William Daroff | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1968 |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Chief Executive Officer, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations |
| Known for | American Jewish Communal Leader |
William C. Daroff (born 1968) is the CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. [1]
Daroff was born in Miami Beach, Florida, where his father, neuro-ophthalmology pioneer [2] Robert B. Daroff, M.D., was a professor at the University of Miami. [3] He moved with his family to suburban Cleveland, Ohio in 1980, when his father became the chairman of the Department of Neurology at Case Western Reserve University. [3]
Daroff graduated from Hawken School in suburban Gates Mills, Ohio in 1986. [4] He received his bachelor's degree (summa cum laude) in political science and history, his master's degree in political science, and his Juris Doctor from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He also studied at Kraków, Poland's Jagiellonian University, where he received a certificate in the history of Eastern European Jewry and The Holocaust. [5] [6]
William Daroff worked on three presidential campaign staffs: Rep. Jack Kemp in 1986–88, then-Vice President George H. W. Bush in 1988, and Sen. Bob Dole in 1996. [5] He also managed campaigns for the United States House of Representatives and for the State Treasurer of Ohio. He served as a political appointee in the U.S. Department of Energy in the Administration of President George H. W. Bush, as Special Assistant to Ohio Governor George Voinovich, and as Deputy Director of the Ohio Department of Liquor Control. [5]
In Cleveland, Ohio, he served on the executive committee of the American Jewish Committee, on the board of Bellefaire Jewish Children's Bureau, on the leadership cabinet for Israel Bonds, and on the board of Ohio Jewish Communities. He was also involved in the Jewish Community Federation of Greater Cleveland, serving on the board of its Young Leadership Division, the community relations committee, the advocacy task force, the Young Adult Initiative board, and the public education initiative. [7]
Upon moving to Washington, D.C., in 2000, Daroff served as director of congressional affairs (2000–2001) and then deputy executive director (2001–2005) of the Republican Jewish Coalition. [5] [8]
In October 2005, Daroff became the vice president for public policy and director of the Washington Office of The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) formerly known as United Jewish Communities, [5] where he advocates for the American Jewish community's agenda with the United States government. As the chief lobbyist and principal spokesperson on public policy and international affairs for the 156 Jewish federations and 300 independent communities represented by JFNA, Daroff promotes the interests of Jewish federations on Capitol Hill and in the executive branch of the United States. [5] He became senior vice president in 2013.
Daroff has testified before committees in both the United States House of Representatives [9] and the United States Senate. [10]
President George W. Bush appointed Daroff to serve on the honorary delegation to accompany him to Jerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel in May 2008. [11] [12] In September 2007, Daroff was appointed [13] by President George W. Bush to be a member of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad, which is charged with the oversight of the protection of properties in Europe associated with the heritage of U.S. citizens, including Jewish cemeteries, synagogues, and memorials. He served during the Obama Administration as well, leaving the Commission in 2011. [14]
Daroff was named one of the 50 most influential Jews in America by The Jewish Daily Forward newspaper. [15] Slate Magazine stated, "Daroff is also one of the country's better-connected Jewish operatives." [16] He is widely quoted in newspapers, magazines, on the radio, and television across the world. [17] [ better source needed ]
He was a member of the Board [18] of the World Council of Jewish Communal Service as well as Vice President of the Board [19] of the Jewish Communal Service Association of North America. [20] He has also served in leadership positions with the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.
In May 2009, Daroff was named by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) as being among the most influential Jewish Twitterers in the world for his tweeting from @Daroff. [21] He was also called "the fastest tweet in the Jewish organizational world" in a 2010 Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) profile. [22] He often speaks publicly on social media, including in high-profile settings such as South By Southwest in 2012. [23]
He has also been widely quoted in leading news outlets, including The New York Times , [24] The Washington Post , [25] USA Today , [26] The Los Angeles Times , [27] Newsweek , [28] The International Herald-Tribune , Slate , [16] The Jerusalem Post , [29] Ha’aretz , The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), The Jewish Daily Forward , [30] and newspapers around the world. He has also made frequent radio and television appearances.[ citation needed ]
The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations is the umbrella organization for the American Jewish community. Comprising 50 national Jewish organizations, it was founded in 1956 to develop a consensus voice among Jewish organizations, especially to the U.S. government.
Eric David Fingerhut is an American politician, attorney, and academic administrator, serving as the President and CEO of The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA). Prior to his appointment at JFNA, he served as president and CEO of Hillel International from 2013 to 2019. Earlier, he served as the corporate Vice President of Education and STEM Learning business at Battelle Memorial Institute, Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents, Ohio state senator and member of the United States House of Representatives for one term.
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, also known as Hillel International, is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, working with thousands of college students globally. Hillel is represented at more than 850 colleges and communities throughout North America and globally, including 30 communities in the former Soviet Union, nine in Israel, and five in South America.
The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada. The CCAR is the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in the world. Its current president is Rabbi Erica Asch.
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) is an international news agency and wire service that primarily covers Judaism- and Jewish-related topics and news. Described as the "Associated Press of the Jewish media," JTA serves Jewish and non-Jewish newspapers and press around the world as a syndication partner. Founded in 1917, it is world Jewry's oldest and most widely-read wire service.
The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), formerly the United Jewish Communities (UJC), is an American Jewish umbrella organization for the Jewish Federations system, representing over 350 independent Jewish communities across North America that raise and distribute over $2 billion annually, including through planned giving and endowment programs, to support social welfare, social services and educational needs. Jewish Federations also provides fundraising, organization assistance, training, and overall leadership to the Jewish Federations and communities throughout the United States and Canada. The Federation movement protects and enhances the well-being of Jews worldwide through the values of tikkun olam, tzedakah and Torah.
Rephoel Baruch Sorotzkin was the Rosh Yeshiva of the Telz Yeshiva in Cleveland and among American Jewry's foremost religious leaders.
Malcolm Hoenlein has been the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations since June 1986. He is the founding executive director of the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.
Karol Efraim Sidon is a Czech rabbi, writer and playwright. He is the Chief Rabbi of the Czech Republic, and former Chief Rabbi of the city of Prague.
The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) was a political lobbying organization that advocated within the Democratic Party for viewpoints aligned with the American Jewish community and in support of the state of Israel, and within the political process generally, between 1990 and about 2016.
The White House staff position of liaison to the American Jewish community is a role charged with serving as a presidential administration's voice to the community and gathering the community's consensus viewpoint on issues affecting it for the benefit of White House policymakers. It has existed at least as early as the Carter Administration.
Rabbi Steve Gutow is an American rabbi, lawyer, community activist, and Jewish leader. He is a visiting scholar at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and co-director of the Religious Leadership and Civic Engagement initiative. He formerly served as the president and CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA).
John S. Ruskay, is executive vice president emeritus of UJA-Federation of New York and a senior partner of JRB Consulting Services. He served as a commissioner of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom from May 2016 to May 2018. Ruskay is an author and lecturer on issues affecting the Jewish people.
Albert Vorspan was an American author and long-time leader of Reform Judaism. He was director emeritus of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism. and served as senior vice president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the predecessor organization of the Union of Reform Judaism, at the time of his retirement in 1993.
Martin Stanford Fox was an American publisher who served as President of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, the oldest and largest international news agency and wire service serving Jewish community newspapers and media around the world.
Stuart Weinblatt is an ordained rabbi and the President of the Rabbinic Cabinet of the Jewish Federations of North America. He is the senior rabbi of Congregation B’nai Tzedek in Potomac, Maryland. He and his wife founded the Conservative synagogue in 1988 with only a handful of families. The congregation's membership is now over 650 families. Rabbi Weinblatt also served as Director of Israel Policy and Advocacy for the Rabbinical Assembly starting in 2009 and was tapped by the Jewish National Fund to head up and organize their "Rabbis for Israel" affinity group.
The Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA), also known as "Jewish Dems", is an organization that defines itself as "the voice for Jewish Democrats and socially progressive, pro-Israel, and Jewish values". It was announced in August 2017, and officially launched in November 2017. JDCA was incorporated in Washington, D.C., in June 2017. JDCA has 15 chapters across the United States.
Rabbi Bernard Louis Levinthal, the "Dean of U. S. Rabbis," built Philadelphia's first Eastern European Orthodox Jewish community from his arrival in the United States in 1891 until his death in 1952. Rabbi Levinthal helped found American Jewish Orthodox institutions including Yeshiva University in 1896, the Orthodox Union in 1898, Mizrachi in 1902, and the American Agudas Harabbanim. His grave is in Congregation Mikveh Israel's 55th Street Cemetery in West Philadelphia.
Susie Gelman is an American activist and philanthropist who serves as the chairwoman of the Israel Policy Forum.
Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) is a news agency and wire service that primarily covers Jewish and Israel-related topics and news. While officially nonpartisan, compared to its much larger and older competitor the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, JNS is considered to be more conservative and hawkish.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)