Rabbi Aaron Lerner

Rabbi Aaron Lerner became president and CEO of the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles in 2023. Known as a builder of Jewish organizations, over his two-year tenure, The Foundation attracted a record $290 million in contributions, distributed $385 million in grants together with its 1,400 client families, and assets reached $1.5 billion.

Previously, Rabbi Lerner served as executive director of Hillel at UCLA where he fostered an inclusive, empowered campus community and increased engagement to nearly 2,000 students annually. Lerner also played a leading role in Israel advocacy and helped develop initiatives that were replicated on 80 college campuses nationwide. Earlier in his career, Lerner originated hundreds of millions of dollars of debt and equity funding for commercial real estate transactions.

He was ordained by Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, the “open” Orthodox seminary in Riverdale, the Bronx, N.Y., with an emphasis in education and holds a business administration degree in finance from USC’s Marshall School of Business. A Wexner Graduate Fellow and Schusterman Fellow, Lerner and his wife, Rachel, are the parents of three children and reside in LA’s Carthay Square neighborhood.