American Jewish World Service

Coordinates: 40°45′02″N 73°59′08″W / 40.750656°N 73.985623°W / 40.750656; -73.985623
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American Jewish World Service
Robert Bank[3]
Revenue (2018)
$64,741,672[2]
Expenses (2018)$52,454,406[2]
Employees (2017)
128[2]
Volunteers (2017)
30[2]
Websiteajws.org

American Jewish World Service (AJWS) is a

American Jewish community about global justice.[1][4] It is the first and only Jewish organization dedicated solely to ending poverty and promoting human rights in the developing world. Its headquarters are in New York City.[5] AJWS has received a Four Star rating from Charity Navigator since 2002.[6]

Mission

Inspired by the Jewish commitment to justice, American Jewish World Service works to realize human rights and end poverty in the developing world.

Strategy

AJWS has a two-pronged strategy: It provides over $38 million annually to more than 450 social justice organizations in 19 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean, and they advocate for laws and policies in the United States that will improve the lives of people around the world.

AJWS's international grantmaking and U.S.

disaster relief.[7]

Grantmaking

AJWS's grant-making is guided by the beliefs that grassroots organizations are best placed to envision, articulate and implement their own plans for the development of their communities, and that community development cannot take place when human rights are denied. In addition, AJWS believes women are critical drivers of community development and change, and that marginalized communities that are vulnerable to poverty and human rights violations are powerful agents of change and development when mobilized from within.

Advocacy

AJWS works to promote awareness and influence U.S. international policies and funding in relation to human rights, global health and poverty, by rallying members of the community to advocate for policies that will improve the lives of millions of people in the developing world.

AJWS's current advocacy priorities include retaining the centrality of human rights within U.S. foreign policy through funding, diplomacy and policy. This includes supporting the HER Act,[8] which would legislatively repeal the Mexico City Policy, the Burma Human Rights and Freedom Act,[9] which would sanction human rights violators in Burma, and working to stop, delay and mitigate new policies that undermine human rights abroad. Internationally, AJWS works to increase the quality and quantity of funds supporting grassroots groups so that said funds are flexible, longstanding and feminist in their approaches.

History

AJWS was established in

Boston, Massachusetts, on May 1, 1985, when Larry Phillips and Larry Simon, together with a group of rabbis, Jewish communal leaders, activists, business people, scholars and others, came together to create the first American Jewish organization dedicated to alleviating poverty, hunger, and disease among people across the globe.[5]

In her book,

left-of-center Jewish organizations and publications founded in the 1980s without explaining why a new, specifically Jewish organization was needed to address causes already being addressed by well-established, American charities to which many Jewish were already contributors. Wisse argues that the actual motivation was a need felt by highly educated Jews to counter rising antisemitism on the left by performative acts of "public avowals of kindliness and liberalism. "[10]

The organization's first key achievement was its response to a volcano disaster in Armaro, Colombia, in 1986. In 1990, after moving headquarters to New York City, AJWS launched five new international development projects in Mexico, Honduras, and Haiti, which provided training programs in sustainable agriculture.[5] In 1991, then AJWS President Andrew Griffel was elected to the Executive Committee of InterAction, a consortium of over a hundred international humanitarian organizations.

Shortly after the

Rohingya refugee crisis by providing immediate humanitarian aid and long-term, sustainable support to affected populations.[13][14]

Leadership

AJWS's current

executive vice president in 2009, and he had previously served in New York's municipal government and in the leadership of GMHC—one of the world's leading organizations combating HIV/AIDS. Robert has been honored with GMHC's Lifetime Achievement Award and the Partners in Justice Award from AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps.[16]
Bank became president and chief executive officer in July 2016, succeeding Ruth Messinger, who presided over the organization for 18 years.

United States State Department
's Religion and Foreign Policy Working Group and co-chairs the Sub-Working Group on Social Justice.

Impact

AJWS provides over $38 million annually to 450 social justice organizations in 19 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, to address some of the gravest global problems, including genocide, AIDS, violence against women and girls, hatred of LGBT people, and consequences of natural and human-made disasters.[5] Since its founding, AJWS has provided more than $360 million to support thousands of social justice organizations in the developing world that have taken on such challenges.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b "American Jewish World Service Inc". Tax Exempt Organization Search. Internal Revenue Service. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Form 990: Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax". American Jewish World Service. Internal Revenue Service. April 30, 2018.
  3. ^ "Robert Bank". American Jewish World Service. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  4. ^ "American Jewish World Service, Inc." Entity Information. New York State Department of State, Division of Corporations. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Our Story". American Jewish World Service. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  6. ^ "Rating for American Jewish World Service". Charity Navigator. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  7. ^ "What We Do". American Jewish World Service. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  8. ^ Nita, Lowey (2017-01-24). "Text - H.R.671 - 115th Congress (2017-2018): HER Act". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2018-07-16.
  9. ^ John, McCain (2018-02-12). "Text - S.2060 - 115th Congress (2017-2018): Burma Human Rights and Freedom Act of 2018". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2018-07-16.
  10. If I Am Not For Myself: The Liberal Betrayal of the Jews
    . Free Press. p. 28 ff.
  11. ^ "History". Archived from the original on April 8, 2009. Retrieved February 20, 2009.
  12. ^ Rachel Silverman (May 4, 2006). "At Save Darfur Rally: 'Never Again, Again'". Jewish Journal. Archived from the original on February 21, 2011.
  13. ^ "The Crisis in East Africa". American Jewish World Service. Retrieved 2018-07-16.
  14. ^ "The Rohingya Crisis". American Jewish World Service. Archived from the original on 2018-07-16. Retrieved 2018-07-16.
  15. ^ "Promoting Human Rights in the Developing World, with American Jewish World Service's Robert Bank". Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  16. ^ "Robert Bank". American Jewish World Service. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  17. ^ "Ruth Messinger". The Forward. Retrieved 2019-06-19.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_Jewish_World_Service&oldid=1213175548"