Camp Yavneh announced the appointment of its new camp director, Josh Micley, an experienced leader with a résumé that includes roles as a camp director, a public school teacher and a school administrator.
Micley comes to Camp Yavneh from Capital Camps & Retreat Center in Rockville, Md., where he has served as camp director since 2024. Previously, he spent six years as assistant principal at the John F. Kennedy High School in Chicago, and four years teaching high school social studies in New York City public schools. Earlier, he developed his passion for teaching and youth service over eight summers on staff at Camp Yavneh.
In a letter to the community, Camp Yavneh board chair Ruby Gelman wrote: “Josh Micley is a dynamic and values-driven leader with a genuine love for Jewish life and community. He brings a thoughtful blend of strategic thinking, strong leadership and a deep commitment to people. Josh is a Yavneh alum who spent nine years as a camper and eight years on staff, and is part of a multi-generational Yavneh family. His connection to camp is both personal and profound; he understands, in a very real way, what Yavneh means.”
The search committee, working with an executive search firm, was charged with identifying candidates who would build on the camp’s 82 years of success and tradition, and who had the skills and vision to sustain and grow the camp community. Micley was the committee’s and board of directors’ unanimous top choice for the role.
Micley shared with the search committee that during his first summer as a Yavneh camper, he found his father’s name etched on a ceiling. And years later, as a camp counselor, he taught in the same classroom where his grandfather once did.
He will join full-time on May 4. Over the next few weeks, he will coordinate with the departing director, Jane-Rachel Schonbrun, who will help ensure a smooth leadership transition.
In his own letter to campers’ families, Micley wrote that “Yavneh is a community for which I have tremendous love and deep connection. It’s where I first realized that I wanted to dedicate my life to creating meaningful experiences for young people. It has shaped my Judaism, my connection to Israel, and my understanding of what it means to truly live in community with others.”
Gelman added that his “values, experience and deep connection to Yavneh’s mission make him an ideal fit for this role, and I am so excited for what’s ahead.”
Micley earned a B.A. in American studies, cum laude, from Tulane University; an M.Ed. in school leadership from Harvard University; and an M.S. in teaching from Fordham University.
He has already been introduced to year-round staff. After Passover, Camp Yavneh will announce opportunities for families, summer staff, donors and community partners to meet him, both in person and on Zoom.
