Governance

The Institute for Jewish Policy Research is a registered charity (no. 252626). Our charitable mission is to enhance the prospects of Jewish communities in the UK and across Europe by conducting research and informing policy development in dialogue with those best placed to positively influence Jewish life.

JPR’s Board members govern the strategic direction of the Institute and as charity trustees, they are entrusted with ensuring that the organisation is solvent, well run and delivering on our charitable purpose and in compliance with charity law, our charter and bye-laws.

Each of our trustees brings a wealth of experience from within the Jewish community sector, as well as particular professional skills and experience which we draw on to support our work. Trustees serve for a maximum of three terms of three years each. We seek to ensure a broad Jewish denominational, gender and skills balance across the Board as far as possible, and to address any weaknesses in this regard in making new appointments.

Presidents

Lord Leigh of Hurley - Joint President and Trustee

A chartered accountant by training, Lord Leigh was elevated to the peerage in 2013 and serves as Senior Treasurer of the Conservative Party. He is a Senior Partner at Cavendish Corporate Finance, President of the Westminster Synagogue, Chairman of the Jerusalem Foundation (UK), and sits on the executive board of Conservative Friends of Israel and the Jewish Leadership Council.

Baron Kestenbaum of Foxcote - Joint President

Chief Operating Officer of investment trust RIT Capital Partners plc, Baron Kestenbaum was created a life peer in 2011 and sits on the Labour benches. He is a former Chief Executive of the Office of the Chief Rabbi, UJIA and NESTA, and currently serves as Vice President of Labour Together and the Jewish Leadership Council, and an Honorary Life President of Maccabi GB.

Senior leadership

David Ereira, Chair

A founding Partner of Ereira Mendoza & Co (Real Estate Advisory). An Honorary Life President of Norwood, having previously served as Norwood Chairman and Vice President of S&P Sephardi, he advises various community organisations on social care, wellbeing, learning disabilities, autism and special educational needs.

Denise Joseph, Treasurer

A chartered accountant, she has worked extensively with charities and social enterprises since 2004, including as Mango's Fundraising and Finance Director. She is a trustee of several other UK charities, including Trust for London, JW3 Trust, Nisa-Nashim, the Jewish and Muslim Women’s Network, OneVoice Europe and the British Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Other trustees

Mark Berman is the Founder and CEO of CompliGlobe Ltd., and a financial services policy adviser for City of London Corporation and the Investment Association Trade & Investment Committee. He is a member of the City of London Solicitors’ Livery Company and the Worshipful Company of International Bankers, the U.S. Supreme Court Bar, the New York State Bar (ret.) and the Law Society of England & Wales (ret.).

Felicia Epstein is a lawyer specialising in employment and discrimination and works as a civil servant advising the government on employment law. A freelance writer and lecturer on legal, women’s and Jewish issues, she was a founder of the Kol Rina Partnership Minyan and the women’s megillah reading at the London School of Jewish Studies.

Professor Jonathan Haskel CBE is a Professor of Economics at Imperial College Business School, Imperial College London, a non-executive Director of the UK Statistics Authority, and a member of the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee. He was awarded a CBE in 2018. Alongside his role as a JPR trustee, he also serves as a JPR Senior Research Advisor.

Dr. Efrat Sopher serves as Chair of the Ezri Center for Iran and Gulf States Research and serves as Governor at the University of Haifa. She is an advisor on foreign policy in the Middle East, founding Ezri Strategic Consultancy Ltd, and serves on the World Jewish Congress Executive Committee and Jewish Diplomatic Corps. Efrat studied International Relations, earning a B.A. degree from USC, California, and received her Masters and PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science, Efrat formerly practised as a Solicitor and also works to foster interfaith relations, and battle antisemitism.

Senior Research Advisors

Professor Sergio DellaPergola is an Emeritus Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a leading expert in the demography of world Jewry and Chair of the JPR European Jewish Demography Unit. He has published widely and served as a consultant to numerous major organisations. He was awarded the prestigious Marshall Sklare Award for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry in 1999.

Professor Stephen H. Miller OBE is an Emeritus Professor of Social Research at City, University of London. He has published widely in the fields of research methodology and Jewish social research and has particular expertise in the nature of Jewish identity and the social attitudes of British Jews.