Welcoming the new YAD President, Sarah Persitz

Please join us in welcoming Sarah Persitz as the new president of the Young Adult Division of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund. Since moving to San Francisco in 2011, Sarah has been involved with the Federation as part of Women’s Philanthropy, serving on the host committee for Power of One, and most recently as the YAD campaign chair. She volunteers with Jewish Family and Children’s Services through the Seniors at Home initiative and remains active with the Schusterman Foundation’s ROI community, among other activities. 

Sarah is passionate about community, Israel, and Jewish continuity. Having not grown up in a traditionally Jewish home, she was first inspired to delve deeper into her Jewish identity during a Birthright Israel trip in college. Since then, she has sought to build community wherever she goes, creating programs, serving as a connector across social hubs, and always working to provide opportunities for her peers to engage in “doing Jewish.”

Sarah recently finished 6½ years at AIPAC, where, as San Francisco director, she led advocacy efforts for the pro-Israel communities in San Francisco, Marin, Napa and Sonoma. In 2007, Sarah lived in Israel, conducting independent research on the tensions between religious and secular components of Israeli society. Navigating the politics, history and tense emotions within Israel allowed her to further understand her own mixed identity, ultimately strengthening her sense of Jewish connection. She is a graduate of the University of Washington with a degree in Comparative History of Ideas.