LOUISVILLE, Kentucky – An international award named for the late Muhammad Ali is to be granted to Israeli Navonel Glick for his work as chief operating officer of IsraAID, after his nomination by the Milwaukee Jewish Federation.
The annual Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award is given to six young humanitarians from around the world, age 30 or younger. Glick, 29, is responsible for day-to-day leadership of IsraAID, an Israeli-based humanitarian aid agency that responds to emergency crises and engages in international development.
“They’re helping all over the world,” said Hannah Rosenthal, the Federation president and CEO who made the nomination. She calls IsraAID “the best of the best.”
The annual award is granted by the Muhammad Ali Center, which was co-founded by Muhammad Ali and his wife Lonnie in their hometown of Louisville. This year’s award ceremony, to be held on Sept. 18, 2016 in Louisville, will serve as a tribute to Muhammad Ali. The noted boxer and activist died on June 3, 2016 and attended each of the previous year’s award ceremonies.
Each of the six award recipients in any given year are chosen for work aligned with Ali’s core principles, according to the Center. The principles are confidence, conviction, dedication, giving, respect and spirituality, with Glick to receive this year’s spirituality award.
Prior to his current role, Glick served as IsraAID’s programs director, leading disaster-response missions across the world, including the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan, Sierra Leone after the Ebola outbreak and Northern Iraq since the emergence of the Islamic State. An Israeli/Canadian citizen, he completed an international baccalaureate in France in 2004, before attending McGill University in Montreal.
Amit Yaniv-Zehavi, the local community shlichah (cultural emissary) of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation and the Jewish Agency, said she’s glad to see IsraAID getting more recognition through the award, noting that Israel has a tradition of responding to international crisis, without regard to religion or color.
“We see people in pain and we send effort,” she said.
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