Tzedek DC’s Founding Director, Ariel Levinson-Waldman, has been granted the 2025 Nonprofit Leader Award in the Washington Business Journal’s Innovators in Health Care program.
The annual award honors leaders driving transformative change to improve health outcomes in the DC area. One award per year in the region is given to a nonprofit leader, with other awards given in other categories.
Ariel was recognized for Tzedek DC’s work in leading efforts to eliminate debt-related legal barriers that prevent District residents from accessing healthcare. Under his leadership, Tzedek DC has advanced policies and provided direct legal services to protect patients’ rights, reduce and mitigate medical debt, and address systemic inequities that disproportionately affect communities of color.
“Every day, I have the privilege of working alongside a team whose dedication to justice and compassion for our neighbors inspires me,” Ariel said. “This honor belongs to the entire Tzedek DC team, including our medical debt team led by Staff Attorney Jennifer Holloway, our partners, and the courageous residents we serve. We see firsthand how debt and related legal problems can upend lives—threatening health, housing, and financial stability. We are committed to breaking down those barriers so that every resident has the chance to thrive.”
The Washington Business Journal awards ceremony will be held on September 30, 2025.
About Tzedek DC, Our Medical Debt Work, and the Health Equity Fund
Tzedek DC’s name is drawn from the ancient Jewish teaching “Tzedek, tzedek tirdof,” or “Justice, justice you shall pursue.” Headquartered at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law, and with offices also in Ward 8, Tzedek DC is a nonprofit organization. Our mission is to safeguard the legal rights and financial health of DC residents with lower incomes facing the often-devastating consequences of debt collection and credit-related obstacles, including those arising from medical debt. This mission is carried out as anti-racism work in response to the massive wealth gaps tracking race in DC and nationwide. Tzedek DC seeks to serve and empower its client base, which is comprised of 90% Black residents, 60% women, and 25% disabled community members. Our strategic approach combines three synergistic activities: (i) free direct services—legal representation and advice, and financial counseling; (ii) working in coalition to make systemic change; and (iii) providing bilingual community legal education on debt collection, identity theft, and credit management. Since 2017, Tzedek DC has served over 5,000 client households in legal matters and catalyzed systemic reforms benefiting hundreds of thousands of DC residents.
A portion of Tzedek DC’s medical debt work is funded by the Health Equity Fund, as administered by the Greater Washington Community Foundation in partnership with the Health Equity Committee. The Health Equity Fund is designated to improve the health outcomes and health equity of residents of the District of Columbia. The historic fund is one of the largest philanthropic funds of any kind focused on community-based nonprofits that serve District residents. Given that 80 percent of DC’s health outcomes are driven by social, economic, and other factors, compared to just 20 percent by clinical care, the Health Equity Fund adopts an economic mobility frame to address the root causes of health inequity and advances a sustainable network of people, organizations, and projects to ensure equitable health outcomes for Black, Brown, Indigenous, People of Color and other marginalized populations in DC.
We are especially grateful to the Health Equity Fund for the support and shared vision of health equity and racial and economic justice.