Grantmaker News

Julia Greenberg to leave AJWS - Kate Kroeger to succeed as Director of Grants
December 18, 2007
Dear Friends and Colleagues,

I am writing to let you know that I have made the very difficult decision to leave American Jewish World Service. Beginning in February, I will take up the position of Associate Director of AIDS-Free World, an international AIDS advocacy organization, co-directed by Stephen Lewis, the former Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa, and Paula Donovan, who has served as UNICEF's Regional AIDS Advisor for Eastern and Southern Africa, and UNIFEM's Gender and AIDS Advisor for Africa.

My 10 years at AJWS have been extraordinary in every way. I have been privileged to contribute to the growth of an organization that I believe to be truly on the cutting edge of international human rights and development work. I helped to develop AJWS’ HIV/AIDS programming back in 1999, and in doing so I relied not only on the guidance of AJWS’ remarkable President, Ruth Messinger, but on the wisdom of colleagues such as yourselves. Most importantly, I had the honor of working with hundreds of community organizations led by people living with AIDS, women survivors of violence, and activists from threatened communities around the world, whose brilliance and perseverance will forever be an inspiration to me.

Moving from AJWS to AIDS-Free World will give me the opportunity to fully commit myself to the fight against AIDS, focusing especially on the impact on women. I honestly feel that it’s the opportunity of a lifetime for me. The sadness I feel about leaving my family at AJWS is tempered by the knowledge that in my new role, I will be able to collaborate not only with AJWS, but with the colleagues and grantees with whom I worked during my time here.

I am absolutely thrilled to announce that I will be succeeded at AJWS by Kate Kroeger, who will assume the position of Director of Grants at AJWS at the end of January. Kate has been my Associate Director for the last two years, and will bring creativity, smarts and a wealth of expertise to her new role. Prior to coming to AJWS, Kate was a Senior Manager at Netaid, and from 1997-2001 she worked in India with local and international community development organizations.

I will write again with my new contact information and news of what AIDS-Free World has in store in February. But I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your partnership and let you know that you will be hearing from me again once I’m settled into my new position.

With Warm Regards and Respect,

Julia Greenberg

Paul A. Di Donato to start as new Civil Marriage Collaborative Program Officer
October 14, 2007
The Proteus Fund's is delighted to announce that Paul A. Di Donato will begin working as the program officer for the Civil Marriage Collaborative on Monday, October 15.

Paul has been an activist, advocate and philanthropic leader in the areas of HIV/AIDS, LGBT issues, civil and human rights and social justice for over 25 years. Most recently he served as the Director of Institutional Relations at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) where he managed IAVI’s foundation and corporate supporters and spearheaded efforts to secure additional private institutional support.

From 1997 to 2005, Paul was Executive Director of Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA), where he directed a wide array of initiatives designed to increase the scope, quality, diversity and effectiveness of the U.S. philanthropic response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. While at FCAA, Paul served on the International Committee of the Council on Foundations, the steering committee of the European HIV/AIDS Funders Group and the National Partners Board for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Business Responds to AIDS/Labor Responds to AIDS program. He also co-chaired the National Steering Committee of Philanthropic Affinity Groups.

Before leading FCAA, Paul served in several roles in the Public Policy Department of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. Previously, he was Public Policy Director of the AIDS Legal Referral Panel and Executive Director and Legal Director of National Gay Rights Advocates. Earlier in his career, Paul was a litigator in private civil rights practice focusing on prison reform, employment discrimination and other civil rights issues; in 1985 he was appointed a Revson Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellow.

Paul has written, lectured and presented extensively on civil/human rights, social justice issues and nonprofit and philanthropic practice and management and has taught courses in discrimination and civil rights law. For the last eight years, he has been a trustee and member of the National Grants Committee of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, one of the largest HIV grantmaking organizations in the United States.

Lesley Carson, formerly of Human Rights First, joins Wellspring Advisors, LLC
September 17, 2007
Wellspring Advisors, LLC has recently hired Lesley Carson as a Program Officer/ Philanthropic Advisor for its international human rights grantmaking program. Over the years, Lesley has worked with US-based and international human rights groups including the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, the Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation, the Columbia University Center for the Study of Human Rights, and Amnesty International USA. For six years, she served as founding director of Forefront, a training and advocacy network of frontline human rights defenders in thirty countries.

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