Barbara Abrahamson

Rabbi B. Elka Abrahamson has served as President of The Wexner Foundation since 2011, overseeing the full range of the Foundation's leadership-development activities in partnership with its chairs and founders, Abigail and Leslie Wexner. The Wexner Foundation, based in Columbus, Ohio (with an Israel office), is best known for programs such as the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, the Wexner Heritage Program, and the Wexner Israel Fellowship, which invest in Jewish professional and volunteer leaders in North America and public-service leaders in Israel.

A native Minnesotan, Abrahamson earned her teaching degree from the University of Minnesota and began her career developing curricula for religious schools and informal Jewish educational settings, particularly summer camps. She was ordained as a rabbi at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in New York. She began her rabbinate as associate rabbi at Peninsula Temple Beth El in San Mateo, California, and later served — alongside her husband, Rabbi Martin (Misha) Zinkow — as co-senior rabbi at Mount Zion Temple in St. Paul, Minnesota. She has also served as a High Holiday rabbi at the 92nd Street Y in New York City.

Abrahamson joined The Wexner Foundation in 2001. For close to a decade she was a faculty and selection-committee member of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, then became Director of the Graduate Fellowship Program and Vice President before being named President in 2011. She is a dedicated student and teacher of Mussar (a Jewish ethical/character-development tradition).

Her recognition includes the Bernard Reisman Award for outstanding professional contributions to the Jewish community, and being named by *Newsweek* as one of the "50 most influential rabbis in North America."

• No evidence of angel/venture investing. Abrahamson's professional focus is philanthropic leadership development, not equity investment. There is no verifiable public record of a personal angel-investing thesis, check size, or startup portfolio.
• The organization she leads, The Wexner Foundation, "invests" in people, not companies — identifying and developing high-potential Jewish communal leaders in North America and public-service leaders in Israel through fellowships, seminars, and networks.
• Where the Foundation's mission is stated, it centers on strengthening and educating Jewish professional and volunteer leadership and Israeli public-sector leadership, in partnership with Abigail and Leslie Wexner.