New York, NY, March 15, 2023 — Maimonides Fund is pleased to announce two exciting new additions to its New York-based programming staff. Chanan Weissman will join as Director of the new SAPIR Institute, and Zackary Wainer will serve as Director of Special Initiatives.
“We are excited for Chanan and Zack to join our growing team,” said Maimonides Fund President Mark Charendoff of the new hires. “They both come with considerable expertise that will add new and important dimensions to our work, enabling us to grow our impact and the positive change we can make for Jewish communities and the State of Israel.”
Beginning April 1, Chanan Weissman will conceptualize, launch and lead the new SAPIR Institute, which will develop a suite of programmatic efforts inspired by the quarterly journal SAPIR: Ideas for a Thriving Jewish Future, published by Maimonides Fund and edited by Bret Stephens.
Weissman comes to Maimonides after more than 12 years in the federal government, including two stints as the White House Liaison to the American Jewish Community, first in the final year of the Obama Administration and then in the first year of the Biden Administration. Most recently, Weissman served as Section Chief of the Internet Freedom unit at the Department of State. Weissman entered into government service as a Presidential Management Fellow and served in a number of capacities throughout, including in various roles on the National Security Council; Bahrain desk officer in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs; and Yemen/Kuwait Action Officer in the Department of Defense. He was the recipient of numerous State Department Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards. He is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and a Political Partner at the Truman National Security Project.
As Director of Special Initiatives, Zack Wainer will serve as an in-house consultant to the Fund’s Board and program staff, developing new strategies and initiatives. He comes to the Fund with a background in management consulting, most recently at Boston Consulting Group, where his work revolved around corporate strategy and change management, with a special focus on education. Wainer holds a Ph.D. from Brown University in the Ancient Near East and History of Science, completed a post-doctoral Fulbright fellowship at Hebrew University, and taught courses in Biblical Hebrew, Mediterranean mythology and ancient medicine in the Department of Classical Studies at William & Mary College.
Maimonides Fund is a private grantmaking organization that funds in North America and Israel. For more info on the Fund and its program areas, visit www.maimonidesfund.org. To learn more about SAPIR, visit www.sapirjournal.org.