Zvi Feine

Born in New York, USA, in 1942, Zvi made Aliyah to Israel in 1960. He has five children and twelve grandchildren in Israel. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and received his Doctorate from the School of Social Work at the University of Pennsylvania.

Zvi was Deputy-Director of JDC-Israel between 1980-2009 and served JDC as Director for Africa and Asia, between 2006-2009. In addition, for eighteen years he held the position of Chairman of the Board of ESHEL (the Association for the Planning and Development of Services for the Aged in Israel) – JDC’s major partnership with the Government of Israel in carrying out its programs for the aged in Israel. He is also a former Director of the Hebrew University’s Schwartz Program – now a Master’s Degree program in Non-Profit Project Management.

In previous years, Zvi was JDC Consultant on Social Services for many countries including Morocco, France, Romania and trans-migrant programs in Vienna and Rome. He was also Chief Program Officer for AJJDC-New York in 2001-2002, which included the role of Regional Director for Central and Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia. As Deputy-Director of JDC-Israel, he served for over five years, concurrently with his position, as JDC Country Director for Poland (1989-1995). He also served for almost eighteen years as JDC Country Director for Romania (1988-2005), providing professional support for the Jewish community’s youth programs, as well as its health and social services, with an emphasis on aiding elderly, indigent Jews.

Since his retirement in 2010, Zvi has provided high-level consultation to various non-profit organizations in Israel. He has also joined several lay Boards, including those of Ogen (The Israel Free Loan Association) and the Sapir Center for Jewish Education and Culture in Jerusalem – of which he is currently Chairman of the Board. Between 1968-1988, he served as a lecturer at the Baerwald School of Social Work of the Hebrew University and the Schwartz Program. Later, he taught an annual course in ‘Managing Philanthropy’ at the Schwartz Program. For most of 2015, he also served as Acting Director of the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel, where he now serves as a member of its Audit Committee and its General Assembly. He continues his volunteer work as Senior Consultant to JDC.