Rachel Schonwetter

Koret’s vantage point is to view the Jewish community as a global ecosystem, inside which is the unique ecosystem of the Jewish Bay Area. Our grantees collectively provide a remarkably broad array of engagement opportunities for people seeking some form of Jewish connection or experience.

Rachel Schonwetter

Program Officer

Rachel joined the Koret Foundation in 2018 to support our Jewish grantmaking portfolio. As its program officer, her work spans our dual priorities, Jewish peoplehood and US-Israel bridge building. She is particularly interested in the Bay Area’s diversity of Jewish organizations, experiential learning vehicles, other programs, and the ways in which these cross-pollinate.

Rachel previously served as the assistant director of community engagement at Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco. She is also a graduate of Jewish LearningWorks’ Voices for Good fellowship and Northern California Grantmakers’ Rising Leaders program.

She earned a Master of Social Work from the University of Southern California and a Master of Arts in Jewish nonprofit management from the Zelikow School at Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history and religious studies from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to her graduate studies, Rachel worked as a case assistant at Goodwin Procter LLP in Washington, DC.

Born and raised in Tampa, Florida, Rachel now considers Northern California home. She and her husband live on the Peninsula with their preschool-aged daughter. The family spends lots of time walking outdoors and visiting parks and playgrounds. They already love to read together.

Thoughts & Opinions | Dec 2022

To sustain our JCCs for years to come, vote with your feet

“The institutions we depend on to connect Jewishly are now depending on us to show up and rekindle those feelings and experiences of community that were lost.” In this op-ed originally published in the J, Weekly, Koret’s Rachel Schonwetter shares why it’s time to show up for our local JCCs, and what we can do.