The Yael Foundation has launched the first ever International Jewish School Leadership Exchange, an initiative that unites Jewish heads of school from Europe and Latin America with their counterparts in the United States for a six-month collaboration program. Designed to create bold new ideas that will strengthen Jewish education through transatlantic partnership, this initiative represents a bold investment in Jewish educational leadership worldwide.
The program brings together veteran school leaders from diverse Jewish communities to share expertise, inspire innovation, and build enduring professional and educational connections. Structured around twice-monthly virtual sessions and reciprocal in-person school visits, each pairing will delve into critical areas such as leadership structure, curriculum design, informal Jewish education, and navigating the diversity of Jewish identity within school populations.
Among the pilot cohort are distinguished educators from Italy, Mexico, and Spain, including Rabbi Benedetto Carucci Viterbi of Scuole Ebraiche di Roma,Ms. Luna Alfron Coriat of Madrid’s Colegio Estrella Toledano, and Rabbi Dr. Isaac Sitt of the Ohr Haiim School in Mexico City. They are working with senior leaders from prominent American Jewish Day Schools, including Rabbi Dr. Jeffrey Kobrin of North Shore Hebrew Academy, Rabbi Aaron Frank of the Ramaz School in Manhattan, and Rabbi Yaakov Sadigh of Hillel Yeshiva in Deal, New Jersey.
Uri Poliavich, Founder of the Yael Foundation, emphasized the broader vision behind the historic initiative.
“For too long, Jewish schools around the world have been islands working on their own without significant collaboration and cooperation, especially in different environments,” said Poliavich. “This program is an expression of our belief that strong, inspired leadership and partnerships are the key to a vibrant Jewish future. By creating meaningful peer-to-peer partnerships between school leaders around the world, we are fostering a strong sense of global Jewish solidarity, especially at a time when the Jewish people need to meet its many challenges as a global community. These partnerships and the global Jewish educational bridges we are building will strengthen the Jewish community across continents.”
Each participating pair will engage in ten structured mentorship sessions over Zoom. In addition, the in-person visits are designed to offer immersive insight into the operational, cultural, and pedagogical life of each institution. The visits include classroom observations, strategic meetings with educational leadership, student and parent engagement, and participation in tefillah and school activities.
Raizi Chechik, the program’s project manager on behalf of the Yael Foundation and a longtime Jewish educational leader, noted:
“This exchange is more than professional development—it’s a two-way bridge of learning and leadership. The diversity of context between schools in Europe and Latin America and those in the U.S. is precisely what makes this initiative so vital and powerful. We are confident that all of our principals will walk away challenged, enriched and inspired, and that, in turn, will strengthen Jewish education worldwide.”
Founded in 2020 by Uri and Yael Poliavich, the Yael Foundation has quickly emerged as a leading philanthropic force, driving innovation, excellence, and positive change in Jewish education worldwide. Through strategic partnerships with other foundations, the Yael Foundation’s initiatives and grants are making a profound and lasting impact on the Jewish community’s future.
