Josh Drazen & Susie Helft
Guests of Honor
Susie Helft and Josh Drazen have been proud BPY parents for the last 10 years. They have three daughters, Danielle, Erin (9th grade) and Kayla (7th grade) who have been at BPY since Pre-K and Kindergarten. Josh grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Since graduating, Josh has worked at various financial institutions and currently is a Managing Director at The Blackstone Group. Susie grew up in Englewood NJ, attended Barnard College and studied archaeology, earning a PhD from the University Pennsylvania. For the last ten years she has taught ancient history and archaeology at Bryn Mawr College, Rutgers and Fordham Universities.
They currently live in Tenafly and are active members of Kehilat Kesher Synagogue. Susie leads a women’s group that promotes women’s torah reading services on various Jewish holidays and Josh served on Kesher’s Board of Trustees as Treasurer and Vice President. Susie and Josh chose to send their children to BPY because of its focus on Israel, Hebrew language, and its diverse student body. They love the warm atmosphere and family feel that the school provides. During their time as BPY parents, Josh served in multiple leadership roles for the school. He served on the Board of Trustees, the Executive Committee as Board Secretary, chaired the Development Committee, and was a member of the Capital Campaign Committee.