American Jewish World Service - History

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, businesspeople, scholars and others came together to create the first American Jewish organization dedicated to alleviating poverty, hunger and disease among people across the globe.

The organization's first key achievement was its response to a volcano disaster in Armaro, Colombia, in 1986. That same year, AJWS helped the Tibetan government exiled in India initiate an agricultural improvement project. In 1990, AJWS launched five new international development projects in Mexico, Honduras and Haiti, which provided training programs in sustainable agriculture. In 1995, AJWS launched its first international service trips, including the International Jewish College Corps – now Volunteer Summer - which sent 10 young Jewish men and women to spend the summer helping villagers in Honduras build a potable water system.

In the 1990s, AJWS's grantee organizations began to receive recognition for their work. In 1998, Ntataise Trust in South Africa received an award from former South African President Nelson Mandela for "its exceptional contribution to education in South Africa." Its grantee Tostan's campaign to ban female genital cutting triumphed in Senegal, when the Senegalese parliament banned the practice.

Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, AJWS responded by receiving donations and making grants to groups that provide support to families of low-income workers. In 2004 the American Jewish World Service responded to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. In 2006, AJWS helped organize a rally in Washington, D.C. against genocide and has since conducted a series of other rallies throughout the country. In 2003 AJWS launched peer exchange programs in Southern Africa that brought together community-based organizations from the region to exchange best practices in responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.