Hannah Bender, NFTY Programming Vice President (PVP)

Hannah is from North Richland Hills, Texas, in NFTY Texas-Oklahoma Region. Hannah has had the honor of finding a home at the URJ Kutz Camp, having a best friend in the whole world with the same name, and being indoctrinated as a lifelong Longhorn fan. When she isn’t out of town for something NFTY related, she can be found with her free-range rabbit, Rogue, rewatching Blackfish, or referencing the Princess Diaries in an impactful way. The only thing Hannah feels more strongly about than the safety of Orcinus Orcas is Reform Judaism. Hannah is now living in the Yankees’ neighborhood at  Hofstra University.

“NFTY for me has been the thing I’ve coveted most in my life. It’s given me who I am today. It gave me the tools in my adolescence to discover who I am as a person, and allowed me to be someone I can be proud of. It has led me to analyze what my own relationship to Judaism will be, what traditions I want to make my own, and the knowledge to guide these decisions. NFTY is a movement that doesn’t just bring people together or take stances for the greater good, but rather, it does both by exceeding at helping youth become individuals and the best versions of themselves.”