost to patients, regardless of their insurance status.
- Anna Massefski ’17 is the coordinator of Maine’s EMS Explorer Program, spearheading the statewide effort to inspire people to pursue emergency medical services (EMS) as a career path.
- Emily Eng ’14 co-founded Lift Music Fund to help cover the costs of instruments and education for lower-income students.
- Jackson Holbert ’17 is a poet whose first collection examined the opioid crisis in eastern Washington, his original home. Entitled “Winter Stranger,” the book won the 2022 Max Ritvo Prize.
- Iyvon E. ’13 is a New York City-based theater producer, dramaturg, and artistic programmer. She is the founder of The Parsnip Ship, a play development company originally focused on audio storytelling, but now expanding to other forms of storytelling and play development.
- Jonathan Goldman ’19 is the executive director of the Student Clinic for Immigrant Justice and works to train college students to provide pro bono legal support to asylum seekers and organize for immigrant justice
- Rima Tahini ’16 is the director of Artist and Repertoire at Nigeria’s Mavin Records, overseeing the label’s roster of artists, developing their brands, sound, visual identity, social media presence, and performance opportunities.
- Sam Hyun, Heller MBA’22, MPP’22, serves as the director of federal relations under Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. In the role, he acts as a liaison between Wu’s cabinet and the federal government, representing and advocating for the city’s needs and priorities to White House partners and congressional leaders.
- Aneil Tripathy ’12, GSAS MA’14, PhD’21 is an economic anthropologist focused on climate finance at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Climate and Sustainability Consortium (MCSC). He is focused on helping companies address climate change and come up with climate solutions.
- Ayan Sanyal ’14 is the co-founder of Kolkata Chai Co., a cafe in the East Village of New York City specializing in chai made in authentic Indian traditions.
- Sarah Ackerman ’17 founded Girl Behind the Hive, a website for people with severe food allergies that offers advocacy resources, recipes, and stories from her own life.
Learn more about the 2023 awardees.
- Jiahuan “Green” Xia ’15 is the co-founder of Shine Marketplace, the first U.S.-based Chinese streetwear store with a goal of spotlighting Chinese streetwear designers and styles.
- Jessica Sanon, Heller MBA’18 is the founder of sySTEMic flow, which seeks to bridge the gap between STEM education and math proficiency for BIPOC girls (Black, Indigenous, people of color) through academic preparation, mentorship opportunities with professional women in the field and exposure to STEM careers via experiential learning.
- Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and composer Yoni Battat ’13 explores his Arab-Jewish identity through music. He was the recipient of a new fellowship from Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston and the Jewish Arts Collaborative, which enabled him to write and produce his album, “Fragments.”
- Brianna Majsiak ’16 co-founded the Breasties to build a community for survivors, “previvors,” “thrivers” and caregivers affected by breast and gynecological cancers.
- Delande Justinvil ’13 stands up for the forgotten. As a PhD candidate at American University, he undertook in the excavation of what was likely an unmarked African American burial ground in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
- Sam Terris ’15 is the co-founder of Simulate, a biotechnology startup that creates plant-based foods, including a chicken-nugget alternative known as NUGGS.
- Katherine Kolios ’12 is the executive director of the nonprofit Rain for the Sahel and Sahara. She forges partnerships with rural and nomadic people in Niger to build community access to sustainable food and water systems, education and other opportunities.
- Marissa Ditkowsky ’16 is a fierce advocate for people with disabilities. As an attorney with muscular dystrophy, she fights to make the world more accessible and inclusive.
- Asaf Meir ’14 and Chen Arad ’15, Heller MA/MBA’17 are the co-founders of Solidus Labs. Their crypto-native risk monitoring and market integrity company bridges the gaps between cryptocurrency and the traditional financial world by offering crypto investors financial safeguards and protection against market manipulation, fraud and abuse.
Learn more about the 2022 awardees.
- Elizabeth Cayouette ’19 is an author and influencer who was honored for her work as lead videographer and editor for Aerie by American Eagle, which promoted female empowerment and positive body image.
- Sophia Warren ’19 was recognized for securing a seat in the Maine House of Representatives, besting the incumbent by just 230 votes.
- Galen Karlan-Mason ’16, IBS MBA’18 launched the GreenChoice app to let grocery shoppers make informed choices related to items’ nutrition stats and sustainability.
- Ruben Kanya ’14, founder of Invested Talent and the Real Estate Experiment, is a licensed Realtor, an investor, a brand consultant and a TEDx speaker.
- Claudiane Philippe ’13, MA’14, is the cause-conscious cocktail blogger behind the Instagram account @NailTheCocktail and was named 2020’s Best Virtual Bartender by Boston magazine.
- Elizabeth Bruenig ’13 is a journalist who writes about gender, family, class and faith, and weighs in on political and moral issues from her perspective as a socialist and Catholic. Bruenig was named to the Forbes 2020 30 Under 30 list and was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Feature Writing.
- Rena Singer ’13, a rabbi at Temple Sholom in Chicago, is one of the two millennial rabbis behind @Modern_Ritual, an Instagram account with the tag line “Bringing you fresh, beautiful, feminist Jewish living.”
- Jesse Appell ’12 is a standup comedian based in Beijing whose shows raised money to send medical supplies to COVID-affected areas in China.
Learn more about the 2021 awardees.
