Photo by Dana Bar SIman Tov
2025
Few figures shaped the Jerusalem Foundation in recent years as profoundly as Shai Doron. Joining as President in 2018, Doron brought with him a clear and compelling vision for the city’s future, one rooted not only in physical development, but in people. His leadership was guided by a belief that Jerusalem’s strength lies in its diversity, and that investing in those who work across communities—often quietly and without recognition—is essential to the city’s resilience. Under his stewardship, the Foundation advanced its Jerusalem 2030 vision, placing particular emphasis on creative culture, shared society, and the cultivation of a new generation of civic leaders capable of navigating the city’s complexity with nuance and responsibility.
Doron’s sudden passing in the summer of 2024 left a deep void. Yet alongside the sense of loss, it clarified the urgency of continuing the work he had so passionately championed. The Shai Doron Leadership Fellows Program emerged directly from this moment, both as a tribute and as a continuation. As a reflection of Doron’s beliefs, the program identifies individuals already embedded in Jerusalem’s social fabric and gives them the tools, networks, and encouragement to deepen their impact.
Launched in 2025, the program is conceived as a long-term investment in the city’s civil society. Its aim is to identify and empower emerging leaders who are already shaping Jerusalem from within, across sectors, neighborhoods, and communities, and to support them in expanding their reach and influence. The focus is not on abstract leadership training, but on grounded, practice-based development. Fellows are selected for their demonstrated commitment to Jerusalem, their professional experience, and their capacity to act as bridges within a fragmented urban landscape.
The program’s first call for applications, published in early 2025, drew an impressive response. Eighty-five candidates, experienced professionals and managers from a wide range of fields, applied to join the inaugural cohort. The diversity of the applicant pool was striking and reflected one of the program’s core principles, that leadership in Jerusalem must emerge from its many social, cultural, and professional spheres. Following a rigorous selection process led by the Foundation and a panel of experts, eleven fellows were chosen. While varied in background, they share a common orientation, each is deeply engaged in the life of the city and committed to shaping it in ways that are inclusive, thoughtful, and forward-looking.
Under the direction of Yoav Rothschild, appointed as Program Director in February 2025, the fellowship is designed to provide strategic guidance, peer learning, and exposure to broader networks, while allowing fellows to remain anchored in their existing work. In this sense, the program does not seek to redirect leadership, but to strengthen it, amplifying efforts already underway across Jerusalem’s neighborhoods and institutions.
More than a leadership initiative, the Shai Doron Fellows Program carries a symbolic weight. It translates memory into action, ensuring that Doron’s values are not only remembered but enacted. Each cohort becomes, in effect, a living extension of his vision, leaders who operate with a similar commitment to equity, dialogue, and long-term thinking. As the program grows year by year, it will continue to cultivate a network of individuals whose influence extends beyond their immediate roles, shaping the city in ways that are both tangible and enduring.
In this way, the fellowship offers something rare. It does not impose a singular vision of Jerusalem’s future, but creates the conditions in which multiple visions can exist, interact, and evolve. That approach, open, pluralistic, and grounded in trust, was central to Shai Doron’s leadership. Through the fellows, it remains an active and guiding force in the life of the city.
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