The JCRC is delighted to present Susan and Bill Kristol with the Breslau-Goldman Award; Billy Kreisberg with the Sara and Samuel Lessans Community Leadership Award; and Fran Kritz with the Distinguished Service Award.
Each honoree has given years of exemplary leadership and dedicated service to our growing and diverse Jewish community in D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
Date & Time
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Location
Washington, DC
Honorees
Susan and Bill Kristol
Breslau-Goldman Award Honorees, 2026 Gala
Susan and Bill Kristol have spent decades strengthening Jewish organizational life in the DMV and protecting American democratic values. The dynamic couple are deeply immersed in both Jewish and secular causes, holding leadership roles that demonstrate their steadfast commitment to celebrating our rich Jewish heritage, supporting Israel, and upholding democracy and the rule of law.
Susan Kristol has been a JCRC Board member since 2023 and currently serves as Virginia co-chair of the Intergroup Committee. She is a past president of both the Pozez JCC of Northern Virginia and Congregation Olam Tikvah and previously sat on the boards of The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and Gesher Jewish Day School. Having retired from a university teaching career in classics, Susan enjoys studying Biblical Hebrew and researching and teaching topics that bridge the classical and Hebraic worlds.
Bill Kristol is a founding director of Defending Democracy Together, an organization dedicated to preserving America’s liberal democratic norms and institutions. He co-founded The Weekly Standard in 1995 and edited the influential magazine for more than two decades. Currently, Bill is an editor-at-large at The Bulwark, where he writes a daily newsletter and participates in frequent podcasts. He also hosts Conversations with Bill Kristol, a video series and podcast that features in-depth discussions with leading figures in American public life. He previously served as chief of staff for Vice President Dan Quayle in the George H. W. Bush administration and at the U.S. Department of Education in the Reagan administration.
Susan and Bill celebrated their 50th anniversary in 2025. They have three children and eight grandchildren.
William Kreisberg
Sara and Samuel Lessans Community Leadership Award Honoree, 2026 Gala
William “Billy” Kreisberg exemplifies meaningful engagement and principled Jewish leadership for numerous national and local organizations.
He recently retired from Schrayer & Associates, Inc., a political consulting firm based in Washington, D.C., where he served as Vice President for over 20 years. In that role, he oversaw many of the firm’s client relationships, focusing on advocacy activities, strategic planning, and event management.
Billy has been active in the local Jewish community for more than 35 years, serving as President of the Edlavitch DCJCC from 2001-2004 and continues to sit on its Board, where he serves as Co-Chair of the Center’s Centennial Campaign. He also chairs the Policy Committee and recently oversaw its strategic planning process. Billy served on the Board of The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, holding several leadership positions, including Vice President of Community and Global Impact, and was a Trustee with the United Jewish Endowment Fund.
Billy currently serves on the Board of DMFI PAC, which is dedicated to electing pro-Israel Democrats to Congress. He served on the Board of American Jewish Committee’s Washington Regional Office for more than a decade and is now a member of its Advisory Council. He previously served on the boards of the Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse, the Jewish Community Relations Council and George Washington University Hillel.
Fran Kritz
Distinguished Service Award Honoree, 2026 Gala
A journalist covering U.S. health policy and consumer health for decades, Fran Kritz has been a staff reporter at Forbes Magazine and U.S. News and World Report, and for six years wrote a public health blog for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. More recently, Fran has been a frequent contributor to the Washington Post, NPR.org, the Washington Jewish Week, and AARP.org.
Fran has served on the boards of the Georgetown Ministry Center, the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy, the JCRC of Greater Washington and Kemp Mill Synagogue, and has been on the Advisory Board of Yad Yehuda of Greater Washington. Fran has also served as president of Bikur Cholim of Greater Washington and the Hebrew Free Loan Association of Greater Washington.
Fran and her husband, Neil Kritz, previously senior scholar for the rule of law at the U.S. Institute of Peace, have two children and three grandchildren.