Co-Chairs
- Brian Lurie - President, Caroline and Brian Lurie Philanthropic Fund
- Steve Schwager - Chief Executive Officer, The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
Executive Committee
- Abraham Foxman - National Director, The Anti-Defamation League
- Daniel Sokatch - Chief Executive Officer, The New Israel Fund
- Malcolm Hoenlein - Executive Vice Chairman, The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
- John Ruskay - Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer, UJA-Federation of New York
- Harriet Mouchly-Weiss* - Board of Directors, UJA-Federation of New York
- Jeffrey Solomon - President, The Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies
- Jessica Balaban - Executive Director, Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab Issues
* Executive Committee Member At-Large
Bios
- Brian Lurie
President
Caroline and Brian Lurie Philanthropic FundRabbi Brian Lurie served for seventeen years as Executive Director of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties and for five years as President of the San Francisco Jewish Museum. He has worked in Israel and America to promote equality for Israeli Arabs and as Executive Vice President of the United Jewish Appeal (UJA), he was instrumental in launching the second phase of Operation Exodus and provided the vision and strategic direction under which UJA has begun to broaden its mandate. Rabbi Lurie developed the concept of "The Living Bridge", a metaphor which is redefining the broad range of relationships and the partnerships, as equals, of American Jews and Israelis. Both the Israel Experience for teens and Partnership 2000 were created as pillars of the Living Bridge.
Rabbi Lurie received his B.A. from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania and a Masters in Hebrew Letters from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. He has been granted honorary degrees from both Lafayette College and Hebrew Union College.
- Steve Schwager
Chief Executive Officer
JDC - American Jewish Joint Distribution CommitteeSteve Schwager directs the organized American Jewish Community's overseas agency for Rescue, Relief and Renewal of Jews in distress throughout the world. The JDC is the major instrument of American Jewry for meeting Jewish needs globally, providing major services in Arab lands, Latin America, Israel, and Eastern Europe, and playing an important role in welfare and rebuilding Jewish life in the former Soviet Union. Mr. Schwager joined the JDC sixteen years ago as its Deputy Director and was responsible for monitoring all operations of the organization from the Former Soviet Union to Ethiopia. He also supervised JDC's operations in Israel and the Former Soviet Union - the two areas of the Jewish world in which JDC spends two-thirds of its annual budget. The Joint Distribution Committee is currently focusing its attention towards Jews in need in Argentina, Israel, the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and elsewhere throughout the world as new situations develop.
- Abraham Foxman
National Director
Anti-Defamation LeagueMr. Foxman regularly confers with elected officials and community leaders domestically and abroad and has had consultations in Europe, Russia, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, China, Japan, South Africa and Argentina. He has met with Palestinian leaders on problems of ethnic hatred, violence, terrorism and promoting democracy and had six audiences with Pope John Paul II. A Holocaust survivor, Mr. Foxman was a member of the President's United States Holocaust Memorial Council, appointed by Presidents Reagan, Bush and Clinton. He remains a passionate supporter of the State of Israel and a voice for peace in the Middle East.
Mr. Foxman holds degrees from the City College of the City University of New York, the Yeshiva of Flatbush, New York University School of Law, Clark University, Iona College, Florida International University and has completed graduate work in advanced Judaic studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary, and in international economics at The New School for Social Research. Mr. Foxman is the author of Never Again?: The Threat of the New Anti-Semitism and The Deadliest Lies, and is the recipient of the Raoul Wallenberg Humanitarian Leadership Award, the State of New York at Albany University Medallion and Austria's Grand Decoration of Honor in Gold, among others.
- Daniel J. Sokatch
Chief Executive OfficerThe New Israel Fund - Malcolm Hoenlein
Executive Vice Chairman
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish OrganizationsMalcolm Hoenlein has written and lectured domestically and abroad on international relations, Israel and Middle East affairs, Soviet and World Jewry, terrorism, the American Jewish community, and intergroup relations. He served as the founding Executive Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater New York and was the founding Executive Director of the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry.
Mr. Hoenlein received his B.A. in Political Science from Temple University and his Masters degree from the University of Pennsylvania's Department of International Relations, where he completed his doctoral course work. A National Defense Fellow in the University's Near East Center, Mr. Hoenlein taught International Relations in the Political Science Department and served as a Middle East specialist at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and on the editorial staff of ORBIS, the Journal of International Affairs. He was conferred a Doctorate of Humane Letters Honoria Causa by Yeshiva University in 2002, and has received the Private Sector Initiative Award from President Ronald Reagan, American ORT "Man of the Millennium" Tribute and the first Quittman Award for Jewish Professional Excellence. The Forward listed him as the most influential Jewish leader.
- John Ruskay
Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer
UJA-Federation of New YorkJohn S. Ruskay first came to UJA-Federation in 1993 and served in several positions before being appointed Executive Vice President and CEO in October 1999. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh in 1968, Dr. Ruskay earned his doctorate in political science at Columbia University. He served as educational director of the 92nd Street Y from 1980 to 1985, and vice chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America from 1985 to 1993.
Dr. Ruskay has written extensively and speaks nationally on how the American Jewish community can most effectively respond to the challenges and opportunities of living in the open society, the critical role of Jewish philanthropy, and the central role of community. He has served as a senior consultant to the Wexner Foundation and the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Foundation, and has chaired the Publication Committee of the Journal of Jewish Communal Service and the Professional Advisory Committee of the Hornstein School of Jewish Communal Service.
Dr. Ruskay is a recipient of the Benjamin Reisman Award for Professional Excellence from the Hornstein Program in Jewish Communal Service at Brandeis University, and the Mandelkorn Distinguished Service Award from the Jewish Communal Service Association of North America.
- Harriet Mouchly-Weiss
Board of Directors
UJA-Federation of New YorkHarriet Mouchly-Weiss is the managing partner of Strategy XXI in New York. Her experience in the communications field includes development of corporate planning and marketing strategies, as well as issues management and corporate social responsibility efforts for leading multinational companies and institutions. She has previously owned and operated a public relations firm in Israel, where she worked with the Prime Minister's office, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, the Ministry of Finance and private corporations. Mrs. Mouchly-Weiss is a member of the Committee of 200, a professional organization of preeminent businesswomen and serves on the boards of The Abraham Fund, the Israel Policy Forum, the former Chair of UJC's Committee on Israeli Arabs and the Women's Executive Circle of the UJA-Federation of New York. She also is on the advisory board of the New Israel Fund and chairs the Israel Anti-Drug Abuse Foundation in the United States.
Mrs. Mouchly-Weiss holds a B.A. from Muhlenburg University and a M.A. in psychology from Hebrew University.
- Jeffrey Solomon
President
The Andrea and Charles Bronfman PhilanthropiesDr. Jeffrey Solomon is author of over 70 publications and serves as adjunct associate professor at New York University. In his capacity as President of the Bronfman Philanthropies, he provides professional leadership to its philanthropic efforts primarily in the Jewish community, focusing on projects and initiatives in Canada, Israel and the United States such as birthright israel and Reboot, two initiatives aimed at connecting young, assimilated Jews to their tradition.
Dr. Solomon previously served as the Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of UJA-Federation of New York, as well as executive positions at Altro Health & Rehabilitation Services, Miami Jewish Home and Hospital for the Aged and Jewish Family and Children's Services in Miami. Dr. Solomon also served with the City, State and Federal Governments and sits on numerous nonprofit and foundation boards including the Council of Foundations and the Foundation for the Jewish Community
- Jessica Balaban
Executive Director
Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab IssuesJessica Balaban was hired as the first Executive Director of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Israeli Arab Issues. Under her leadership, the Task Force has become a coalition composed of almost ninety North American Jewish organizations, including foundations, private philanthropists and international affiliates committed to Israel's welfare. The coalition supports the Jewish state's right to a secure and peaceful existence focused on educating the North American Jewish community on majority/minority relations in Israel. In this capacity, Jessica is the chief professional responsible for developing the mission and strategic direction for the Task Force's efforts. These efforts include escalating awareness of economic, educational and social service weaknesses facing Israeli Arab communities; leveraging financial resources for effective solutions; supporting Task Force members with a mandate to advocate on behalf of civic equality and working with Israeli organizations to strengthen civil society activity.
Jessica comes to the Task Force from UJA-Federation of New York where she managed grant and program portfolios focused on vulnerable and new immigrant communities in Israel; fostering a sense of collective Jewish responsibility in New York; economic challenges for Argentine Jewry and global disaster relief. She also concentrated on strategic planning for economic and leadership development in Israeli Arab communities, as well as, programming education for the New York Jewish community on these issues. Prior to joining UJA-Federation of New York , Jessica was employed at Ketchum Public Relations, New York City, as a core member of the Healthcare and Issues Management Teams. Here, she focused on public affairs; crisis communications and media relations on behalf of Fortune 500 companies. Her portfolio also included public education for health associations and non-governmental organizations in the areas of mental health; organ transplantation/donation; dermatology; multiple sclerosis and chron's and colitis disease.
Jessica holds a Bachelors degree in English from the University of Pittsburgh; spent time studying in Israel and Spain and holds an Executive Master of Public Administration with a concentration in the management of international public service organizations from New York University.
Daniel J. Sokatch is the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of the New Israel Fund (NIF), the leading organization committed to equality and democracy for all Israelis. Before joining NIF, Sokatch served as the Executive Director of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties. Prior to his tenure at Federation, he served as the founding Executive Director of the Los Angeles based Progressive Jewish Alliance.
In recognition of his leadership, Sokatch has thrice been named one of the Forward newspaper's "Forward 50," an annual list of the fifty leading Jewish decision-makers and opinion-shapers in 2002, 2005 and 2008.
Daniel has an MA from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, a JD from Boston College Law School, and a BA from Brandeis University. He is married with two daughters and resides in San Francisco.