By Leyna Krow, Assistant Editor, JTNews
The Greater Seattle Chapter of the American Jewish Committee has hired Wendy Rosen as its new executive director.
Rosen is taking over for Rabbi Anson Laytner, the AJC’s previous executive director. Laytner is currently serving as the interim rabbi for Congregation Kol HaNeshamah in West Seattle.
Prior to accepting the position with the AJC, Rosen worked as the Northwest Chapter director for the American Technion Society.
According to development director Kathleen Crowell, the Seattle AJC began its search for a new executive director in the spring, and with the help of a task force made up of AJC board members, selected Rosen from a diverse pool of applicants.
“She has a lot of good cultivation and fundraising skills,” Crowell said of Rosen. “She also has experience working with board members and she has a good understanding of the mission of the AJC.”
Rosen began her work with the AJC at the end of June. She described her role as being the public face of the AJC in Seattle. She also intends to pick up where Rabbi Laytner left off with regard to fostering interfaith relationships with leaders from other religious organ-izations.
“My marching orders are to be out in the community and working with the media and religious leaders, building bridges, and constantly promoting the message of the organization,” Rosen said. “Anson Laytner did a fantastic job of deepening relationship outside of the Jewish community. I am honored to be following in his footsteps.”
She added that her personal goal for the position is to increase the AJC’s visibility in the Seattle Jewish community. Locally, the AJC is best known for putting on the annual Seattle Jewish Film Festival, but Rosen said she wants Seattleites to know about its other programs as well, such as its ambassador/consular briefings, the Student Human Relations Program, and FILMTalks, a workshop for high school students that uses film as a vehicle for talking about prejudice.
“I want to bring that great work to Seattle community,” she said. “The AJC in Seattle should be known not only for film festival, but for other work we do as well.”
Rosen is a graduate of the University of Washington and has lived in Seattle all of her life. When she’s not working, she said she spends most of her time playing the role of soccer mom for her two teenage children and spending time with her large extended family.