Lazarus Leadership Fellows Program

Named in honor of Julius and Dorothy Lazarus in recognition of their years of service to the children of the Bethesda area and the generous financial support provided by their foundation, the Lazarus Leadership Fellows Program helps prepare 15 high school juniors and sophomores for their citizen leadership responsibilities each year. Since 1997, the Lazarus Fellows have completed more than 80,000 hours of service to our community.

Each Fellow participates in a series of leadership sessions with local community leaders in Montgomery County, MD prior to designing a community service leadership project that requires a commitment of 200 hours during the summer. The purpose of the project is to effect change – to make something happen that might not happen without the initiative of the Fellow. The Program Founder works with the Fellows to select and design service projects, which may be team projects of more than one Fellow.

PROGRAM LEADERSHIP

The Program Founder Bruce Adams received the 2011 Distinguished Service to Public Education Award from the Montgomery County Board of Education in recognition of his 25 years teaching leadership seminars to County high school students. A former president and two-term member of the Montgomery County Council, Bruce served as the director of County Executive Ike Leggett’s Office of Community Partnerships from 2007 to 2018. Bruce was named a “Washingtonian of the Year” by Washingtonian magazine in 1998. He received the Scull Metropolitan Public Service Award from the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments in 1993. Bruce started Montgomery County’s Community Service Day in 1987, founded Bethesda Big Train baseball at Shirley Povich Field in 1999, and started the World of Montgomery Festival in 2008. He received the Peacemaker of the Year award from the Conflict Resolution Center of Montgomery County in 2017 and was inducted into the Montgomery County Human Rights Hall of Fame in 2020. Bruce was named one of Congressman Jamie Raskin’s Local Heroes in 2023.

AWARDS

• The Lazarus Leadership Fellows Program was honored by the B-CC High School Educational Foundation in 2010 and has been endorsed by:
• Shelton Mooney, B-CC High School Principal
• B-CC High School PTSA
• The Greater Bethesda Chamber of Commerce
• B-CC Diversity Parents Council
• Extraordinary Teens Congratulations to six Lazarus Fellow alumni who have been named winners of Bethesda Magazine’s prestigious Extraordinary Teens award since 2018:
• Vikram Akwei (Lazarus 2016) in 2018,
• Karina Vasudeva (Lazarus 2018) in 2020,
• JD Gorman (Lazarus 2019) in 2021,
• Sammer Hajhamad (Lazarus 2020) in 2021,
• Obse Abebe (Lazarus 2021) in 2023, and
• Dina Mabrouk (Lazarus 2023) in 2024.