Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, announces that Ellen Finkelstein has been named chief executive officer and executive director. Beginning on Jan. 6, 2025, she will lead the country’s largest Jewish women’s organization, with nearly 300,000 members, donors and supporters and a professional staff of 200.
Finkelstein comes to Hadassah from Yeshiva University, where she served most recently as chief strategy officer in the Office of Institutional Advancement. There, she was responsible for a wide range of external-facing areas, including annual giving; corporate and foundation relations; alumni services and engagement; event fundraising; community engagement; and philanthropic marketing and communications.
Said Carol Ann Schwartz, national president of Hadassah: “I and the rest of Hadassah’s leadership team are delighted to welcome Ellen, a proven leader with extensive experience in Jewish communal work and an outstanding track record in institutional advancement. She is the perfect person to work with us to build on Hadassah’s accomplishments, increase its impact globally and lead the organization into the future.”
Finklestein stated that “as a Jewish woman and a Zionist, there is no place I would rather be than at Hadassah.”
She continued, saying “with its commitment to Israel, its dedication to fighting antisemitism, its determination to improve healthcare for women and children and its mission to stay on the front line of medical advancement, Hadassah is playing a vital role in bringing the Jewish community together and helping us focus on what is important. I couldn’t be prouder to have this opportunity.”
As chief strategy officer in YU’s Office of Institutional Advancement, Finkelstein helped the university raise more than $90 million in a single year—the largest amount in the school’s history—and personally secured multiple seven-figure gifts. Her accomplishments while at YU also include using data-driven strategies to increase the annual fund by 27% and the donor base by 16%, setting up corporate- and foundation-giving departments; creating a new pipeline of major donors by establishing the YU Parents’ Council; and increasing the annual gala’s net proceeds by 25%.
She began her career at Accenture Consulting, where she honed her strategic thinking, business development and project management skills as an advisor to Fortune 500 clients. Before joining YU, she was director of marketing at Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Northern New Jersey.
A graduate of the University of Virginia, Finkelstein was born and raised in New Jersey, where she lives today. The mother of three adult sons, she is an avid hiker and college basketball fan.