Erik Ludwig has been appointed the incoming Director of the Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management at the Jack H. Skirball Campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in Los Angeles.

Erik Ludwig brings to the Zelikow School and the College-Institute a broad range of expertise in the Jewish nonprofit ecosystem, philanthropy and fundraising, professional leadership development, and management and governance of Jewish organizations. He comes to HUC-JIR from UpStart Bay Area, where he served as chief accelerator officer, responsible for providing some of the region’s most entrepreneurial Jewish leaders with organizational capacity-building and technical know-how aimed at making Jewish life accessible, relevant, and transformative. His executive experience spans the Jewish nonprofit field and has focused on developing Jewish startups and spearheading innovation within traditional institutions.

Ludwig began his career at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, where he founded Club 18 as a teen program manager, and he has since held leadership positions within JCCs and Federation, from executive director to development director and program director.

His academic studies focus on education, culture, and society, examining how ethnicity and identity operate in K-12 educational settings.