Subject Experts

JDC’s professional staff includes subject experts in a wide range of topics including Jewish renewal, property restitution, disaster relief and long-term development, welfare, employment, children at risk, disabled, immigrants, the elderly and women as well as communities in Africa, Europe, Israel, Latin America, the former Soviet Union, and more.

Steven Schwager, Chief Executive Officer, JDC

Since 2002, Steve Schwager has served as the Executive Vice President and CEO of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).

Mr. Schwager joined JDC in 1989 as its Chief Operating Officer and was responsible for monitoring all operations of the organization—from the former Soviet Union to Ethiopia.  He has traveled extensively throughout the world, working in such diverse locations as Australia, Ethiopia, Morocco, Hungary, Bulgaria, Russia, and Ukraine. From 1999-2000, Mr. Schwager relocated to Israel to directly supervise JDC’s operations in Israel and the former Soviet Union, where JDC spends two-thirds of its annual budget promoting essential services and community development activities.

 Since its inception in 1914, JDC has helped millions of Jews around the world. Under Mr. Schwager’s guidance, JDC currently works in over 70 countries and is focusing significant efforts on developing programs and initiatives that contend with Israel’s increasing poverty and the needs of its vulnerable populations, caring for hundreds of thousands of impoverished Jews in the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe—particularly the elderly and children, and ensuring a self-sufficient Jewish future in communities worldwide.

To arrange an interview with Mr. Schwager, contact press@jdc.org. 

Download PDF of Steven Schwager Executive Bio. 

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