Holocaust Museum LA honored philanthropist, entrepreneur and supermodel Cindy Crawford and Holocaust survivor Ella Mandel (who will be 99 next month) with the “Award of Courage” at the museum’s annual gala Tuesday, Oct. 28, at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
Crawford and Mandel collaborated earlier this year when they posed for “Borrowed Spotlight,” a widely recognized awareness campaign exemplifying the strength of intergenerational advocacy. Crawford uses her platform to raise awareness about antisemitism, and Mandel shares her powerful testimony and messages of hope with students and museum visitors.
“I want to be a voice for light, love and acceptance — for seeing the humanity in one another,” Crawford said in accepting the award. “This museum, and survivors like Ella, remind us where hatred leads when we stop seeing each other as part of the same human story.”
Mandel, who lost her mother, father and two sisters in the Holocaust, said, “‘Never again’ is not just my promise — it must be yours, too. Together, we can make sure that the world remembers, and that the future is safer than the past.”
Jonah Platt, a podcaster, writer, producer and celebrated star of the Broadway classic, “Wicked,” received the first-ever Roz and Abner Goldstine Advocacy Award for his groundbreaking podcast, “Being Jewish with Jonah Platt.”
“The work that the Holocaust Museum LA does is telling our story, which is so vital in a world that has a very short memory,” Platt has said.
Marissa Lepor, granddaughter of Holocaust survivors and president of the 3G@HMLA board, received the Jona Goldrich Visionary Award. Lepor is a managing director at The Sage Group, an investment bank specializing in consumer brands.
“If we aren’t the stewards of survivors’ stories, who will be?” Lepor said in accepting the award. “If the second, third and fourth generations don’t persistently tell them, who will? The truth is, the burden doesn’t rest solely on descendants — it’s on all of us.”
The gala raised $1.3 million to support the museum’s education programs.
Currently under construction, the museum’s expanded campus — opening in June 2026 — will double its existing footprint and increase visitor capacity to 500,000 visitors annually, including 150,000 students. Permanent exhibits will utilize cutting-edge technology to preserve Holocaust survivor testimonies.
For more information on the gala and to purchase tickets or sponsorships, visit https://holocaustmuseumla.org/gala.
