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Last Year in DC!

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Liz Leff as a Middle Schooler. What her teachers remember:

  • Competitor

  • Spoke her mind

  • Got along with a lot of different “groups”

  • She cared about her work but wanted it to be relevant

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Alex as a middle schooler. What her teachers remember about Alex:

  • A quiet confidence
  • Academically, Alex was a superb student and proud of it
  • A loyal friend
  • Entering our school district in 8th grade, Alex was impressively able to contribute to the community quickly, make great friends and earn the respect of teachers and peers

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Liz Leff as a High Schooler

Class of 2013 with Ms. Graham

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Alex Caudill - Class of 2009

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Liz Graduating from NYU

Following graduation from LPHS in 2013, I attended New York University in New York, NY. At NYU, I studied Global Public Health/Media, Culture & Communication, which included a semester abroad in Florence, Italy and two summer courses abroad in Cape Town, South Africa and in Havana, Cuba. Travel is the best way to learn, so if you have the opportunity to go somewhere new, do it! During college, I was involved in Jewish life and helped lead the Reform Jewish community on campus. I also worked in residential life at NYU, where I worked in various roles at a residence hall in the heart of lower Manhattan! New York City and Lake Placid are opposite places, so during college I really had the best of both worlds!

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Alex - College Years

After graduating from LPHS in 2009, I attended Colgate University in Hamilton, NY, where I majored in psychology and minored in anthropology. I studied abroad at the University of Cardiff in Wales and was involved in a variety of campus activities including teaching an SAT prep class to local high school students, volunteering at an animal shelter, playing club volleyball, being a member of a sorority and tutoring refugees/ immigrants in English as a Second Language.

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Alex - College to Today

After graduating from Colgate in 2013, I spent 3 months living in Rwanda developing small-scale social enterprises--this experience solidified my love of travel and learning about different cultures!

Then I worked at Colgate as an intern in the Psychology Department, where I was a teaching assistant and continued my undergraduate thesis research. I also worked in Student Affairs helping develop orientation curriculum for first-year students.

From mid-2015 until last fall, I lived in rural Ethiopia as a Peace Corps volunteer, where I taught high school English and developed extracurricular educational programs. My favorites were a gender equality club and girls empowerment summer camps.

Mezezo - my village in Ethiopia

Girls Empowerment Club

Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony

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Liz Leff - Today

During my first year at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC), I was a Legislative Assistant. My goal was reflect Reform Jewish values in policies relating to immigration, refugees, international religious freedom, Israel, global poverty and health, and all other foreign policy issues the RAC advocates around. Now, I’m a Leadership Development Associate, which means I train clergy and leaders in Reform Jewish communities to help them bring social justice to the center of their congregational life. With leaders and communities who are ready, willing, and able to take action, the Reform Movement is more equipped to act powerfully and together to bring upon the world we want.

Liz at a Families Belong Together rally in Washington DC in June, 2018.

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Alex Caudill - Today

I currently work as the Supporting Communities Program Coordinator at ECDC, a refugee resettlement agency which serves newly arrived refugees as they adjust to life in the U.S. My clients are from all over the world - Afghanistan, Syria, DRC, Sri Lanka, El Salvador and more. As well as helping clients pursue educational, employment and social adjustment goals, I also design and facilitate workshops covering a wide range of topics (from women’s health to public speaking/leadership to avoiding financial scams).

Social Support Group for Afghan Women

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A Day at Work

Liz

Alex