American Jewish World Service has hired Alon Shalev to serve as the agency’s executive director for San Francisco and the Western region. In June, the Berkeley resident left his role as executive director of San Francisco Hillel after nine years on the job.
With AJWS, Shalev’s territory covers Northern California, the Pacific Northwest and Colorado. He will work to advance global human rights work through community education, fundraising and advocacy, according to a press release.
A meet-and-greet reception with Shalev is scheduled for 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 18 at Perry’s in the Hotel Griffon, 155 Steuart St., San Francisco. For more information and to RSVP, visit www.bit.ly/shalev-ajws or call (415) 593-3298.
Of his new job, Shalev said in a press release, “As a lifelong advocate for human rights, I am deeply committed to the work of AJWS and look forward to engaging American Jews to join global efforts to improve the lives of women, girls and LGBT people; local people in poor communities who are fighting to defend their land, air, water and work from unbridled development projects; and people affected by disasters, including Ebola.”
Shalev began his career in his native England, where he organized to end apartheid in South Africa and advocated for the right of Jews to emigrate from the Soviet Union. In Israel, where he lived for two decades on Kibbutz Lotan, a green, Reform community, Shalev promoted rights and opportunities for Jews from the Soviet Union. He piloted a program that provided new immigrants with an initial home and employment, as well as instruction in Hebrew and vital skills.
Shalev also has written three social justice–themed novels and is well known for his “Wycaan Master” series, classified as young adult epic fantasy. The first in the series, “At the Walls of Galbrieth,” won an Eric Hoffer Award in 2013; the fourth, “Sacrificial Flame,” was published in July. He lives in Berkeley with his wife, Ariela, and their two sons, Pele and Asif.