Purpose: The United Jewish Israel Appeal Ashdown Fellowship was launched in 2000 with the aim of creating high quality leadership for educational organisations in the British Jewish community. It sought to develop talented and committed people who demonstrated leadership potential. The purpose of this paper is to record the narrative of the programme, its strengths and challenges and to lay out some issues for thinking about the next phase. Design/methodology/approach: A survey was sent to the graduates of the programme to ascertain their assessment of its impact. Findings: Key factors which helped the development of the programme were secure funding, a stable board and professional staff, an emphasis on making fellows feel valued, and access to some of the best people within the academic field of leadership and management and within Jewish education. Originality/value: The paper presents a case study of leadership development in practice.