Amy Katz Biography

Amy Herskowitz Katz has devoted her professional life to working on behalf of the Jewish community. Holding a BA in history from Stern College and an MSW from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work of Yeshiva University, she has, for over three decades, served in the Jewish community as a strategic planner, program developer, nonprofit operations manager, staff supervisor, and fundraising professional. Her areas of expertise include building strategic partnerships and collaborations, working with professionals and lay committees to strengthen governance and ensure organizational sustainability, and developing programs for people of all ages.

In her early years working for the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston, Ms. Katz developed and managed both children’s and senior adult programs, conducted a comprehensive community study that resulted in a renewed focus and expanded programs for a community-based agency, planned and coordinated outreach programs that drew hundreds of participants, and oversaw numerous program initiatives. 

Ms. Katz joined the staff of Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP) in 1991 after successfully organizing two major community walkathons on behalf of Soviet and Ethiopian Jewry. As a campaign associate she built and managed the Financial Services campaign; she also planned and led CJP’s first financial services mission to Israel. Moving into the role of Assistant Development Director for next generation leadership, she was responsible for cultivating and stewarding second-generation donors. She initiated a series of programs using personalized Torah study as a strategy for outreach and engagement. Torah study sessions were held in a multitude of professional arenas, including the Massachusetts State House, area hospitals, law firms, and financial services offices. At the same time, together with CJP’s scholars-in-residence, she created a unique lunchtime learning program for community members. The Genesis Program, initiated in 1995, continues to this day. 

Assuming the role of Director of Leadership Development in 1996, Ms. Katz annually staffed CJP’s board nominating process and managed the training and deployment of volunteer leaders for local constituent agencies. In 2000 she took on the responsibility for reigniting and leading CJP’s Acharai program, their premier leadership development initiative. In this role, she oversaw the creation of an 18-month curriculum of study using leadership and Torah texts, and planned and implemented a ten-day Israel component.

In 2001 Amy accepted the job as founding Executive Director of the Rabbi Soloveitchik Institute — a nascent educational nonprofit dedicated to perpetuating the legacy of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. In that role her accomplishments included creating the organizational infrastructure, building the board, managing the operation, and working on the development of programs—including a national teacher training program for novice educators. During her tenure at the Institute Ms. Katz contributed to two PEJE Assemblies as a session presenter and participated in numerous national gatherings of Jewish educators and leaders.

In 2003 Ms. Katz left the Institute to assume the role of Associate Director of PEJE. In that role she has doubled the size of the PEJE staff and grown Assembly participation from 500 to 1200. During the last eight years she has been responsible for  directing the internal operations including managing the staff, implementing policies and protocol, executing organizational strategy, setting the direction and overseeing PEJE’s national Assemblies, and jointly staffing the board. Working in close partnership with Executive Director Josh Elkin, she helped steer PEJE towards its current course with its focus on revenue-enhancing programs and activities, building community partnerships to secure financially sustainable day schools, and leading and advancing the field through bold advocacy initiatives.

Ms. Katz’s passion and commitment to the Jewish community originates from her twelve years of day school education and the influences of her personal role models. The daughter of a pulpit rabbi, she learned early on the significant role that a rabbi plays in a small community. She also understood the challenges of bringing informal Jewish education to both affiliated and unaffiliated members of the community. From her mother, who worked as a congregational and communal volunteer for many years before taking on the directorship of a national Jewish museum, she learned about the power of woman’s leadership and how art and culture define a people and a community. From her parents and grandparents, and as part of her religious upbringing, she developed a passion for the ideas that the individual Jew has a responsibility for k’lal yisrael, the greater Jewish community, and the centrality of Jewish education in ensuring the future vibrancy of Jewish life. Her professional commitment emanates out of these beliefs as well as her personal commitment to the Jewish people and Jewish life. 

Ms. Katz’s work in multiple Jewish communal settings has deepened her understanding of the diversity of Jewish life and the multiplicity of challenges facing our ever-changing Jewish community. Through the lay and professional relationships she has built in the Boston area and nationally over the last 33 years, she is deeply committed to the power of collaboration as an integral part of her work. 

As the new leader of PEJE she will continue to focus on its primary mission: helping Jewish day schools achieve financial sustainability through innovative programmatic initiatives and bold advocacy. Drawing from her experience over the last three decades, Ms. Katz will remain focused on PEJE’s strategic business plan, stay accountable to outcomes, strengthen relationships with communal partners, and continue to position the organization as a thought leader, a source of knowledge and resources for individual schools throughout North America, and a provider of unparalleled programs and expertise.