HANNAH G. SOLOMON AWARD: CAREN EDELSTEIN

The Hannah G. Solomon Award is presented to a woman who has a strong NCJW identity and has changed the lives of others through her leadership efforts and service, who has helped change and expand the role of women in vital areas of community life and who has motivated others to work for change.

NCJW Dallas Past President and Texas SPA Caren Edelstein, EdD, has been an educator and advocate for all her adult life.  Caren’s resume of accomplishments fills three, single-space pages and continues to grow.  Her educational focus from the beginning of her career was on students with special needs and almost from the beginning, she was a passionate grant writer and recipient, working to further improve the lives of those she taught. This practice expanded even more as she rose from teacher to principal, administrator, and educational consultant.  An Educational Consultant since 2006, she has worked with Education Service Center, Region X, SMU, the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisor Association and Honoring the Genius in Every Child.

An NCJW Dallas member since 1985, she has continuously been an active volunteer, most recently as a West Dallas Initiative tutor and as State Policy Advocate for all NCJW issues locally, in Texas and nationally.  In that capacity in the last two years alone, she has not only coordinated all national efforts locally, but also:

• Coordinated, strategized and led the team advocating in Austin on three statewide issues: Women’s Health, Voting Justice and Redistricting, and Criminal Justice;
• Formed a statewide network of coalitions and partners for each focus issue and educated both membership and community partners;
• Testified before the legislature about redistricting plans and cosigned as a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Texas redistricting plan.