Margo Hughes-Robinson
Executive Director
Rabbi Margo Hughes-Robinson Appointed as Executive Director for Partners for Progressive Israel
The Board of Directors and officers of Partners for Progressive Israel (PPI) are delighted to announce the selection of Rabbi Margo Hughes-Robinson as the organization’s new Executive Director, effective April 1, 2024.
Rabbi Hughes-Robinson brings to PPI a passion for peace building and an incisive political analysis of the on-the-ground realities for Israelis and Palestinians. In addition to her current role as the New York Rabbinic Organizer at T’ruah: the Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, she has held positions at the Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue and B’nai Jeshurun in New York City, and as well as fellowships at both the New Israel Fund and the Jewish Organizing Institute and Network for Justice (JOIN), and was a participant in the Shalom Hartman Center’s Rabbinical Student Seminar during her two years living in Jerusalem.
Ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2021, Rabbi Hughes-Robinson also holds an MA in Midrash from JTS, as well as an advanced certificate in Interreligious Studies from the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey and the University of Geneva. From 2018-2020, she sat on the Faith in Beijing working group and consulted for the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations, and was recently named a Gingko International Interfaith Fellow. Hughes-Robinson’s scholarship has also been published by outlets including Mechon Hadar and Zeramim Journal, and she was a member of the inaugural Jewish Women Scholar’s Writing fellowship, co-hosted by Yeshivat Maharat and Sefaria.
“I’m very pleased that Margo will be our new Executive Director,’ said Professor Paul Scham, Partners’ President. “I expect that her energy, commitment, and impressively varied experiences will add new dimensions to our organization, helping us to continue to expand our visibility and influence within the pro-Israel Jewish left and in the Jewish community as a whole. All of us recognize that we are in a particularly critical and divisive
time, when Israel’s security is threatened by external extremists as well by its far-right government, which lost the confidence of the Israeli people well before October 7. Margo’s broad vision and energy will serve us well in our mission to connect the Israeli left, now in the process of renewing itself, with Americans who are hungry to be inspired by Israel once again.”
“It’s an honor to join the Partners team, and to step into leadership in this critical moment,” said Rabbi Hughes-Robinson. “As a rabbi and an organizer, I’ve dedicated myself to nurturing the relationships and spaces I want to live in and see in the wider world; bolstering communities and conversations based in compassion, human rights, and a commitment to mutual flourishing. I’m excited to support Partners’ work of building bridges between Americans and the Israeli and Palestinian people of different faiths who are engaged in the daily work of promoting a just and equitable society in the Land. I’m humbled to play a role in shepherding the PPI community of supporters and partners to bolster a deeper sense of connection with those working to support civil and human rights-based policy in Israel and Palestine.”
Based in New York City, Rabbi Hughes-Robinson, succeeds Dr. Dinesh Sharma, who has been at Partners for 7 years.