New York, NY – November 26, 2012 – The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) has named Alan Gill as its next CEO. Gill, whose career in the Jewish community has been marked by purposeful professional leadership, will take the helm of the global Jewish humanitarian organization on January 31, 2013. Gill’s unanimous nomination by a selection committee of JDC’s Board of Directors and confirmation by the Board’s Executive Committee came after an extensive global search conducted by executive search firm DRG.

A 20-year veteran of JDC, Gill currently serves as the organization’s Executive Director of International Relations. In this role, he created and built a global operation to support the organization’s humanitarian mission in more than 70 countries and Israel. Under his leadership, the organization’s annual, direct philanthropic revenue has increased tenfold with significant growth in foundation, major donor, governmental and general donor support, bringing JDC’s total annual budget to $350 million. This growth has enabled JDC to expand its critically needed humanitarian assistance and Jewish community development in post-communist countries and to address growing social gaps in Israel.

Gill also played a leadership role in launching many of JDC’s landmark programs including Ashalim, a unique public and private/non-profit partnership to address the needs of Israel’s children at risk; The Hunger Relief Campaign for impoverished elderly Jews in post-Soviet countries and the development of community centers for the renewal of Jewish life in those communities; and PACT – Parents and Children Together – an internationally recognized program for the education and cultural integration of Ethiopian-Israeli preschool children and their parents. Gill also served as a special advisor to the organization’s Former Soviet Union operations and was a member of JDC’s emergency relief team during the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, providing urgently needed assistance to elderly Jews trapped behind the Russian lines.

Before moving to Israel in 1993, Gill served as the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Columbus, Ohio. His chief accomplishments included significantly expanding community services through establishing satellite operations in emerging Jewish areas; establishing group homes for Jewish adults with special needs (among the first in the United States); establishing a comprehensive resettlement program for Jewish émigrés from the Soviet Union; nearly doubling the federation’s annual campaign during his tenure; and developing a statewide Hillel funding consortium for Jewish university students in Ohio. He also served as founder of The Ohio State University’s graduate training program for Jewish Communal Service, and was a part-time professor at Ohio State’s College of Social Work.

Gill’s name will be included in the slate of officers to be voted on by JDC’s Board at its regular board meeting next week. Gill holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology from Ohio University, and a master’s in social work from Ohio State.

Gill and his wife, Rhona, will move to New York from their home in Jerusalem in advance of his taking the reins as CEO on January 31st.