jhjacobs

Justin Jacobs

Justin joined AJWS as the Senior Marketing and Storytelling Officer in September 2018. He spent much of his career as a journalist, chronicling arts, culture and news for a variety of magazines and newspapers in the U.S., Middle East and Asia. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2009 with a degree in English Writing and Religious Studies, and in 2011 moved to Tel Aviv, Israel, where he worked in writing and marketing for both non-profit organizations and high tech startups.

Activists Up Close: Meet Misael, a Water Defender in Mexico

Misael was born into a family of Indigenous farmers in Oaxaca, Mexico — his connection to the land goes back generations. Today, he works for Flor y Canto, an AJWS grantee organization that mobilizes local communities to fight for their rights to land, water and other natural resources. In 2005, the Mexican government restricted farmers’ …

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See how activists are leading the way in Latin America and the Caribbean!

In six countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, AJWS supports 148 social change organizations reaching thousands of people across the region. The work we fund here there goes deep: Indigenous activists in Mexico protecting their communities’ land and natural resources. Advocates in the Dominican Republic working to ensure health and safety for all. Community …

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Know Your History, Master Your Future: How One Senegalese Activist is Mobilizing Youth By Illuminating his Community’s Forgotten Tragedy

In Thiaroye, Senegal—less than 10 miles from the country’s bustling, metropolitan capital of Dakar—a rusty metal gate separates bumper-to-bumper traffic and densely-packed produce markets from a painful but forgotten piece of Senegalese history. Inside the gate, the noise of the city disappears. Tall palms offer some shade, but the sun bears down on unmarked stone …

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The Fight for Safe Abortions in Kenya

In Kenya, seven women die every single day from complications related to unsafe abortions — conducted at home or in backstreet clinics, often using dangerous methods like knitting needles or bleach. This astounding figure, far higher than the global average, is directly correlated to a simple fact: while abortion is a constitutional right in Kenya …

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