The long-term development of a school depends on many factors, including qualified teachers, effective leadership, and well-organized educational processes. These elements play an important role in creating a stable learning environment and supporting educational continuity within Jewish communities. Building them is the focus of Yael Poliavich, a philanthropist and entrepreneur who co-founded the Yael Foundation in 2020. Rather than funding buildings alone, Yael Poliavich has directed the foundation toward the people inside them, a model that now supports 143 formal and informal educational programs and reaches around 22,500 students across 45 countries.
From Education to Long-Term Community Development
Yael Poliavich was born in 1982 in Kyrgyzstan, into a household where learning was simply part of ordinary life. Her mother taught music at the M. Abdraev Republican Secondary Special Boarding Music School in Bishkek, and growing up around that work gave Yael Poliavich an early sense that teaching produces results measured over decades rather than over a single school term.
That exposure left her with a deep respect for the people who carry the work and for the patience it demands. Between 1999 and 2004 she studied at the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, completing a degree in Economics, Finance and Credit.
That training led into a long professional career. Until 2021, Yael Poliavich worked as a finance professional across business operations, financial planning and organizational management. Budgeting, measurement and planning several years ahead became second nature, and those same habits now guide her philanthropy, where supporting teachers and schools demands long-term planning and disciplined spending.
An educator-first model
The foundation was established in 2020 to give Jewish children access to quality education regardless of where they live. Yael Poliavich built it to strengthen organizations already working in their own communities rather than to run schools from the outside. Within each country, the foundation partners with local leaders who hold the trust of families and share its standards, then adds funding, resources and access to experienced educators.
That model places teachers and school leaders at the center of the work. The foundation invests in teacher training and curriculum development, helps schools recruit and keep qualified staff, and supports principals in running institutions that operate steadily over time. For Yael Poliavich, this is the most direct route to better outcomes for students: a well-prepared teacher reaches every child in a classroom, year after year.
Programs that connect educators
Beyond individual schools, Yael Poliavich supports programs that link educators internationally. The Yael International Summit gathers more than two hundred principals and community leaders from dozens of countries for several days of workshops and planning. The annual Yael Awards close with a ceremony recognizing the schools and educators behind the strongest programs.
The foundation is built on partnership, with local organizations and communities playing a central role. Within each community it backs organizations that families already trust, then supplies the funding, training and curriculum support those groups need to raise their standards.
Alongside it, the Innovation in Education program introduces modern teaching methods, while the Jewish Academy of Excellence helps schools meet both academic and Jewish learning benchmarks. Together these programs give partner institutions a practical path from short-term survival to lasting, self-sustaining growth across the communities they serve.
In April 2025 it launched the International Jewish School Leadership Exchange, which connects principals and administrators internationally. Programs focused on innovation and academic standards, including the Jewish Academy of Excellence, round out this work.
The long horizon
Yael Poliavich has also extended the foundation’s reach through partnerships. Underlying the work is a consistent thesis: a school lasts only when the people running it are capable, not simply when the funding is in place. Teacher development, leadership and shared practice therefore sit at the center of the foundation’s programs, treated as core investments in their own right.
As Jewish communities continue to change, Yael Poliavich has kept the foundation’s strategy consistent. The clearest measure of progress is not any single announcement but the sustained growth of its programs across 45 countries and the roughly 22,500 students they reach. On that record, the priorities Yael Poliavich set in 2020 continue to guide a growing international effort.
