The AJWS community has a lot to say about what's happening in the world. Read our insights about the struggle for justice and human rights around the globe — and meet the activists on the frontlines of the fight to build a better world.
“Because I remember, I despair. Because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair.” These profound words are those of Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor, Nobel Laureate, author, and founding board member of American Jewish World Service (AJWS), who died on Saturday at age 87.
We are wishing a special Mazel Tov to Robert Bank, who officially assumed the role of AJWS President and CEO today! Robert, who was AJWS’s Executive Vice President for seven-and-a-half years, is a skilled leader with a proven record of managing successful local, national and international organizations, bringing passion and dedication to public service and the pursuit of justice. Robert succeeds Ruth Messinger after her remarkable 18-year presidency of AJWS.
This past weekend, I marched with AJWS staff and supporters in New York City’s Pride Parade. It felt especially poignant to march together in the wake of the Orlando shooting; to show that love will triumph over hate. As we marched, I thought of fellow activists around the world who are risking their own lives for the dignity of LGBT people. Some of these activists are LGBT people themselves. Others are not.
Jacqueline Hart, Ph.D., joined American Jewish World Service in 2012 to lead the organization’s efforts to strategically learn and measure its impact in the developing world. Since then, she’s created research and evaluation initiatives that aim to deepen AJWS’s understanding of our work and to strengthen our impact. Under Jacqueline’s direction, AJWS uses these findings …
The world has watched in horror as migrants and refugees from the Middle East and Africa have embarked on treacherous journeys across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. On this World Refugee Day, the international spotlight, rightly, shines on this vast crisis—and American Jewish World Service stands in solidarity with human rights organizations working in Europe to mitigate the devastation. But we also hope the world will remember the scores of people from other parts of the globe forced to flee their homes.
