Dr. Gil Graff

Executive Director
(323) 761-8620
ggraff@bjela.org 

Gil Graff has served as Executive Director of BJE since 1993.  During his tenure, BJE – through the collaborative efforts of its board and staff, and the partnership of individuals and organizations with shared goals -- has earned a national reputation for innovation and excellence in advancing the mission of encouraging participation in, enhancing the quality of, and promoting access to Jewish education.  Gil’s experience in Jewish education spans many years as a teacher and administrator at day and complementary schools and as Director of a residential summer camp.  His academic background includes several teaching credentials, a Masters Degree in Educational Administration (CSUN) as well as a J.D. (UCLA School of Law) and Ph.D. in Jewish History (UCLA). Gil has been a California Senate Fellow, a Jerusalem Fellow, and a Visiting Scholar at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.
 
Gil is the author of two books and numerous articles on issues of Jewish education, history and law, relating to the encounter of Jews and Judaism with modernity.  He has taught graduate and professional school students as an adjunct faculty member at American Jewish University, HUC, Touro College, Spertus College and AJR-CA.  He currently serves on the Advisory Boards of The Consortium for Applied Studies in Jewish Education (CASJE) and of the DeLeT teacher education program at HUC. Gil is a member of the board of CAPSO (California Association of Private School Organizations) and represents the Association of Directors of Central Agencies (ADCA), on the Board of JESNA, the Jewish Education Service of North America.
 
Gil and his wife Robin, also a Jewish educator (and an alumna of BJE’s Ulpan-in-Israel Program), are both natives of Los Angeles.  They are the parents of two sons and a daughter who collectively attended 10 BJE-affiliated schools, early childhood through high school.  Ari and Ilan are lawyers; Talia is a Ph.D. student in the field of Jewish history at UCLA.