Director, Communal Antisemitism Response

Position Overview

The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington (“Federation”) seeks a strategic, collaborative, and entrepreneurial professional to serve as the inaugural Director, Community Antisemitism Response. The Director will lead Federation’s efforts to strengthen Greater Washington’s collective ability to address antisemitism, serving as a central strategist, convener, and capacity builder across the region’s Jewish communal ecosystem. This role is part of Federation’s Impact team and reports to the Vice President, Community Capacity Building.

Greater Washington benefits from a robust network of organizations responding to rising antisemitism through advocacy, education, security, civic engagement, coalition building, and community relations. Leveraging the results of a communal landscape scan that is currently being conducted by Federation in partnership with Rosov Consulting, the Director will help move this ecosystem toward a more coordinated, data-informed approach. They will be responsible for translating research into strategy, strengthening organizational capacity and collaboration, and identifying opportunities for greater investment and impact.

This is a role for a seasoned leader who enjoys working at the ecosystem level, can build trusted relationships across organizations and sectors, excels at navigating complex community dynamics, and is energized by the opportunity to turn complex challenges and emerging opportunities into clear strategies and collective action.

Key Responsibilities

Lead Community-Wide Strategy

• Lead the development, refinement, and implementation of a multi-year strategy for addressing antisemitism across Greater Washington.

• Translate findings from Federation’s community-wide antisemitism landscape scan, ongoing local and national research, and stakeholder engagement into clear priorities and an actionable implementation roadmap.

• Identify where Federation and its partners should strengthen or scale existing efforts and where new initiatives or investments are needed to address gaps in the communal response.

• Participate in a national Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) cohort of professionals focused on combatting antisemitism professionals and incorporate learnings from other communities into Federation strategy.

Strengthen Ecosystem Coordination and Collaboration

• Cultivate deep relationships and serve as a central connector across local and national organizations whose goals are to address rising antisemitism through advocacy, education, civic engagement, and incident response.

• Foster a culture of collective responsibility while recognizing and strengthening the distinct roles and expertise of community partners.

• Develop and facilitate structures for ongoing coordination, which may include a regional leadership table, issue-specific working groups, or other collaborative forums.

• Strengthen communication and information sharing across different types of organizations, including public and non-public schools, universities, synagogues, advocacy organizations, Jewish communal agencies, interfaith and intergroup partnerships, civic institutions, etc.

Build Organizational Capacity

• Monitor emerging trends including those emphasized in the communal landscape scan, to continuously identify areas where organizations need additional support, resources, expertise, training, or infrastructure to respond effectively to antisemitism.

• Connect organizations with national resources, emerging research, best practices, subject-matter expertise, and peer learning opportunities.

• Develop educational and learning opportunities for professionals and lay leaders when existing curricula, programs, or resources do not meet identified community needs.

• Leverage JFNA Project Halo resources to help organizations create reliable, effective, and impactful messaging to counter antisemitism across the Greater Washington region.

Drive Measurement, Evaluation, and Learning

• Lead the development of a measurement, evaluation, and learning framework across Federation’s antisemitism portfolio.

• Develop theories of change, logic models, key performance indicators, baseline measures, and other tools for assessing progress and effectiveness.

• Work closely with community partners to identify meaningful outcomes and create practical approaches to evaluation that strengthen their work and support continuous improvement.

• Ensure all measurement and tracking efforts are aligned with JFNA system-wide goals.

Shape Strategic Grantmaking & Investment

• Identify funding priorities and design grant opportunities that strengthen the broader ecosystem and address identified needs and gaps.

• Support application, review, monitoring, and evaluation processes and partner with grantees to strengthen implementation and outcomes.

• Identify promising approaches with the potential for broader or systemic impact and develop strategies to strengthen, test, scale, or replicate them.

• Help develop opportunities for transformational investment that bring together Federation leadership, philanthropic investment, community partners, and shared measurement around strategies capable of achieving impact at scale.

Connect Strategy with Philanthropy

• Support the translation of a community-wide antisemitism strategy into compelling opportunities for donor engagement and investment.

• Help identify and cultivate relationships with donors and lay leaders who are motivated to address antisemitism, ensuring their giving is grounded in and aligned with the broader strategic roadmap.

• Provide subject-matter framing, data, and storytelling that make the case for philanthropic investment in this work.

• Where relevant, connect potential donors and their philanthropic interests to Federation's broader strategic philanthropic vehicles, such as Growth Ventures, without owning fundraising or donor solicitation directly.

What Success Looks Like

• Greater Washington has a clear, actionable, data-informed regional strategy for addressing antisemitism, with defined priorities, outcomes, and an implementation roadmap.

• Jewish communal organizations, educational institutions, advocacy partners, civic and faith leaders, and other stakeholders are more connected and better coordinated around shared priorities.

• Community organizations report greater confidence and capacity to address antisemitism and stronger access to the resources, expertise, partnerships, and peer networks they need.

• Promising approaches are identified, strengthened, and scaled to reach broader populations or achieve greater systemic impact.

Qualifications and Experience

• 7+ years of progressive professional experience in strategy, Jewish communal work, community relations, civic engagement, public affairs, philanthropy, organizational capacity building, coalition building, or a related field.

• Demonstrated ability to develop and implement strategy in a complex, multi-stakeholder environment.

• Strong understanding of contemporary antisemitism and the issues facing Jewish communities, including the ability to engage thoughtfully with the ways antisemitism and anti-Zionism manifest across different settings.

• Exceptional relationship-building skills and demonstrated ability to establish trust and work effectively across organizations, sectors, perspectives, and jurisdictions.

• Strong facilitation and convening skills, including the ability to build alignment and move groups toward action without formal authority.

• Experience with measurement, evaluation, theory of change, or other approaches to assessing impact and informing strategy.

• Strong project management skills with the ability to move complex initiatives from concept through implementation.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including facilitation and presentation.

• Sound judgment, intellectual curiosity, adaptability, and comfort navigating complexity and ambiguity.

• Candidates must reside in or be willing to relocate to the Greater Washington (DC, MD, and Northern VA) region. This is a hybrid position, with 3 days a week required in our headquarters.

How We Support You 

• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage

• Retirement plan with employer contribution

• Generous paid time off, including Jewish holidays

• Up to 6 weeks of paid parental leave (after one year)

• Commuter bonus

• Hybrid work environment

• Ongoing professional development opportunities

About The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington 

The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington brings people together, mobilizes resources, and drives impact to strengthen Jewish life across Greater Washington and beyond. We serve as a strategic leader, convener, and catalyst, working across organizations, leaders, and communities to identify priorities, align efforts, and respond to evolving needs. By connecting people, resources, and ideas, we help drive coordinated action and build a vibrant Jewish future. Learn more at shalomdc.org.