NCJW Sacramento IMPACT Awards

View event highlights from the 2024 NCJW Sacramento IMPACT Awards, held on January 28, 2024.

Registration for this event is now closed.

Please join us for brunch and a celebration honoring three inspiring women who have transformed the lives of women and children in Sacramento and beyond.

Hannah G. Solomon Award Recipient:

Liz Igra, Founder, Central Valley Holocaust Education Network

Women of Valor Award Recipients:

Lisa Culp, Executive Director, Women’s Empowerment

Nilda Valmores, Longtime Executive Director of My Sister’s House

Download or print: NCJW Sacramento 2024 IMPACT Awards flyer (PDF)

Tickets: $75/person
Table for eight (includes a quarter page tribute in IMPACT Awards Digital Tribute Album): $700/table
Enjoy a brunch buffet
Purchase individual tickets or a table for eight by January 18, 2024: Registration for this event is now closed.

Our sincere thanks go to those who paid tribute to this year’s award recipients and supported NCJW by purchasing a special tribute message in the IMPACT Awards Digital Tribute Album. Click here to view the special messages from friends, family and colleagues (coming soon).

Hannah G. Solomon Award

Liz Igra, Founder, Central Valley Holocaust Education Network
Elizabeth “Liz” Igra was born in 1935 in Krakow, Poland. During World War II, she walked with her mother from Poland to Czechoslovakia and then to Hungary, where they went into hiding until the war ended. Many members of her family were killed during the Holocaust. After the war, Liz resettled in the United States. In 1977, she earned a bachelor’s degree in education with honors from Sacramento State, and in 1987 she earned a master’s of science in educational administration. In 1979, she helped establish Shalom School, Sacramento’s Jewish Day School, where she taught for many years. She dedicated her career to education, teaching in the Elk Grove Unified School District for decades, and sharing her expertise in the education of future teachers. Liz works tirelessly to teach others about the causes of genocide and the fragility of democracy and to fighting antisemitism. In 2009, she founded the Central Valley Holocaust Educators’ Network (CVHEN), whose mission is to support teachers “in effectively implementing a Holocaust curriculum that meets California Social Studies and Language Arts Standards”. Her educational philosophy of teaching about the Holocaust centers on fostering critical thinking, empathy, and self-awareness to fight against our innate personal biases that undermine our thinking with emotion, not logic. Liz believes that a rational and logical approach to teaching about the Holocaust will ensure that the memory of the Holocaust is not only a tale of suffering, but a vital lesson in human history. CVHEN connects Holocaust experts to area schools and community organizations to speak about their experiences. These stories ensure that we do not forget the horrible events of the Holocaust, and help to illuminate its effect on subsequent generations.she helped establish Shalom School, Sacramento’s Jewish Day School, where she taught for many years

Women of Valor Awards

Lisa Culp, Executive Director, Women’s Empowerment
By age 13, Lisa Culp knew she wanted to make a difference in the community and did so by helping those who founded Sacramento Loaves & Fishes bring food to people experiencing homelessness. A long-time activist and voice for justice and human rights, Lisa spent 10 years working in Nicaragua with children orphaned by the Contra war and with microloan projects for women. When she returned to the United States, she continued working with those struggling to survive by creating various programs with Sacramento Loaves & Fishes and Sacramento Cottage Housing.

One of the projects Lisa designed grew into the nonprofit Women’s Empowerment (WE), which Lisa still leads today. WE educates and empowers women who are homeless in Sacramento with the skills and confidence necessary to secure a job, create a healthy lifestyle, and regain a home for themselves and their children. Since its founding 23 years ago, more than 1,800 women, once homeless, have graduated from WE.

Lisa is a member of the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency Community Action Board and the Sacramento Women’s Commission. She studied at UCLA and University of Grenoble in France and received her bachelor’s degree from UC Davis.

Nilda Valmores, Longtime Executive Director of My Sister’s House
Nilda Valmores’ mission is to create a better future for all children. For over 30 years, Nilda has worked with non-profit organizations on a statewide and local level addressing issues affecting children and the poor, in the education, social services, and housing arenas.

Nilda operated My Sister’s House, the Central Valley’s only shelter for abused Asian / Pacific Islander women and children for close to 18 years.

My Sister’s House helps Filipinas, other Asian/Pacific Islanders and members of many underserved communities’ who were victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. My Sister’s House operates two emergency shelters, including the only one in the Sacramento area created exclusively for Muslim women. They operate a 24/7 multilingual help line, two transitional shelters, counseling and legal services. Women receive job training while working at My Sister’s Cafe and My Sister’s House Treasures resale shop.

A graduate of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and Loyola Marymount University, Nilda recently became Sierra Health Foundation’s Senior Program Officer for its Stop the Hate grant.

She currently serves as the President of the Soroptimist of Sacramento and is also a Friend of the Sacramento Women’s Commission.