Anat Ramaty Shashua 

Anat Ramaty Shashua is an Israeli philanthropist and social entrepreneur who has spent nearly three decades advancing opportunities for children, youth, and young adults at risk and developing long-term solutions to complex social challenges in Israel. Her work brings together extensive hands-on experience, social entrepreneurship, and philanthropic leadership, guided by the belief that lasting social change requires deep collaboration among philanthropy, government, civil society, and organizations working directly with communities.

As President of the Shashua Family Foundation, which she co-founded with Prof. Amnon Shashua in 2018, Ramaty Shashua leads the Foundation’s philanthropic vision and strategy. The Foundation works to strengthen social solidarity, reduce disparities, and advance social mobility in Israel through initiatives focused on science and technology education in underserved communities, early childhood, children and youth at risk, the long-term recovery of hostages and their families, and the development of new social ventures.

Ramaty Shashua’s philanthropic approach is rooted in a deep understanding of the everyday realities of children and young people in vulnerable circumstances. She began her professional career in 1999 at Orr Shalom, where she spent nearly a decade managing family group homes for children removed from their homes by Israel’s welfare authorities. Since 2018, she has served as Chair of the organization’s Board of Directors. Orr Shalom is one of Israel’s leading organizations providing foster care, family-based residential care, and transition-to-independence programs for children and young adults. Her direct experience working with children and families continues to shape her approach to policy, partnerships, and social investment.

In 2008, she founded the Aharon Shandor Association, named in memory of her father, which supports young adults leaving residential care without a family support network as they transition to independent adulthood. She has served as Chair of the Association since its founding.

In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 crisis, she founded the Social Solidarity Foundation, which today serves as the entrepreneurial arm of the Shashua Family Foundation. As part of its work, the Foundation developed a social-impact app that provided approximately 15,000 small business owners with practical tools and support to help advance and grow their businesses. In parallel, through a distinctive peer-selection model, it supported approximately 4,000 small business owners with nearly NIS 150 million in assistance. Its current work focuses on developing solutions to strengthen digital inclusion among marginalized communities.

Since the October 7, 2023 attacks, Ramaty Shashua has led the Foundation’s response to Israel’s national emergency, with a particular focus on the long-term recovery of hostages and their families, the development of new early-childhood programs, and trauma-informed care for children in northern and southern Israel. As part of this work, she is building meaningful partnerships across the philanthropic sector, bringing together Israeli and international philanthropy, government agencies, civil society organizations, researchers, and practitioners to develop shared knowledge, infrastructure, and coordinated responses to complex and evolving needs.

Throughout her career, Ramaty Shashua has worked to advance strategic partnerships among philanthropy, government, and organizations working on the ground. She serves on the boards of Sheatufim and the Institute for Law and Philanthropy at Tel Aviv University, and is a member of Tel Aviv University’s Board of Governors and the Public Forum for Youth Villages, Residential Care, and Foster Care.

Ramaty Shashua holds a research-based M.A. in Educational Counseling, with a specialization in Special Education, and a B.A. in Special Education and Geography, both from Tel Aviv University. She also completed a professional specialization at Boston University focused on recreation and leisure for people with disabilities.

After a long career as a CEO and senior software executive in Silicon Valley, Jim Heeger now spends full-time working as a board member of Jewish non-profit organizations. He is a long-time member of the Jewish Funders Network. Currently he serves on the board of iTrek as Finance Chair, on the Executive Committee of M2: The Institute for Experiential Jewish Education, and on the board of the Jewish Agency for Israel. He recently joined the Advisory Board of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Jim is also the Immediate Past Board Chair of the Foundation for Jewish Camp where he recently led the board through a strategic planning process and executive leadership transition. He has also been a past Chair of the Advisory Board of his local camp, URJ Camp Newman in Santa Rosa, California, overseeing a $23 million renovation of its facilities.

Jim has been involved in a number of organizations that focus on Jewish community and continuity. He is a Past Board Chair Mem Global (formerly Moishe House), a Past Chair of the San Francisco Jewish Federation, and a past Executive Committee member of the Jewish Federations of North America. He has also served as President of Hillel at Stanford, Senior Vice-chair of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, and President of Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills.

In his career in software technology, Jim led three different companies as CEO – Fotiva (acquired by Adobe), PayCycle (acquired by Intuit) and Greenroad Technologies. He also served for many years in executive management roles at Intuit and Adobe after getting his start at Hewlett-Packard.

Jim earned an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University and a BS in Management from MIT. Jim lives in Palo Alto, California, and Lenox, Massachusetts with his wife Daryl Messinger who is also very active in board leadership in the Jewish world.