Dan Schnur Named Director of AJC Los Angeles

AJC has appointed longtime political communications specialist and educator Dan Schnur as director of the global advocacy organization’s Los Angeles regional office. He will succeed Janna Weinstein Smith, who is relocating to Washington, D.C., at the end of the month.

“Dan Schnur's prominence in our community and his sustained history of leadership make him uniquely qualified to lead AJC in Los Angeles,” said Scott Edelman, President of AJC Los Angeles. “We are thrilled to welcome Dan to lead our extraordinary team of staff professionals, and grateful for the many accomplishments of his predecessor, Janna Weinstein Smith.”

Schnur comes to AJC after a career in communications and advocacy in California and national politics, and, more recently, teaching at the University of Southern California and the University of California – Berkeley.

“I am honored to head the AJC Los Angeles office, to work with leaders in our community to build and strengthen relationships with those who share our core principles,” said Schnur. “I have spent years building support for the causes and issues that are most important to me, but nothing is more vital than the values that form the pillars of the Jewish community.”

Since 2004, Schnur has taught politics, communications and leadership at the University of Southern California. He has been Director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics, founder of the USC/LA Times statewide political poll, and faculty advisor to the Trojans for Israel and SC Students for Israel organizations.

In addition to his position at USC, Schnur is an Adjunct Instructor at the University of California at Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies. He also has held the post of Visiting Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government’s Institute of Politics at Harvard University and taught an advanced course in political campaign communications at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management.

Earlier in his career, Schnur spent nearly 20 years in state and national politics, working on four presidential campaigns and three campaigns for governor of California. He served as chairman of the California Fair Political Practice Commission, communications director for Governor Pete Wilson, and for Senator John McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign. In 2011, Schnur changed his party registration to No Party Preference.

In recent years, he has been involved with AJC Los Angeles, serving on its Board of Directors and Executive Committee.

AJC, a non-partisan organization founded in 1906, has headquarters in New York, 22 offices across the U.S, 10 around the world, and 34 international partnerships with overseas Jewish communities and student organizations.

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