Newly appointed JDC CEO Alan Gill. Photo: JDC.

The world’s largest Jewish relief organization, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), has announced that Alan Gill will take the reins as CEO of the organization early next year.

“We couldn’t be more proud that Alan Gill, whose seasoned leadership and forward-thinking expertise has been so critical to JDC’s impact in recent years, will lead us into our second century,” said JDC President Penny Blumenstein, according to the JDC press release.

Gill, a former CEO of the Jewish Federation of Columbus, Ohio, is a 20-year veteran of JDC and will succeed interim CEO Darrell Friedman, who had replaced longtime CEO Steven Schwager. In his current role as executive director of international relations, Gill presided over a tenfold increase in JDC’s direct philanthropic revenue. He was also instrumental in establishing a number of JDC’s landmark programs such as Ashalim, which helps children at risk in Israel, and The Hunger Relief Campaign, which helps Jewish communities in post-communist countries.

“I’m privileged to be appointed CEO of this remarkable, dynamic organization. Our mission has never been more critical or more urgent, and in the years ahead, we must reach even further to ensure that wherever a Jew is in need, JDC is there,” said Gill.

Founded in 1914, the JDC is the world’s leading Jewish humanitarian organization. Currently, it assists Jewish communities in more than 70 countries and Israel to alleviate hunger and hardship, rescue Jews in danger, create lasting connections to Jewish life and provide relief for other victims of natural or man-made disasters such as the 2004 South Asia tsunami or the genocide in Darfur.