Daniel Sokatch

Daniel Sokatch (born April 15, 1968) is an American activist, serving since 2009 as CEO of the New Israel Fund. In recognition of his leadership and influence, Sokatch's has been named multiple times to The Jewish Daily Forward's “Forward 50,” a yearly list of the fifty leading Jewish decision-makers, activists and opinion-shapers who have had a significant impact on the Jewish community.^[1]

Career

Sokatch grew up in Cheshire, CT., went to Brandeis University, briefly attended Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem, Fletcher School (MA) and Boston College.(JD)

He has published works in the Los Angeles Times, The Jewish Daily Forward, The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, and is included in the anthology Righteous Indignation.

He was a founder of the Progressive Jewish Alliance and served as its first executive director. The PJA sought to appeal to young members of the Jewish community. ^[2] With Sokatch’s leadership, the PJA grew from 250 members at its founding in 1999 to more than 4,000 ten years later.^[3] While at PJA, Sokatch served as a Visiting Instructor at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles, teaching a class “Social Justice and Spiritual Activism,” and also served on the faculty of Reboot, a national network that connects Jewish Americans from the literary, entertainment, hi-tech, political, social action and academic communities.^[4]

From 2008 to 2009 Sokatch was the Executive Director of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties. He then joined the New Israel Fund as Chief Executive Officer.

In 2010 The Forward recognized Sokatch for his leadership of the New Israel Fund in the face of "an unprecedented attack against the group" and for "formulating funding guidelines" for NIF grants such that groups "that do not support a two-state solution or the Jewish connection to Israel" are not funded.^[5]

References