Hillcrest Student Embraces Entrepreneurship and Advocacy
Zachary Moskowitz stands for innovation and Israel and against antisemitism
Zachary Moskowitz, a budding entrepreneur, has seen his role as an intern with Israel supporting and antisemitism fighting StandWithUs (SWU) take on added meaning since Oct. 7.
“When the attacks first began, I was in shock,” the Hillcrest High School junior said. “I wasn’t expecting to wake up and see that news. I was worried about my family in Israel and my family here in Dallas. A sense of uncertainty and thoughts about me and my family’s safety came over me.”
SWU’s goals include countering antisemitism, educating the public, empowering others to educate their communities, and facilitating informed conversations about Israel’s history, policies, and human aid.
“I’ve followed StandWithUs on Instagram for a few years and one day saw an ad about becoming one of their Kenneth Leventhal High School Interns,” Moskowitz said. “I thought it was an amazing opportunity, so I applied and got accepted.”
The two-semester StandWithUs Kenneth Leventhal High School Internship program selects and trains over 190 student interns from high schools throughout the United States and Canada to identify the spread of misinformation about Israel and antisemitism on campus.
“I faced much antisemitism growing up,” said Moskowitz, who urges others to make sure what they are listening to and reading is valid information.
“A large amount of antisemitism is spoken out of pure ignorance,” he said. “Educate yourself and then others. Share StandWithUs content on social media. Comment positively about supporting Israel. Attend pro-Israel rallies. Donate to organizations that support Israel and are helping Israeli civilians and soldiers on the ground.”
Before the Hamas attacks that set off the recent round of fighting in Gaza, Moskowitz traveled to New York to compete in the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship’s (NFTE) Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge in New York City.
Moskowitz said he entered “to learn more about what it means to be an entrepreneur and grow lifelong skills that will help me succeed.”
Of 534 students who entered the NFTE competition nationwide, 25 were chosen to present their business ideas via Zoom, with five of those selected to go to New York.
Moskowitz, who took Hillcrest’s entrepreneurship class as a sophomore, plans to use $1,300 secured as a semifinalist and $500 in seed funding from a Dallas event to do more research and fine-tune his idea for a form filing software for doctors and schools.
He advises other aspiring young interns: “Don’t sit there and try to think of businesses that need to be started. Wait for something that you notice in your daily life that you want to solve, then take that and craft your idea.”
