Yael Eckstein leads one of the world’s largest religious charitable organizations from Israel, where war, poverty and displacement have transformed humanitarian work into a daily emergency.

As president and global CEO of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, Yael Eckstein oversees a global network that delivers food to struggling families, supports Holocaust survivors, helps Jewish immigrants reach Israel and places lifesaving security equipment in vulnerable communities. Since Oct. 7, 2023, The Fellowship committed $300 million in aid to Israel to support ongoing emergency needs and continue assistance in its core program areas.

That work depends on employees who can respond quickly, manage resources responsibly and remain focused through periods of extraordinary pressure.

In 2026, the organization earned recognition not only for what its staff accomplishes, but for how The Fellowship supports the people behind that work.

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, also known as IFCJ or The Fellowship, ranked No. 10 on the Best Workplaces in Illinois list. The honor marked the organization’s second consecutive appearance on the statewide list. The Fellowship also earned its third consecutive Top-Rated Nonprofit designation from GreatNonprofits.

The two awards evaluate the organization from different directions. The workplace honor relies heavily on anonymous employee feedback, including how workers view leadership, culture, compensation, benefits and opportunities for growth. The GreatNonprofits recognition reflects reviews from supporters, volunteers and beneficiaries who have direct experience with the charity.

Together, the honors offer a fuller picture of an organization that has spent more than 40 years connecting Christians and Jews while building one of Israel’s most expansive humanitarian aid networks.

“We are incredibly proud to be recognized once again as one of Illinois’ best workplaces,” said Robin Van Etten, U.S. CEO and global chief operating officer for The Fellowship. “This honor reflects the dedication and passion of our team, who work every day to support our mission and each other. Creating an environment where employees feel valued and inspired is at the heart of everything we do.”

IFCJ Earns Top Workplace Honors

Best Companies Group organizes the Best Workplaces in Illinois program, which the Illinois State Council for the Society for Human Resource Management sponsors.

The program bases 75% of an organization’s score on anonymous employee surveys. A review of company policies and practices accounts for the remaining 25%, including leadership, workplace culture, compensation and benefits.

That structure gives employees the greatest influence over the results.

The award does not rest only on what an organization promises in a handbook or says in a recruitment campaign. It asks employees whether they feel supported, respected and equipped to grow.

For The Fellowship, those systems support a mission that often requires urgency.

Employees help coordinate emergency aid, communicate with donors, manage international partnerships and oversee programs related to food insecurity, poverty, immigration and security. They work across time zones and cultural boundaries while responding to needs that can change within hours.

A new wave of rocket attacks can create an immediate need for bomb shelters and emergency supplies. A rise in violence can force families to leave their homes. Elderly people living in poverty may need food, medicine or heating assistance before the next season arrives.

The visible work often happens on the ground in Israel, but the response begins with teams that raise funds, verify needs and move resources into place.

IFCJ’s No. 10 ranking among 20 statewide honorees reflects the organization’s effort to support that workforce through compensation, benefits and professional opportunities while maintaining a mission-driven culture.

GreatNonprofits offered an outside view. The platform grants its Top-Rated Nonprofit designation based on an organization’s star rating and the number of reviews it receives from people connected to its services.

The award remains the only national nonprofit honor determined primarily by people who have directly interacted with the charity, including donors, volunteers, and beneficiaries.

The Fellowship earned that distinction for the third consecutive year.

A Fellowship Between Christians and Jews

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein founded the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews in 1983 with a vision that challenged decades of mistrust between two faith communities.

He believed Christians and Jews could build meaningful relationships while working together to support Israel and Jewish people in need.

What began as an interfaith bridge-building effort developed into one of the largest humanitarian organizations serving Israel and Jewish communities worldwide. The Fellowship has raised $4.4 billion since its founding.

Christian donors provide much of that support.

Their gifts fund food, clothing, medicine, housing assistance and home visits for people who might otherwise face hardship alone. The organization supports Holocaust survivors, elderly adults and families living below the poverty line. It also helps Jews make aliyah, the Hebrew term for immigration to Israel.

“The Fellowship hears the cries of impoverished people and responds by filling their most fundamental needs, providing food, clothing, shelter, heating, and medicine, and home visits to fight the isolation of the lonely and homebound,” the organization says.

In 2024, The Fellowship helped more than 2 million people living in poverty, supported thousands of people making aliyah and invested in Israel’s security infrastructure.

The organization’s work expanded after Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists crossed into southern Israel, killed about 1,200 people and took hostages into Gaza.

The attacks plunged Israel into war and created cascading humanitarian needs.

The Fellowship began delivering food, water and emergency assistance to displaced families. It provided equipment for first responders and security personnel. It funded mobile bomb shelters and helped communities strengthen their defenses.

By July 2026, IFCJ committed $300 million in aid to Israel to support ongoing emergency needs and continue assistance in its core program areas to emergency aid and its core programs involving poverty, security and aliyah.

“We’re here at the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews on the ground ministering to the people who are hurting,” Eckstein said. “By bringing food, providing bomb shelters as the rockets were falling, these are practical ways to remind people that God is with them, that they are not forgotten.”

Yael Eckstein: ‘Thank You For Reminding Us That We Are Not Alone’

Yael Eckstein grew up in the Chicago area and now lives in Israel with her husband and four children. She inherited her father’s mission, but she leads The Fellowship through a markedly different period.

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein built the organization by strengthening relationships between Christians and Jews. His daughter now carries that work forward while Israel faces war, international criticism and a surge in antisemitism.

As president and global CEO, Yael Eckstein serves as both an executive and an international spokesperson. She travels, speaks to Christian audiences and communicates directly with donors while overseeing humanitarian programs that help 2 million people each year. .

The Jerusalem Post named her its 2023 Humanitarian of the Year. She received the 2025 Pillars of Jerusalem award for her contributions to Israel’s public diplomacy. She is also an author, speaker, podcast host and one of the most prominent Jewish leaders engaging Christian supporters of Israel.

Eckstein’s message to supporters consistently returns to solidarity.

“Thank you for reminding us that we are not alone,” Eckstein has told Christian partners.

IFCJ: Global Recognition and Respect

The Fellowship received a record number of honors in 2025, including its first appearance on Chicago’s Best Workplaces list. Forbes also named it to its Top 100 Charities list for the fifth consecutive year.

Its 2026 honors continue that momentum.

The Best Workplaces in Illinois recognition reflects the experience of employees who manage the day-to-day demands of a global nonprofit. The GreatNonprofits designation reflects the trust of people who donate, volunteer or receive help.

Neither award measures the organization’s mission through a single figure.

Instead, they point to the infrastructure behind the mission: employees who feel supported, donors who believe in the work and beneficiaries who see the results in their own lives.

IFCJ’s humanitarian reach continues to grow, but its work still centers on individual people.

The work often comes down to immediate, individual needs like heating assistance for a Holocaust survivor, food for a struggling family, support for a new immigrant building a life in Israel, an ambulance for a community near a hostile border or a bomb shelter close enough to protect a mother and her children.

Eckstein leads the organization with those people in view. Under her leadership, The Fellowship has continued to build bridges between Christians and Jews while turning that relationship into food, medicine, security and hope.

The organization’s workplace honors show that the mission also reaches inward.

The Fellowship asks its employees to care for people facing some of the world’s most difficult circumstances. In 2026, those employees helped confirm that the organization also works to care for them.

“Our work has always been about bridging gaps,” Eckstein reflected.