Jewish Educational Service of North America (JESNA)

JESNA was created as a service agency for the federated system, and this connection to the federations is central to its identity. Today, JESNA is a community-focused agency that works with local and national partners to facilitate and promote the delivery of engaging, inspiring Jewish education across the denominational spectrum and in many settings, for learners of any age. JESNA’s board is drawn from the leadership of local federations, central agencies, and other educational institutions in communities across North America and JESNA is proud of the integral part it plays with partners to constitute the Jewish educational “system” in North America and Israel.

The celebration of JESNA’s recent 25th anniversary marked another year of achievements that include: evaluations of more than 34 educational programs in dozens of communities, which added to more than 150 programs across North America evaluated by the Berman Center for Research and Evaluation; expansion of the Coaches Training Institute, preparing central agency personnel in 29 federated communities to support systemic congregational educational improvement; establishing the North American Association of Community Hebrew High Schools, serving 45 schools in cities and towns throughout the United States by providing key resources, facilitating in-group information-sharing and problem-solving and developing a set of web-based resources; and record breaking participation in JESNA’s pioneering educator recruitment programs in Israel for Americans studying at Hebrew and Tel Aviv Universities.

Over 15 years, some 60% of the hundreds of alumni of the Lainer Interns and Graduate Seminar programs have gone on to careers in Jewish agencies. This year there are 67 new recipients of the Grinspoon-Steinhardt Awards for Excellence in Jewish Education from over 40 local communities.