B’nai B’rith Board of Governors Honors Long-Time Staff and Volunteer Leaders for Humanitarian Efforts

The B’nai B’rith International Board of Governors bestowed the Distinguished Humanitarian Award on Amy & Bruce Pascal and Michal Mazal & Daniel S. Mariaschin on April 25 at the Sphinx Club in Washington, D.C.

The award recognizes their long-term and exemplary dedication in their work with B’nai B’rith and beyond. All four have demonstrated personal and professional commitments that embody the very core of Tikkun Olam—making the world a better place.

“Amy & Bruce and Michal & Dan represent the pinnacle of exemplary leadership in humanitarian causes,” B’nai B’rith International President Allan J. Jacobs said. “I’m just so pleased to present this award to four outstanding individuals who have stepped forward each and every day to make a positive difference in the Jewish community and the world.”

B’nai B’rith Board of Governors member Gwen Zuares hosted the event. B’nai B’rith Honorary President Joel S. Kaplan presented the award to Mazal and Mariaschin, and Rabbi Levi Shemtov of the American Friends of Lubavitch presented the award to the Pascals.

Bruce Pascal has been an invaluable and enthusiastic member of B’nai B’rith’s Board of Governors for a decade. Though he has a particular interest in the B’nai B’rith’s International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy, his attention to B’nai B’rith’s multi-faceted work has been limitless. Bruce also devotes his considerable energy to State of Israel Bonds and to Rachael’s Women’s Center, a safe house for homeless women.

Professionally, Bruce is executive vice president of CBRE, a real estate firm. He earned the Greater Washington Commercial Association of Realtors “Broker of the Year Award” in 2009 and in 2010, was the organization’s top leasing agent in Washington, D.C.

Amy’s community involvement is also diverse and far-reaching. She recently chaired a fundraising drive for the Children’s National Medical Center’s Blood and Bone Marrow Transplant Outpatient Center. This effort enabled the hospital to close the funding gap needed in order to build the dedicated center for the youngest of patients who are vulnerable to infection in the common areas of the hospital.

Additionally, for the past three years, Amy has chaired Mitzvah Day, which benefited multiple groups such as The Children’s Inn at NIH, Coalition for the Homeless Men’s Emergency Shelter, The Lord’s Table community soup kitchen, Manna Food Center, Bikes for the World, Interfaith Clothing Center and other local charities.

She has also hosted fundraisers for Freedom Now and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

In 2011, Bruce and Amy co-chaired the 33rd annual Ambassador’s Ball held in Washington, D.C. 

Dan Mariaschin and his wife, Michal Mazal, also receiving the Distinguished Humanitarian Award, have made an impact at the local, national and international level.

Nearly all of Dan’s professional life has been working on behalf of the Jewish community. 2013 marks Dan’s 25th year with B’nai B’rith, where he currently serves as executive director of the organization as well as director of B’nai B’rith’s International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy. In this dual role, Dan directs all B’nai B’rith programs, services and staff in more than 50 countries.

Dan is the public face of B’nai B’rith, meeting with world leaders to advance human rights, help protect the rights of Jewish communities and promote better relations with Israel. Dan is regularly interviewed in the media and his many op-eds have appeared in news publications around the world.

In recognition of his tireless work in Central and Eastern Europe, Dan received the Cultural Pluralism Award from the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad and received state decorations from the presidents of Latvia, Lithuania and Romania. He was also a recipient of the Golden Bough decoration from the Foreign Ministry of Bulgaria, among many other accolades.

Dan’s wife, Michal Mazal, has also dedicated her time and effort to the Jewish community. Michal was born in India and raised in Israel. Upon completion of her service in the Israel Defense Forces, Michal worked in Tel Aviv at Beit Hatfutsot, the Museum of the Diaspora. After moving to the United States, she coordinated the scholars-in-residence program at the American Zionist Youth Foundation, which brought Israeli speakers to Jewish communities across America, and she served as a correspondent for the Israeli women’s magazine, Olam Ha-Isha. 

B’nai B’rith International is pleased and honored to recognize four such outstanding individuals who devote their considerable talents to humanitarian causes.