Miriam Prum Hess

Director, Centers for Excellence in Day School Education
and Jewish Educational Engagement

(323) 761-8334 

mprumhess@bjela.org 

Miriam Prum Hess directs the Centers for Excellence in Day School Education and Jewish Educational Engagement at BJE. In this role, she consults with the 38 day schools in Los Angeles to establish operational and educational best practices, develop joint purchasing initiatives, and garner increased financial support for Jewish education.  In addition, she created JKidLA and the Concierge Program for Jewish Education, which enable families to navigate and connect to the entire spectrum of formal and informal Jewish educational opportunities which are “right for them.”

Miriam has also been on the summer faculty at Hebrew Union College, where she taught Organizational Development in the School of Jewish Nonprofit Management. She serves as field instructor during the year. She is a frequent presenter at conferences on Jewish education such as the PEJE Assembly, JESNA and the United Jewish Communities’ General Assembly.

Prior to her assignment at BJE, Miriam served the LA Federation as VP of Planning and Allocations. She has also worked as the Federation’s Refugee Resettlement and Acculturation Coordinator and Director of their San Fernando Valley Community Relations Committee. Prior to her tenure at the Federation, she was Director of Admissions at the University of Judaism (now American Jewish University), Program Director and Teen Director at the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Los Angeles, and Hillel Director at the University of Illinois, Chicago Circle. Miriam has a Masters and Honorary Doctorate in Jewish Communal Service from HUC and a Masters in Social Work from USC. Miriam and her husband Mark are the proud parents of two day school children, Eliana and Ezra.