[Headshot of Jay Ruderman professionally dressed and smiling at the camera]
Jay Ruderman:
Jay Ruderman is the President of the Ruderman Family Foundation, which focuses on the inclusion of people with disabilities worldwide and educating Israeli leaders on the American Jewish community.
He also has served on the Board of Directors of the Jewish Funders Network and is a member of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Executive Committee.
Jay is a life-long Bostonian. Upon graduating law school, he began his career as an assistant district attorney in Salem, Massachusetts. In the fall of 2001, he became Deputy Director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in New England.
In 2005, Mr. Ruderman enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and became the liaison between the IDF and Diaspora Jewry. After his service in the IDF, he returned to AIPAC as the Leadership Director for AIPAC in Israel.
Jay graduated from Brandeis University with honors and received his J.D. from Boston University School of Law. He lives in Boston with his wife, Shira, and their four children.
Clip from Episode 2: The Ruderman Foundation
Jay:
"Our society set up to look at disability as an issue of charity and you know, "these are people who are less fortunate and they need our help and they need our money and our support." That mindset is everything that we're trying to change. And there are champions beyond people with disabilities in industry's like entertainment and athletics that have a personal connection. They have a child. They themselves have a disability. They have a sibling with disability. We have to move beyond that - We have to move to people who just don't have that personal connection right away and realize that this is a civil rights issue. And if I would see one success, it's the banding of the disability Community together."
Follow Jay:
Twitter @JayRuderman
Facebook @JayRuderman1