AJC Launches Latino Jewish Leadership Council

NEW YORK, Jan. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A prominent group of national U.S. Jews and Latinos has established the Latino Jewish Leadership Council (LJLC). Convened by AJC, the new national Council will work to further strengthen Latino-Jewish cooperation in advocating for issues of shared concern and values cherished by both communities.

"The future of this country is based, as it has always been, on communities coming together with a vision for a better future and, through hard work and perseverance, making that vision our shared reality," said Luis Ubiñas, President of the Ford Foundation (2008 to 2013), current President of the Board of Directors of the Pan American Development Foundation, and a founding member of the LJLC. "In this coming generation, the Latino and Jewish communities working together can achieve any aspiration."

AJC has long been committed to deepening Latino-Jewish understanding and cooperation. The LJLC expands upon groundbreaking initiatives that have included helping launch the bipartisan Latino-Jewish Congressional Caucus in 2011, and hosting in 2013 a National Conversation on the State of Latino-Jewish Relations in Washington, D.C., attended by 100 high-level leaders from both communities. Many LJLC members have participated in these and other initiatives of AJC's Belfer Institute for Latino and Latin American Affairs (BILLA).

"When the very ethos of American pluralism has been challenged by some, when hate crimes have increased, and when entire communities have been stigmatized, creation of this Council reinforces the importance of our shared destiny, and the strength and resilience our nation derives from its diversity," said Dina Siegel Vann, director of AJC BILLA, who is staffing the LJLC.

The Council's first meeting will take place in Washington on March 1. Visit ajc.org to receive more information and LJLC updates.

The full list of the initial LJLC members is below:

Dr. Juan Andrade, Jr.
President, U.S. Hispanic Leadership Institute
Chicago

Pilar Avila
Board Member, New America Alliance
Los Angeles

Hector V. Barreto
Chairman, The Latino Coalition
Los Angeles

Howard Berman
Former U.S. Representative
Los Angeles

Al Cárdenas
Senior Partner, Squire Patton Boggs
Miami / Washington, D.C.

Alberto P. Cárdenas, Jr.
Counsel, Vinson & Elkins, LLP
Houston

Maria T. Cardona
Principal, The Dewey Square Group
Washington, DC

Alejandra Castillo
Entrepreneur
Washington, DC

Marty Castro
President and CEO, Castro Synergies, LLC; Former Chair, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
Chicago

Henry Cisneros
Founder and Chairman, Citiview; Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
San Antonio

Claudio Grossman
President, Inter-American Institute of Human Rights; Dean Emeritus, American University Washington College of Law
Washington, DC

Giselle Fernandez
President, Fernandez Consulting
Los Angeles

David Harris
AJC CEO
New York

Thomas Kahn
Honorary Chair, AJC Belfer Institute for Latino and Latin American Affairs
Washington, DC

Shrub Kempner
Board of Governors, AJC
Galveston

Abelardo Lechter
Chairman, Pan American Association of Philadelphia; Board Member, Congreso de Latinos Unidos
Philadelphia

David Leopold
Board Member, AJC Cleveland; Former President, American Immigration Lawyers Association
Cleveland

Javier Palomarez
President and CEO, U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Washington, DC

Robert Raben
Founder and President, The Raben Group
Washington, DC

Allan Reich
Chairman, AJC National Policy Commission
Chicago

Raul B. Rodriguez
Chairman, U.S. Mexico Foundation
San Antonio

Felix Sanchez
Chairman and Co-Founder, National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts
Washington, DC

Dina Siegel Vann
Director, AJC Belfer Institute for Latino and Latin American Affairs
Washington, DC

José Antonio Tijerino
President and CEO, Hispanic Heritage Foundation
Washington, DC

Luis Ubiñas
Former President, Ford Foundation; President of the Board of Directors, Pan American Development Foundation
New York

Cid Wilson
President and CEO, Hispanic Association for Corporate Responsibility
Washington, DC

Peter Villegas
Board Member, NALEO; ‎Vice President of Latin Affairs, The Coca-Cola Company
Los Angeles

SOURCE American Jewish Committee

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