We celebrated our 30th anniversary 2015! In honor of this milestone, we profiled 30 remarkable leaders who have partnered with AJWS to build a better world. These are but a few of the thousands who have raised their voices worldwide with our support, changing the lives of millions for the better.

Bea and Sam Wilderman

Telling the AJWS Story

Boston

AJWS board members Bea Wilderman (left), Judy Stern (right) and board chair Kathleen Levin (center) take to Twitter in AJWS’s social media campaign to pass the International Violence Against Women Act.

In 2006, Bea and Sam Wilderman were looking for a way to join the fight against the genocide in Darfur. Devastated by the news coming from Sudan and Chad, they discovered AJWS as a leader of the movement to stop the genocide and have remained committed donors ever since.

Bea joined the AJWS board of trustees in 2013 and now heads the board’s communications committee, where she applies her extensive expertise as a marketing consultant to help share AJWS’s story with new audiences.

In 2014, she made these marketing efforts personal when she celebrated her 40th birthday by bringing friends on a trip with AJWS to Haiti. Reflecting on this trip, she said: “Seeing earthquake survivors still living in tent cities—four years after the disaster—only strengthened my commitment to AJWS’s response. The work to rebuild Haiti is nowhere near complete and we must do our part to help.”

Bea and Sam are especially passionate about stopping violence and fostering equality for women and LGBT people throughout the world:

“If we’re going to have a society where there is social justice,” Bea said, “every human being needs to have their rights fulfilled. That’s why AJWS is so important in our world.”