Raymond Simonson

CEO, JW3

Raymond is CEO of JW3, London's Jewish Community Centre –the only JCC and Jewish arts and culture venue of its kind in the UK -which opened in October 2013. He has a BA in Jewish History, an MA in Applied Anthropology and Community &Youth Work, and over 20 years' experience in informal Jewish education, leadership development and community building. He was the first full time Executive Director of Limmud, prior to which he was the UJIA/Jewish Agency Director of Informal Jewish Education, where he spent a decade working with thousands of Jewish educators and youth leaders across the UK.

In a lay capacity, he sits on the Limmud FSU International Steering Committee, and the advisory boards of Mitzvah Day and the London Jewish Forum, and mentors a handful of young professional leaders within the British Jewish community.Raymond is the author of the chapter “Limmud: A Unique Model of Transformative Jewish Learning” published in the ‘International Handbook of Jewish Education’. He is grateful that his wife Helene, an NHS Psychiatric Nurse, and two children Mossy and Libby, are incredibly patient.