Akselrod Alena

About

Alena Akselrod is the Vice President for Outreach and Engagement at Leading Edge, where she develops connections between Jewish nonprofit organizations and helps expand access to resources, insights, and partnerships within the sector. She has been with the organization since 2016 and brings a blend of strategic relationship-building, data analysis, and systems thinking to her work; previously, she served as Senior Director of Data Strategy, overseeing sector-wide surveys and data collection and interpretation initiatives. Her career is closely tied to the social sector and working with immigrant and youth communities. Before Leading Edge, Alena Akselrod worked for 13 years at a JCC in South Brooklyn, where she supported Russian-speaking Jewish (RSJ) families and contributed to youth-focused programs; her experience reflects an interest in inclusion, community building, and services tailored to individuals in transition or vulnerability. She was born in Russia and grew up in Brooklyn after her family emigrated from the former Soviet Union in the mid-1990s. She pursued master's studies at Brandeis University, earning an M.B.A. in Nonprofit Management and an M.A. in Jewish Professional Leadership. Professionally, she is also a certified MBTI practitioner, Wexner Graduate Fellow & Davidson Scholar, as well as a JCC Association Merrin Teen Professional Fellow. In the public sphere, she also appears as an opinion writer in debates on identity, migration, and belonging, including from the perspective of a family with roots in the Republic of Moldova.