NEW YORK, N.Y. โ The Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation has presented its Institutional Leadership Award to McDermott Will & Schulte in recognition of the firm’s longstanding pro bono legal service, strategic partnership, and support for the inaugural RISE Leadership Fellowship.
The award recognizes organizations that combine professional excellence with civic responsibility while investing in education, democratic institutions, and future generations of leaders.
According to AJCF, McDermott Will & Schulte has provided strategic legal counsel on nonprofit governance, international legal matters, and institutional development, helping the Foundation expand its educational initiatives and strengthen its organizational capacity. The firm’s support has included legal guidance provided largely behind the scenes, allowing AJCF to focus on its mission of preserving Holocaust memory and confronting contemporary manifestations of antisemitism.
The firm’s recent support of the inaugural RISE Leadership Fellowship represents an expansion of that partnership. The fellowship brings together emerging Black and Jewish leaders and reflects AJCF’s broader commitment to fostering civic engagement, leadership development, and intercommunal understanding.
Supporting Holocaust Education and Leadership Development
Founded to transform Holocaust memory into meaningful action, the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation operates educational initiatives that reach students, educators, diplomats, military officers, elected officials, and civic leaders throughout the United States and internationally.
The Foundation maintains the Auschwitz Jewish Center in Oลwiฤcim, Poland, the last remaining synagogue in the town adjacent to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. Through its educational programming, AJCF seeks to preserve the memory of the town’s once thriving Jewish community while addressing contemporary challenges including antisemitism, hatred, and extremism.
Its flagship initiatives include Decode Hate, which addresses online antisemitism and digital literacy, the American Service Academies Program, and the recently established RISE Leadership Fellowship.
AJCF Director General Jack Simony said McDermott Will & Schulte immediately recognized the fellowship’s broader purpose.
“McDermott Will & Schulte didn’t just give us legal counsel. They gave us conviction,” Simony said. “They understood immediately that the RISE Fellowship isn’t about responding to hatred, it’s about building the leaders who will stop it before it starts.”
“That’s not a law firm doing pro bono work,” he added. “That’s a law firm helping build a better future.”
A Partnership Built on Public Service
AJCF Chairman Simon Bergson described the relationship as one characterized by consistency, professionalism, and shared values.
“Real partnership shows up before you ask for it,” Bergson said. “McDermott Will & Schulte has stood behind our work quietly and consistently.”
He added that the firm’s attorneys have approached the Foundation’s mission with the same rigor and excellence they bring to their most significant clients.
“Their support for the inaugural RISE Leadership Fellowship reflects something all too rare, an institution investing not only in today’s work, but in tomorrow’s leaders.”
For McDermott Will & Schulte, support for AJCF reflects the firm’s longstanding commitment to pro bono service.
Andrew B. Kratenstein, New York co-lead of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group, said the partnership aligns naturally with the firm’s broader public service mission.
“Pro bono work has always been part of who we are at McDermott Will & Schulte,” Kratenstein said. “Supporting AJCF’s mission, and now the inaugural RISE Leadership Fellowship, is a natural extension of that commitment.”
“We don’t just measure this work by the cases we win,” he continued. “We measure it by the institutions we strengthen and the leaders who will shape them.”
National Recognition for Pro Bono Leadership
The firm’s commitment to public service recently received additional national recognition when the District of Columbia Bar named McDermott Will & Schulte its 2026 Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year.
According to the D.C. Bar, the firm’s Washington office contributed more than 21,000 hours of pro bono legal service during 2025. AJCF noted that its partnership with the firm reflects the same commitment to strengthening institutions that serve vulnerable communities and uphold democratic values.
The Institutional Leadership Award recognizes organizations that leverage their professional expertise, influence, and resources to support democratic institutions, defend vulnerable communities, and invest in future generations through education, advocacy, and the rule of law.
Preserving Memory Through Action
The Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation describes its mission as transforming Holocaust memory into action. Its educational programs emphasize that preserving historical memory must be accompanied by investments in civic leadership and democratic resilience.
At a time when incidents of antisemitism continue to rise globally, AJCF’s work increasingly focuses not only on remembrance, but also on preparing future leaders capable of confronting hatred and strengthening pluralistic societies.
The Foundation’s recognition of McDermott Will & Schulte highlights the role that private institutions can play in advancing those goals through professional excellence, public service, and sustained investment in educational initiatives.
For AJCF, preserving Holocaust memory remains inseparable from preparing future generations to defend democratic values and human dignity. Its partnership with McDermott Will & Schulte reflects that broader vision.
