Sydney A. Perry, chief executive officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven and the Jewish Community Center of Greater New Haven, has been named a recipient of the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) 2015 Greater New Haven Torch of Liberty Award, which will be presented at a reception on Tuesday, May 12, in Woodbridge.

Anne Tyler Calabresi and Dr. Gloria Holmes will also receive the award, which is presented annually to outstanding citizens whose work has helped to strengthen the Greater New Haven community.

A resident of New Haven, Sydney Perry has been nominated for national awards for educational initiatives and serves on committees of the Jewish Educational Society of North America and Bureau Director’s Fellowship. She has received the Eisner Award for community service, the Gan School’s Pillar of the Community Award, Ezra Academy’s Distinguished Leader Award, Brandeis University Award, BBYO’s Eitz Chaim Award for her commitment to teens, as well as recognition from the public school systems of New Haven and Hamden for her work in Holocaust education and prejudice reduction.

As the leader of the largest New England contingent to “March of the Living,” which brings students from all over the world to Poland to study the Holocaust and examine the impact of prejudice, she has taught the preparatory course and participated in Marches six times. Perry has also been honored by the New Haven Jewish Historical Society, the Academy for Jewish Religion and the Westville Synagogue, where she is a member. Additionally, she has served on the board of the Westville Synagogue and was president of the New Haven Mikvah Society. She is also a member of the board of directors of the Forward Association, the Urban League, Booker T. Washington School, the Hartford Seminary and Cycle for Unity.

Anne Tyler Calabresi is founding director of New Haven’s International Festival of Arts & Ideas. She is also the co-founder and past chair of LEAP (Leadership Education and Athletics in Partnership), which develops and implements academic and social programs for children living in high-poverty urban neighborhoods. Earlier this year, she founded Sunshine Café, which offers free breakfast in New Haven to all members of the community. Additionally, she was a member of ADL’s A World of Difference (AWOD) Organizing Committee 25 years ago. AWOD is Connecticut’s leading provider of anti-bias and anti-bullying education. She lives in Woodbridge.

Dr. Gloria Holmes is a professor at the School of Education at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, where she has served as both chair and director of the Master of Arts in Teaching Program. In 2008, Holmes was awarded a Community Leadership Fellowship by the William C. Graustein Memorial Fund. She has received many other awards, including the Legendary Women award from Perfect Blend, the Multicultural Leadership Award from Quinnipiac University, the James Marshall Service Award from the Quinnipiac University Faculty Senate, and the Multicultural Teacher of the Year Award in Higher Education from the National Association of Multicultural Education. She currently serves on the boards of the New Haven Family Alliance and the Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology (ConnCAT), and is a diversity trainer for ADL’s A World of Difference Institute. She lives in East Haven.

For more information contact Janet Magid, at (203) 288-6500 x313 or jmagid@adl.org.