Jean Epstein Judes

Jean Epstein Judes

Jean Judes was the Executive Director of Beit Issie Shapiro until 2019, Israel’s leading non-profit organization in the field of disabilities, which impacts on over 500,000 people annually. Through international affiliations, some of the innovative programs reached professionals in 33 countries around the world.

Jean has led a strategy of scaling social impact through developing innovative social models, influencing State Policy and Community Attitudes and developing and disseminating knowledge through research and training. Jean has presented many times in the United Nations on the innovations she  developed with her team in Israel as well as presented in the WHO.

Jean has a BA (Social Work) from Wits University and a Masters in Social Work, Planning and Management  from the Bar Ilan University, and has been a leader in the civil society and non-profit world for over 30 years. She is dedicated to bringing about social change, and believes full heartedly that in order to improve the quality of life of people, it is important to focus on macro and micro levels in the society.

Jean has written various articles in International Journals on a number of subjects, including the quality of life of families with children with disabilities, coalition building, and others. She is currently teaching at the University and consults to organizations in Israel and South Africa.