Rabbi Gary Creditor is among a group of six honorees who will receive a Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities Humanitarian Award on Oct. 28. This 63rd presentation of the awards by VCIC’s Richmond Chapter will be held at the Hilton Hotel & Spa in Short Pump. The awards celebration honors individuals and organizations making significant humanitarian contributions to the Richmond community.
Gary S. Creditor was named Rabbi Emeritus upon his retirement from Temple Beth-El in 2014, concluding a 40-year career in the pulpit Rabbinate. Rabbi Creditor has served on the Boards of the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond, the Richmond Rabbinic Association and the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, among other affiliations. At the Virginia Interfaith Center, he chaired the Living Wage Certification Program. Rabbi Creditor participated with Governor Tim Kaine in a memorial program for students and faculty who died at Virginia Tech, and he participated in many interreligious programs held around Richmond following September 11th, 2001. After retiring from the congregational rabbinate, Rabbi Creditor joined Heartland Hospice and served for seven years as a hospice chaplain supporting patients andO families of all faith traditions.
Other recipients are: Greta J. Harris, President and CEO of the Better Housing Coalition (BHC). Deborah Jewell-Sherman, former superintendent of Richmond Public Schools, serving from 2002 – 2008. Representative Jennifer McClellan who entered the U.S. Congress in 2023 and has served the greater Richmond area in elected office for nearly 20 years. Pam Mines, a wife, mother, advocate, author, and community builder. Paula P. Pando, who serves as the fourth president of J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, where she has led bold, student-centered initiatives to strengthen outcomes and more.
Sixty-three years ago, the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities - then called the National Conference of Christians and Jews - began a tradition in Richmond “to honor the work of our friends, neighbors, and family members who gave to others the same rights, respect, and dignity that they sought for themselves.” Today, VCIC works with schools, businesses, and communities to achieve success through inclusion.
The 90-year-old organization delivers programs to educators and students in the region through the Connections Institute, Prejudice Awareness Summit, Diversity Dialogue Day, and the Inclusive Educators Institute. VCIC also provides professional development for many local businesses and nonprofit organizations, leveraging diversity and inclusion to achieve success. In the last year, VCIC delivered nearly 700 programs and trained over 17,000 people across Virginia.
The 2025 VCIC Humanitarian Awards Dinner is sponsored by several organizations and individuals. Bon Secours and Wells Fargo are Humanitarian sponsors, and Altria Group, Genworth | CareScout, Hirschler, TowneBank, and Virginia Credit Union are Benefactor sponsors of the event (at time of release).
For more information, visit inclusiveva.org/awards/richmond/