
Becca Garfinkle
Board Chair | Yahel Alum
Becca Garfinkel was raised in Michigan and attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor
for both undergrad and law school (go blue!). In law school, she was a leader in the Jewish
graduate student community and was a student attorney for the International Refugee
Assistance Project. After completing her law degree, she moved to Jerusalem and now works
for the Legal Aid Center for Olim, which assists vulnerable immigrants in obtaining status in
Israel. Becca is a current applicant to the New York Bar and plans to pursue licensure as an
attorney in Israel.
Becca was a Yahel Social Change Fellow in 2015-2016, where she was proud to be a member
of the first Lod cohort. She taught English at Gnei Aviv Primary School and spent her afternoons alternating between an English book club for high schoolers at the library, a community garden in the Ramat Eshkol neighborhood, and an after school program in Gnei Aviv. During her time in Israel, Becca also trained the Israeli Women’s National and Girls’ Junior National softball teams.
Abravanel and her husband lived for more than 30 years in Portland, Oregon, where she worked as Education Director within several nonprofit community-based organizations and developed a nationally-recognized service-learning program. She was recruited to DC in 2009 as Vice-President of Education at Youth Service America.
A long-time participant within the Jewish community, Abravanel has served on a number of professional and community boards and advisory councils. She served as the professional director of the American Jewish Committee in Portland, later becoming a lay leader and president of AJC’s Portland Chapter. She was also the Portland Federation’s JCRC Chair. Nationally, Abravanel has been a Vice-Chair of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, and a member of the AJC Board of Governors for ten years, leading its Engaging America and Advocacy Task Forces. She is currently a member of AJC’s Washington Regional Office Board of Directors.