Comings and Goings:
JDC GRID
Pratt Foundation

JDC has announced the appointment of Avital Sandler-Loeff to the position of Executive Director of GRID, JDC’s disaster relief and international development platform.

Avital currently serves as the director of Israel Unlimited, JDC’s partnership with the Ruderman Family Foundation and Israeli government focused on driving inclusion and accessibility for Israelis with disabilities. In that role since 2012, Avital has more than tripled Israel Unlimited’s budget to $6.5 million; expanded its operations to more than 50 cities; and has overseen the creation of programs reaching tens of thousands of Israelis with disabilities in the areas of housing, employment, education, and social service delivery.

She also brings to GRID experience building relationships among global NGOs and creating professional exchanges between disability advocates worldwide and Israelis working in this space. Her pioneering work with Israel Unlimited, and in the Arab sector, resulted in a special $1 million USAID grant to train hundreds of religious leaders, students, researchers, and people with disabilities in Israel and the West Bank to educate the public on disabilities issues and advance disability rights.

Avital’s expertise in creating services for people with disabilities facing crisis and emergencies in Israel has had practical application outside the country. JDC leveraged this skillset to strengthen its disaster relief work in 2016 when she served in the Philippines advising local partners and communities how to effectively include people with disabilities in their disaster mitigation and response practices.

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Sam Lipski has announced he is retiring from his long-running post as CEO of the Pratt Foundation, but will keep his ties to the foundation from next year in the role of special adviser.

Anthony Pratt’s chairman’s office will assume oversight for the Pratt Foundation’s future grant-making from January 2020.

Group general manager Robert Kaye will be responsible for this new role, providing counsel and governance to the foundation and reporting to the chairman’s office.