Alex Dudov
Not many CEOs can say their first job was stamping envelopes. Yael Eckstein can. Today she runs a nonprofit that raises over $228 million a year, earns nearly $800K in annual compensation, and appears on The Jerusalem Post's list of the world's most influential Jews. The international fellowship of christians and jews ceo salary has drawn attention, debate, and scrutiny - but behind the numbers is a career built slowly, from the ground up, inside the very organization she now leads.
Yael Eckstein's First Job at IFCJ: Stamping Envelopes
Yael grew up in Chicago watching her father, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, build the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews from nothing. He founded it in 1983 with a simple idea: bring Christians and Jews together around a shared commitment to Israel and humanitarian care. When Yael joined the organization, there was no fast track. Her first task was stamping envelopes. That was it.
She had studied biblical and Jewish studies and sociology at Queens College in New York and Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She moved to Israel permanently in 2005 with her husband. Over the next 15 years, she worked through every level of the organization - director of program development, senior vice president, global executive vice president. By 2017, the board had named her president-elect. Her father had publicly blessed her as his successor the year before.
From $400K EVP to $797K CEO: The IFCJ Salary Climb
In February 2019, Rabbi Eckstein died suddenly at 67. Yael stepped into the CEO role at a nonprofit already generating over $100 million in annual revenue. Not everyone in the philanthropic world was convinced the transition made sense. But she didn't slow down.
Tax records tell a clear story. In 2018, while still serving as executive vice president, Yael earned over $400,000. Once she took over as CEO, her compensation climbed. Between 2017 and 2022, her total pay from the organization came to nearly $4 million. The international fellowship of christians and jews ceo salary peaked in 2022 at $797,547, placing her among the highest-paid executives in the nonprofit religious sector.
IFCJ Defends Its CEO Pay With Annual Audits
The pay has not gone unquestioned. IFCJ has responded by publishing an independent compensation audit every year, conducted by Willis Towers Watson, a global HR advisory firm. The 2024 audit covered base salaries and total cash compensation for four senior roles, measuring them against peer nonprofits of similar size. The organization says the findings confirm its pay is fair and market-aligned.
In 2023, the story got more complicated. Leaked files showed that a reputation firm called Eliminalia had apparently been hired to scrub online criticism of the Eckstein family's pay - including a combined $4 million compensation figure from 2019, a year that included a death benefit paid to the elder Eckstein's widow. IFCJ denied any involvement, though it could not rule out that Yechiel Eckstein had hired the firm on his own.
International Fellowship of Christians and Jews CEO Salary and the Mission Behind It
Whatever you think of the numbers, Eckstein has built IFCJ into a serious operation. In 2022 alone, the organization spent $132 million on grants - primarily through its Israeli partner Hakeren L'Yedidut - and another $62 million on fundraising and advertising. The international fellowship of christians and jews ceo salary is a small slice of a much larger financial picture. Eckstein has appeared twice on The Jerusalem Post's list of 50 Most Influential Jews, won its Humanitarian Award in 2023, and received the Pillars of Jerusalem award in 2025.
Yael Eckstein's Philosophy on How to Build a Career That Lasts
Eckstein doesn't talk about success the way most executives do. Her version is less about strategy and more about showing up. She started at the bottom and learned the work from inside. She still visits Holocaust survivors in person, carrying groceries. She talks openly about stewardship - the idea that running a charity means being accountable for the trust of millions of donors, not just managing a budget. When she says "trust is the foundation," she means it in the most practical sense: without it, the $228 million stops coming in. That, more than anything, is what keeps her grounded - and what built the career behind the salary.
Alex Dudov
