Inspired by the youth villages that allowed Israel to welcome staggering numbers of orphans after the Holocaust, Anne Heyman created the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village to shelter orphans of the Rwandan genocide. Heyman graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1982 and earned a law degree from Columbia in 1985. She worked for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, prosecuting white-collar crime, until the birth of her third child in 1994. Heyman had a significant history as a philanthropist for her family’s foundation, including chairing Dorot, a New York organization for the elderly, but a 2005 lecture on the Rwandan genocide changed her life. When she asked the speaker to identify the biggest problem Rwanda faced, she was told that a country of orphans had no future. The following year, she began plans for ASYV, which opened in 2008 and as of 2015 hosts 500 children. Taking its name from the Kinyarwandan word for “place where tears are dried” and the Hebrew word for “peace,” the village offers children counseling, education, extracurricular activities, and opportunities to give back. A skilled equestrian, Heyman died in a tragic accident during a horse-jumping competition.

Anne Heyman is a grantee of the Jewish Women’s Fund of New York (JWFNY), and is featured as part of a partnership between JWA and JWFNY spotlighting Jewish women social entrepreneurs.