JCC Association Names Rabbi Bill Kaplan Senior Vice President of JCC Camps of North America

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CONTACT: Lauren Magy, JCC Association of North America, [email protected]

JCC Association Names Rabbi Bill Kaplan Senior Vice President of JCC Camps of North America

Kaplan will lead a renewed effort to strengthen camp leadership, build connections across the field, and elevate the impact of JCC Camps

JCC Association of North America today announced the appointment of Rabbi Bill Kaplan as senior vice president of JCC Camps of North America, marking a renewed investment in the largest network of Jewish day and overnight camps on the continent. In this role, Rabbi Kaplan will lead the development of a dedicated continental department focused on strengthening JCC Camps, building leadership pipelines, and connecting camp professionals and communities. Serving approximately 75,000 campers annually across more than 100 day camps and overnight camps, JCC Camps are a powerful entry point into Jewish life, leadership, and community for children, teens, families, and young adults across North America.

JCC Camps are more than a summer program-they're part of a JCC's broader continuum, a network of early childhood education centers, family programs, teen initiatives, and adult learning opportunities that extends the camp relationship well beyond a single summer. This new department will strengthen JCC Camps directly and help JCCs leverage that connection, promoting deeper, lifelong engagement within the JCC Movement.

JCC Association is advancing its work through a new strategic framework developed by President and CEO Barak Hermann in partnership with the board of directors. Central to this framework are three Centers of Excellence: the Center for Jewish Peoplehood, the Center for Talent Development, and the Center for Innovation and Impact. Together, they will sharpen the organization's focus, strengthen and expand existing programs, and launch new initiatives that grow the JCC Movement's impact on Jewish life and the wider community. JCC Camps of North America will be part of the Center for Jewish Peoplehood, which leads JCC Association's work to build and enrich Jewish identity, connection, and belonging throughout the JCC Movement. For generations, JCC Camps have shaped Jewish identity, cultivated future leaders, built meaningful communities, and instilled a lifelong connection to the Jewish people.

"JCC Camps-which comprise 68% of North America's Jewish day camps and 17% of its Jewish overnight camps-represent one of the most powerful and far-reaching platforms for Jewish identity, belonging, leadership, and community," said Barak Hermann, president and CEO of JCC Association of North America. "Our continental focus on JCC Camps reflects the extraordinary scale of this movement, the present and future of Jewish communities, and what we heard clearly from JCC professionals and leaders across the field: JCC Camps need JCC Association of North America to connect the field, strengthen leadership, elevate their collective story, enhance partnerships, and advocate for their impact. That's why we're building a new JCC Camps department within our Center for Jewish Peoplehood, and we're thrilled that Rabbi Bill Kaplan will lead it. Rabbi Kaplan has spent his career building Jewish community through the JCC Movement, including more than two decades leading Shalom Institute and transforming it from a regional camp into a thriving, year-round hub of Jewish life. I can think of no better leader to help guide this next chapter."

"Camp changed my life as a kid, and it's been the honor of my career to help other young people find that same sense of belonging, identity, and purpose," said Rabbi Bill Kaplan. "I've seen firsthand what's possible when a camp community has the right support behind it, and I'm eager to bring that same commitment to camps across the continent. JCC Camps are already doing extraordinary work - my job is to help connect us, strengthen us, and make sure the field gets the recognition and partnership it has earned."

Rabbi Kaplan brings decades of leadership experience in the JCC Movement and Jewish camping to his new role. He has served as chief executive officer of Shalom Institute in Los Angeles for nearly 30 years, leading both day and overnight camp operations and transforming what was once a regional camp into a year-round, $8-million nonprofit agency and hub of Jewish life. Under his direction, Shalom Institute became an independent nonprofit organization, expanded its staff and programs, improved its financial resources, and secured $55 million toward a $90-million capital campaign to rebuild its campus after the 2018 devastating Woolsey Fire and expand its endowment. He also launched Shemesh Farms, an innovative social enterprise that engages adults with diverse abilities and has received national recognition.

Rabbi Kaplan's connection to the JCC Movement began during his childhood in Los Angeles when he attended Camp JCA Shalom. His professional career in the field started at the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Los Angeles, where he held a series of leadership roles beginning in 1990 - including assistant camp director and registrar, and later director of Camp JCA Shalom - before becoming chief executive officer of Shalom Institute. Rabbi Kaplan holds a bachelor's degree from Wesleyan University, an MBA in nonprofit management from the University of Judaism (now American Jewish University), and rabbinical ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion in Los Angeles. Rabbi Kaplan received a JCC Association scholarship toward his MBA. He served on JCC Association's board of directors from 2020 to 2026 and brings additional experience in Jewish education, camping, governance, and communal leadership to the role.

"Rabbi Bill Kaplan has spent decades showing what's possible when camp is treated not just a summer program, but as a platform for Jewish identity and leadership," said Rabbi Daniel A. Septimus, executive director of the Center for Jewish Peoplehood. "As JCC Camps of North America officially joins our Center for Jewish Peoplehood, Rabbi Kaplan's experience building Shalom Institute into a year-round hub gives us exactly the leadership we need to connect camp professionals across the continent and enrich this movement for the long term."

Rabbi Kaplan will begin his new role on a part-time basis in September 2026 and transition to full time on January 1, 2027.

JCC Association, in partnership with the JCC Movement, dynamically influences efforts to drive stronger Jewish community, vibrant Jewish life, and intentional and measurable Jewish outcomes in local communities and across the continent. JCCs serve more than 1.5 million people weekly-in person, and online-and drive an economic engine that totals $1.6 billion annually.

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About JCC Association of North America

JCC Association of North America, through its three Centers of Excellence-Peoplehood, Talent Development, and Innovation and Impact-leads the JCC Movement, the largest and most inclusive platform for Jewish life in the United States and Canada, which includes nearly 150 Jewish Community Centers and JCC Camps and JWB Jewish Chaplains Council®. Collectively, the JCC Movement engages more than 1.5 million people each week- in person and online. With leadership and support of JCC Association, the JCC Movement strengthens Jewish community, advances vibrant Jewish life, and delivers intentional, measurable impact, locally, continent-wide, and wherever Jewish life is lived. Learn more at JCCA.org or on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

Please note that JCC Association of North America should not be referred to as JCCA or the JCC Association but initially as JCC Association of North America and as JCC Association in subsequent references.