Stephen Bressler, Chapter President
Rabbi Maynard Bell, Executive Director
Elizabeth Tregor-Dokken, Associate Director

For over four decades, the Arizona Chapter has been the American Jewish Committee's voice in Metropolitan Phoenix and the State of Arizona. We seek to be domestic and international diplomats, nurturing relationships with other ethnic and religious communities, reinforcing the international agenda of the AJC though dialogue with regional consular officials, facilitating public education, cultivating media relations, and conducting legislative advocacy. We are a proactive force in the local Jewish Community, fostering an intelligent and rational approach to the issues that challenge the Jewish people and America's democratic institutions.

Chapter Committees and Programs

1. Advocacy and Domestic Policy: This year, the Arizona Chapter joins forces with the entire American Jewish Committee in a forward-thinking Energy Initiative. Our Chapter's Energy Task Force will be developing strategies and programs aimed at educating the public about the urgent need to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. We continue our local efforts to promote the reform of our country's broken immigration system, in partnership with organizations like the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. In the areas like energy policy and immigration reform, our legislative advocacy focuses on state-level as well as federal legislation.
   
   
2. Intergroup Relations: Our local AJC programs, like the Latino-Jewish Seder and "America's Table: a Thanksgiving Reader", bring Jews together with members of other key religious and ethnic communities for shared celebration and cross-cultural learning. This year we will again partner with the City of Phoenix Human Relations Commission and the Scottsdale School District in their cultural diversity programming, by conducting events at the Thanksgiving season that reinforce the message that people of all faiths and ethnicities deserve a place at “America's Table.” We continue to be leaders in the Jewish community in fostering a positive relationship with America's and Arizona's most demographically significant minority, the Latino Community. This year, we plan to expand our intergroup work with an outreach to Arizona's large and politically powerful Mormon community. To enhance the effectiveness of our intergroup work, the Arizona Chapter participates in the AJC's Engaging America Program, a training program designed to heighten our communication skills and awareness of cultural diversity issues.
   
   
3. International Relations: Our Chapter's concerns reach beyond our local concerns, embracing the mission of the AJC internationally. We encourage our members to gain a sophisticated understanding of political issues impacting the Jewish people worldwide. AJC provides members with opportunities to travel to Europe, Israel, Latin America and Africa to meet with top level representatives of foreign governments and international think tanks. In recent months, Chapter Lay leaders have traveled to Israel, Poland, Germany, the Arab Gulf States, and Southeast Asia on high-level AJC missions. Our Diplomatic/Consular Luncheon Series brings the Arizona Chapter Leadership together with senior consular officials of foreign states, to learn about the political perspectives of other nations on issues that concern the Jewish people and to advocate for the security of overseas Jewish communities and the State of Israel.
   
   
4. Judge Learned Hand Awards: Each spring an independent Selection Committee recruited by our AJC chapter from across the community presents awards to lawyers and judges whose practice of law meets the high standards set by Second Circuit Judge Learned Hand. This event involves hundreds of associates of the most prestigious law firms in Arizona, Justices of the State Supreme Court, Arizona State University, University of Arizona, the Phoenix International Law Schools, and elected officials.
   
   
5. National Human Relations Award Dinner: Annually, the Arizona Chapter recognizes a local Civic and Corporate Leader who exemplifies the AJC's core values of protecting democracy and advancing pluralism with the National Human Relations Award. This year, on Thursday, October 25th, Denise Resnik of the public relations firm Denise Resnik & Associates and Co-founder of the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center, will receive this honor.

We invite you to become a member of the Arizona Chapter. You can join as:

• Regular Member for $100
• Under 35 Member for $35

• Opportunities for International Conferences and Seminars
• Invitations to exclusive leadership receptions
• Tickets to VIP receptions at chapter events
• Tickets, at cost, to chapter events

Contact us today for more information at (602) 955-3600 or arizona@ajc.org.