Dina Siegel Vann
Dina Siegel Vann, a native of Mexico City, is Founding Director of AJC's Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Institute for Latino and Latin American Affairs (BILLA) in Washington, D.C. Siegel Vann previously served as UN and Latin American Affairs Director for B’nai B’rith International. Before immigrating to the U.S. in 1996, she was Political Affairs Director for the Mexican Jewish Community.
As BILLA’s Founding Director, she has traveled widely and developed an important network of diplomatic and political contacts. She organized the first Latino-Jewish Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C., in 2001 and the first and second National Conversations on the State of Latino-Jewish Relations in 2013 and 2023. In 2011, the Congressional Latino-Jewish Caucus was created largely due to her efforts. Additionally, she is a contributor to myriad media outlets both in Spanish and English and has received numerous awards for her intergroup and civil rights work.
In March 2016, King Felipe VI of Spain awarded her the Order of Civil Merit for her role in supporting his country’s efforts to re-engage Sephardic Jews and for helping connect the different layers of the Hispanic universe. In September 2016, the Mexican government bestowed on her one of its highest honors, the prestigious National Ohtli Award, which recognizes Mexican, Mexican-American or Latino leaders whose efforts have contributed significantly to the empowerment of Mexican communities abroad.
Siegel Vann graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in English Literature from Tel Aviv University and holds an M.A. in Public Relations from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
