New head of marketing and communications seeks to elevate marginalized global human rights voices in an ever evolving, competitive media landscape.
New York, NY — Today, Venus Devnani, Executive Vice President of American Jewish World Service (AJWS), the leading global Jewish human rights organization, announced Peter Taback as the new Vice President for Marketing and Communications. In this role, Mr. Taback will lead strategies that advance AJWS’s mission to realize human rights and end poverty, as inspired by the Jewish commitment to justice.
“Peter brings deep respect, big-picture thinking, and thoughtfulness to the way he crafts compelling narratives on human rights challenges,” Ms. Devnani said. “His work in higher education, global and community health and government gives him a unique perspective — one that will amplify the vital and complex work we do to advance human rights at AJWS. I am thrilled to welcome him to our leadership team.”
Mr. Taback most recently served as Chief Engagement and External Affairs Officer for YAI, one of the nation’s largest providers of services for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He also served as Interim Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for the Center for Reproductive Rights, Vice President for Communications at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and Chief Communications Officer at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, where he remains a faculty member.
“It’s exciting to join AJWS at such an auspicious time,” Mr. Taback said. “The way we tell stories, where we put them and who reads and watches them changes by the minute, but the imperative to tell these stories remains constant. And because AJWS supports social movements that will define how the world feels for millions of people over the next 10, 20, 30 years, our challenge is determining how to lift up the voices of AJWS’s grantee-partners and lead them to an audience of insight and concern. What a privilege that is.”
Mr. Taback recognizes that the communities facing human rights challenges are actually those best equipped to determine the solutions, and this has been a focus of his career and leadership.
“This core AJWS principle has come up again and again,” Mr. Taback said. “It was the case for people living with HIV/AIDS, it was the case among people with disabilities and I can see that it is also the case with the marginalized communities with whom AJWS works. I am eager to get to know the grantee-partners to better understand how their work can be illuminated for audiences who need to hear about it.”
Mr. Taback holds a bachelor’s degree in American Civilization and English from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and a Ph.D. in English from the Graduate School and University Center, City University of New York.
For More Information
If you are a member of the press and wish to obtain information about our work or speak to a member of our global team on deadline, please contact Tanyanika Davis, Director of Media Relations, at tdavis@ajws.org.
