JCC Association of North America announced the appointment of Rabbi Bill Kaplan as senior vice president of JCC Camps of North America, marking a renewed investment in the largest network of Jewish day and overnight camps on the continent.
In this role, Kaplan will lead the development of a dedicated continental department focused on strengthening JCC Camps, building leadership pipelines, and connecting camp professionals and communities. Serving approximately 75,000 campers annually across more than 100 day camps and overnight camps, JCC Camps are a powerful entry point into Jewish life, leadership, and community for children, teens, families and young adults across North America.
Rabbi Kaplan will begin his new role on a part-time basis in September 2026 and transition to full time on January 1, 2027.
“Camp changed my life as a kid, and it’s been the honor of my career to help other young people find that same sense of belonging, identity, and purpose,” said Kaplan in a press release. “I’ve seen firsthand what’s possible when a camp community has the right support behind it. I’m eager to bring that same commitment to camps across the continent. JCC Camps are already doing extraordinary work. My job is to help connect us, strengthen us, and make sure the field gets the recognition and partnership it has earned.”
JCC Camps are part of a JCC’s broader continuum, a network of early childhood education centers, family programs, teen initiatives, and adult learning opportunities that extends the camp relationship well beyond a single summer. This new department will strengthen JCC Camps directly and help JCCs leverage that connection, promoting deeper, lifelong engagement.
“JCC Camps — which comprise 68% of North America’s Jewish day camps and 17% of its Jewish overnight camps — represent one of the most powerful and far-reaching platforms for Jewish identity, belonging, leadership and community,” said Barak Hermann, the president and CEO of JCC Association of North America. “Our continental focus on JCC Camps reflects the extraordinary scale of this movement, the present and future of Jewish communities, and what we heard clearly from JCC professionals and leaders across the field. That’s why we’re building a new JCC Camps department within our Center for Jewish Peoplehood, and we’re thrilled Rabbi Kaplan will lead it. He has spent his career building Jewish community through the JCC Movement, including more than two decades leading Shalom Institute. I can think of no better leader to help guide this next chapter.”
Additional Information
Kaplan has served as CEO of Shalom Institute in Los Angeles for nearly 30 years, leading both day and overnight camp operations and transforming what was once a regional camp into a year-round, $8-million nonprofit agency and hub of Jewish life.
Under his direction, Shalom Institute became an independent nonprofit organization, expanded its staff and programs, improved its financial resources, and secured $55 million toward a $90-million capital campaign to rebuild its campus after the 2018 devastating Woolsey Fire and expand its endowment. He also launched Shemesh Farms, an innovative social enterprise that engages adults with diverse abilities and has received national recognition.
Kaplan’s connection to the JCC Movement began during his childhood in Los Angeles when he attended Camp JCA Shalom. His professional career in the field started at the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Los Angeles, where he held a series of leadership roles beginning in 1990. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University, an MBA in nonprofit management from the University of Judaism (now American Jewish University) and rabbinical ordination from the Academy for Jewish Religion in Los Angeles. Kaplan received a JCC Association scholarship toward his MBA and served on JCC Association’s board of directors from 2020 to 2026.
“Rabbi Bill Kaplan has spent decades showing what’s possible when camp is treated not just a summer program, but as a platform for Jewish identity and leadership,” said Rabbi Daniel A. Septimus, the executive director of the Center for Jewish Peoplehood. “As JCC Camps of North America officially joins our Center for Jewish Peoplehood, Rabbi Kaplan’s experience building Shalom Institute into a year-round hub gives us exactly the leadership we need to connect camp professionals across the continent and enrich this movement for the long term.”
