Formerly Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Ira Forman is currently the Visiting Professor of Contemporary Antisemitism at Georgetown University and Senior Fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Jewish Civilization. He also serves as the Senior Advisor for Combatting Antisemitism at Human Rights First and a Senior Fellow at the Moment Institute.
He was sworn in as Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism (SEAS) on May 20, 2013 and served in that capacity until January 2017. In his nearly four years as SEAS he traveled to over 30 countries and five continents to advocate on behalf of Jewish communities. Mr. Forman has been in great demand as a speaker and has addressed more than 175 200 audiences in his time at the Department of State, to articulate the current state of anti-Semitism and explain U.S. policies to counter international anti-Semitism.
In his capacity as the U.S. SEAS he was responsible for proposing and coordinating government strategies to counter anti-Semitism in over 50 countries. He tracked worldwide anti-Semitism on an ongoing basis and assisted in the editing of the Department’s Human Rights and International Religious Freedom reports as they relate to anti-Semitism. Mr. Forman worked closely with U.S. Embassies and Consulates as well as State Department bureaus to provide guidance and protect Jewish communities. He also organized with NGOs, religious leaders, parliamentarians and other stakeholders to advance policies and counter specific anti-Semitic incidents. He collaborated with the U.S. Mission to the United Nations as well as our Mission to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to implement programs and policies to counter anti-Semitic activity.
From 2011-2012 Mr. Forman served as the Jewish Outreach Director for the Obama for America campaign. He served for nearly 15 years as the Executive Director of the National Jewish Democratic Council and spent four years with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee where he worked as Political Director and Legislative Liaison. He has also served on the boards of a number of Jewish non-profits. In the Clinton Administration Mr. Forman was the Director of Congressional Relations for the Office of Personnel Management.
Throughout his career he has spoken and written extensively on Jewish history and public policy. Mr. Forman co-edited and wrote for the reference book, Jews In American Politics. He has written articles on these topics for the Encyclopedia Judaica. He also staffed and helped edit the volume, Democrats and the American Idea in his role as a Fellow in American Politics and the Economy at the Center for National Policy.
Mr. Forman received his B.A. from Harvard University where he graduated Magna Cum Laude in Government. He received his M.B.A. from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.