The International Sephardic Leadership Council realizes that the modern Sephardic communities are fragmented and becoming more and more assimilated. Sephardic traditional culture, a culture which goes back far over 1,500 years is at risk of being forgotten. Young Sephardim are having a difficult time learning about a culture which was alive in their families only two generations ago. In the spirit of Sephardic organizations of the past, the International Sephardic Leadership Council strives to keep the momentum of the Sephardic religious and cultural traditions alive.

• To support and enhance the living Sephardic communities through a series of diverse and comprehensive educational and cultural programs, perpetuating communal knowledge and traditions, while aspiring to instill a strong and secure sense of Jewish identity for future generations.

• To develop and implement unique and original Sephardic oriented projects which have the affect of perpetuating knowledge of similar, yet distinct, Sephardic historical and cultural traditions, to both the Sephardic and general Jewish community. To support Sephardic Jewish communities by distributing educational information to both the Sephardic rabbis and congregations across the globe.

• To be a positive voice for the Sephardic Jewish community both in the United States and internationally.

The International Sephardic Leadership Council was founded in 2003 as a national Sephardic organization with the unique intent to also focus on the international community. Activities of the organization are centered on projects and issues both in the United States and abroad.

The International Sephardic Leadership Council is an important voice for the Sephardic Jewish community both in the United States and internationally, filling a void where there has been a lack of leadership.

The International Sephardic Leadership Council has representation in 19 countries from Canada to Argentina and from Spain to Australia, the organization acts as an umbrella organization for Sephardic congregations and the Sephardic community.

The International Sephardic Leadership Council hosts a private online forum for Sephardic rabbis to interact with one another on issues pertinent to their day-to-day community life.

The International Sephardic Leadership Council provides lectures and educational discussions in English, Hebrew, and Spanish to Sephardic congregations all over the world.

The International Sephardic Leadership Council is a partner with Midrash Sepharadi, the world's largest Sephardic rabbinical school, the organization which places new Sephardic rabbis with communities, with 80 placed over past years.

The International Sephardic Leadership Council acts as an advocate for the Sephardim, while remaining activists for the Jewish people. Past activities of the organization have been instrumental in demonstrating the Sephardim have a voice in a world where they are minorities within a minority. The Sephardic Political Action Team serves as a set of eyes and ears for issues that concern the Sephardic community--issue that are both domestic and international.

The International Sephardic Leadership Council is made up of respected members of the Sephardic community, professionals, rabbis and lay leaders, that are willing to contribute their expertise, experience and support to help enhance programming and therefore help meet the goals of the organization.

The International Sephardic Leadership Council represents active and forward thinking Sephardim who have dedicated themselves to perpetuating Sephardic Judaism while maintaining programs that will preserve the unique heritage and traditions of Sephardic Jews.

The International Sephardic Leadership Council is based in the heart of the vibrant Near-Eastern Sephardic Community of New York City, a community highly committed to Judaism, made up of 75,000 Syrian, Egyptian, Lebanese, Turkish and North African Jews; one of the largest, strongest, and fastest growing Sephardic communities in the world.

The Sephardic Jews make up the second largest division of the Jewish people. The Sephardim have their historic roots in Spain, Portugal, North Africa as well as the Near-East and Mesopotamia. They developed and shared common religious and cultural bonds with their fellow co-religionists from the Iberian/North African Atlantic seaboard to the eastern portion of the Fertile Crescent for at least the last 1,500 years. Sephardim have developed and possess a shared relationship based upon unique religious traditions, collective ideals, customs and ethnicity.