OUR STORY AND MISSION

American Jewish World Service is the leading Jewish organization working to fight poverty and pursue justice in the developing world. Through philanthropy and advocacy, we respond to the most pressing issues of our time—from disasters, genocide and hunger, to the persecution of women and minorities worldwide. With Jewish values and a global reach, AJWS is making a difference in millions of lives and building a more just and equitable world.

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Our Mission

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

Rooted in our mission, AJWS was founded in 1985 by American Jews who wanted to join together as global citizens to help some of the poorest and most oppressed people around the globe. Today, AJWS is the only Jewish organization dedicated solely to ending poverty and promoting human rights in the developing world.

How We’ve Made Change

AJWS started as a small organization, but now invests more than $30 million a year to promote global human rights. And since our founding, we have provided more than $390 million to support thousands of social justice organizations in the developing world. These grantees have taken on some of the biggest global challenges of our time.

In 2019, AJWS supported 487 grassroots organizations in 19 countries, enabling them to continue and expand their work to build a more just and dignified world for the most vulnerable people on earth.

AJWS grantees work tirelessly to advance sexual health and rights for women, girls and LGBTQI+ people. They promote civil and political rights to amplify the voices of poor and persecuted minorities. They defend the land and water rights of indigenous communities most affected by climate change. And they aid vulnerable communities in the aftermath of devastating natural disasters and humanitarian crises.

But they don’t work alone.

AJWS funds constellations of organizations that are working on the same issues—both within countries and across borders. Our AJWS experts in each country work closely with our grantees to help them build skills and grow. We then bring like-minded groups together so they can collaborate, learn from one another and launch ambitious collective campaigns—movements—for justice.

Highlights of our work include campaigning to stop the Darfur and Rohingya genocides, fighting global hunger, responding to the Ebola epidemic in Liberia and the earthquake in Nepal, and working to end violence against women, girls and LGBTQI+ people worldwide.

Check out the timeline below to see some of our key accomplishments over the past 30 years!

OUR HISTORY

1985

AJWS is founded in Boston, Massachusetts by Larry Phillips and Larry Simon.

1986

AJWS responds to the volcano disaster in Armaro, Colombia—its first emergency response.

1988

The UN World Food Program begins using technology and methods for safe grain storage developed by AJWS and Israeli scientists at the Volcani Center.

1989

AJWS moves its headquarters from Boston to New York City.

1990

AJWS launches five new international development projects in Mexico, Honduras and Haiti, offering training programs in improved agricultural techniques.

1991

AJWS President Andrew Griffel is elected to the Executive Committee of InterAction, a consortium of over a hundred international humanitarian organizations.

1994

AJWS launches its Volunteer Corps with the deployment of three volunteers, two to Honduras and one to Mexico.

1995

Ten young Jewish men and women spend the summer helping villagers in Honduras build a potable water system. As a result of the success of this program, AJWS establishes the International Jewish College Corps, later renamed Volunteer Summer.

1998

Ruth Messinger becomes President of AJWS.

1999

AJWS grantee TOSTAN's campaign to ban female genital cutting expanded significantly in Senegal. As a result of TOSTAN's work, the Senegalese parliament bans the practice.

2000

AJWS responds to the flood emergency in Mozambique, returning to the site of one of its first emergency shipments of medical supplies.

2003

AJWS launches peer exchange programs in Southern Africa bringing together community-based organizations from the region to exchange best practices in responding to the HIV epidemic.

2004

AJWS co-founds the Save Darfur Coalition.

2006

In partnership with the Save Darfur Coalition, AJWS helps to organize a national anti-genocide rally in Washington, D.C. and a series of other rallies throughout the country.

2007

President Bill Clinton is the honoree at AJWS's gala event.

2008

New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nicholas Kristof is the honoree at AJWS's fundraising luncheon.

2009

AJWS President Ruth Messinger is invited to the White House to discuss the crisis in Darfur with President Barack Obama.

2009

AJWS launches Global Circle—a network of young professionals and emerging leaders committed to repairing the world.

2009

AJWS launches the Urgent LGBTQI+ Uganda Fund to help defeat the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill.

2010

AJWS celebrates its 25th anniversary.

2010

AJWS responds to the devastating earthquake in Haiti, raising $6.5 million to support women, LGBTQI+ communities and the rural poor in the hardest-hit areas.

2011

AJWS launches Reverse Hunger: Ending the Global Food Crisis, a campaign to reform U.S. food aid policy. The campaign helped secure more than $400 million in new international food aid, reaching over half a million people.

2011

Leymah Roberta Gbowee, director of AJWS’s Liberian grantee, Women Peace and Security Network-Africa (WIPSEN), wins the Nobel Peace Prize.

2011

Ikal Angelei, director of AJWS’s Kenyan grantee, Friends of Lake Turkana, wins the prestigious Goldman Prize for environmental justice.

2012

AJWS responds to the typhoon in the Philippines and raises more than $1 million for typhoon survivors.

2013

AJWS launches the We Believe campaign to advance the rights of women, girls and LGBTQI+ people worldwide.

2013

AJWS launches the Global Justice Fellowship, a six-month-long program to inspire, educate and train American rabbis to become activist leaders supporting global justice.

2014

AJWS hosts its first Policy Summit in Washington, D.C.

2014

AJWS responds to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and raises $1 million to stem the spread of the epidemic in Liberia.

2015

The Obama administration appoints the very first Special Envoy for Global LGBT Rights, largely thanks to the advocacy of AJWS’s We Believe campaign.

2015

AJWS responds to the earthquake in Nepal and raises nearly $2 million to support earthquake survivors.

2015

AJWS celebrates its 30th anniversary.

2016

Robert Bank becomes President and CEO of AJWS.

2017

As over 700,000 Rohingya Muslims flee genocide in Burma, AJWS responds with immediate humanitarian aid and support for Rohingya human rights activists. AJWS leads the creation of the Jewish Rohingya Justice Network, successfully advocating for U.S. sanctions on Burmese military officials and increased humanitarian aid.

2017

In El Salvador, grassroots groups supported by AJWS win a hard-fought victory to ban all metal mining — making El Salvador the first nation ever to pass such a law.

2018

AJWS grantees secure historic victories in India: The country’s Supreme Court first strikes down “Triple Talaq,” a law that allowed Muslim men to divorce their wives by saying “divorce,” then overturns Section 377, a draconian law criminalizing homosexuality.

2019

In Kenya, AJWS grantees lodged and litigated a high profile case to halt plans to build a major coal plant that would have caused grave environmental damage affecting over 100,000 people. The grantees also built a massive public movement to stop the plant—and Kenyan courts froze the project.

2020

AJWS responds to COVID-19, funding humanitarian aid, prevention education, and advocacy for human rights in 19 countries.