World ORT has appointed Dan Green as its new Director General and CEO, filling the posts vacated by the resignation of Avi Ganon in March.
The appointment was confirmed at a World ORT Board of Trustees meeting on Sunday.
Mr Green had served as World ORT’s Chief Operating Officer since 2016, and had previously been the CEO of ORT UK from 2012.
Before joining ORT, Mr Green had worked in the sales departments of BBC Magazines and the Jewish Chronicle.
Mr Green said that it was a “privilege and an honour” to be appointed, adding: “Our mission today is as relevant as it was 140 years ago when we were established in St Petersburg: providing education to the Jewish people.”
ORT was founded in 1880 in St Petersburg to provide professional and vocational training for Jews. It has since expanded into a globe-spanning organisation that has operated in 100 countries.
ORT, which is based in London, currently operates in over 30 countries, and has focussed in recent decades on expanding its presence throughout Latin America, central and eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
“I can vividly remember my first encounter with ORT in 1991where on my gap year in Israel I taught English at the ORT Ronson school in Ashkelon,” Mr Green said. “It was a formative experience for me, seeing that not every student has the same access to resources and technology that I was used to.”
Dr Conrad Giles, World ORT President, said: “With this appointment World ORT begins a new and exciting chapter in its continuing commitment to help provide quality education to hundreds of thousands of students around the world.”
He added that Mr Green’s “vision and strategic thinking are coupled with extraordinary people skills which will enable him to lead us and expand the impact of World ORT in tehe global educational community.”
World ORT is currently conducting a major strategic review intended to map out the future of the organisation, by focusing on developing three areas: the path from education to employment, Jewish values and “global citizenship”.
