“Investing in communities means investing in education—when it comes to Jewish education, there is no reason to compromise,” Uri Poliavich, who co-founded the Yael Foundation for Jewish Education with his wife, Yael, said at the organization’s annual awards conference in Vienna last week.

“We do not just want to create the biggest Jewish educational foundation in the world,” he said. “We want to create the future of the Jewish people and the people of Israel.”

Poliavich, 44, was born in Ukraine and only learned about Judaism around age 13, when his parents decided to make aliyah. He completed high school in Israel, followed by mandatory three-year military service. Between 2005 and 2009, he earned a bachelor of laws from Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan and began his career as a lawyer.

In 2010, Poliavich left Israel to pursue opportunities abroad and met Yael in Central Asia. She later converted to Judaism, and the couple has two young children, Matthew and Benjamin.

In 2016, Poliavich founded Soft2Bet, which began as a startup and has grown into a global iGaming provider.

Since its founding in 2020, the Yael Foundation has become a major force in Jewish education, taking a structured approach to supporting schools worldwide.

In the past year, the foundation awarded a total of €40 million ($47.5 million) in grants to 130 Jewish schools, educators and educational programs. It currently provides financial support to 64 day schools, 20 Sunday schools, 18 kindergartens and 11 after-school initiatives, in nearly 40 countries including Turkey, Kyrgyzstan and Gibraltar.

Local partners

“We work globally. Together with account managers who know the area, we go on the ground to the schools to identify institutions we can help grow and support by offering excellent Jewish education alongside regular curricula,” Poliavich told JNS.

“When we look at a partner, we choose carefully. It is not just a grant—it’s an investment. We start with small grants and monitor how the school performs as we help them grow,” he said.

Poliavich described the foundation’s hands-on model: “This year, in Jewish schools, we started with new account management. We want more Jewish students attending the schools. Headcount, Hebrew and connection to Israel and Judaism are our priorities. Academic subjects—math, English, proper education—come next. Whether in France, Argentina, Uruguay or Singapore, our account managers go on site and handle requests directly, proactively following up after schools reach out.”

Asked about his favorite project, Poliavich highlighted the Yael School in Limassol, Cyprus, built from scratch for the local Jewish community and expected to open in 2027. The foundation has invested more than €70 million ($83 million) in the school, which will educate 1,500 children. Another school is under construction in Lisbon, where no Jewish school has existed since the 16th century.

In September, the Yael Foundation and the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation launched a partnership to remodel the Jewish educational landscape across Europe.

The first fruits of the partnership will be allocated to the renovation and expansion of a prominent Jewish school in Rome, the 100-year-old Scuole Ebraiche di Roma. With a €25 million ($27.2 million) total investment goal, €14 million ($15.2 million) of which will be contributed by the Yael Foundation and the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, the project aims to further Jewish education at a time of increased interest, in large part because of rising antisemitism.

Poliavich said the foundation must move forward, work harder and deliver donations to ensure Jewish education continues to grow and that communities worldwide can welcome more children.

“I want my work to be remembered with one word—schools,” he said, noting that Sunday school, where he first tasted matzah as a child, remains his favorite.

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