Who We Are

HIAS stands for a world in which refugees find welcome, safety, and opportunity. Learn more about HIAS' mission and values.

Semira, an asylum seeker who lives in Israel with her children, hugs a HIAS worker during a distribution in Tel Aviv, Israel. February 14, 2024. (AG for HIAS)

For more than 140 years, HIAS has been a lifeline for people seeking safety, and a moral voice when it mattered most. We have been at the forefront of support for refugees and immigrants, stepping up to lead the fight for their rights. Our work has always been about keeping families together, safe, and free. Whether it’s helping a family reunite across continents or helping a mother build a business to support her family, the impact of our work is measured in the lives rebuilt, the dignity restored, and the futures made possible.

Since the 1880s, we have proudly and resolutely worked to achieve protection for refugees and immigrants, doing so from a place of deep grounding in Jewish values, history, text, and experience. We’re an international Jewish humanitarian organization that has confronted and overcome many formidable challenges facing displaced people throughout our history and have evolved to be uniquely positioned to respond to today’s crisis.

With your partnership, we will continue to speak truth to power, rooted in our Jewish values and history, so that more families can write the next chapter of their lives in safety, together.

Our Mission

Drawing on our Jewish values and history, and working with host communities, HIAS provides vital services to refugees, asylum seekers, and other forcibly displaced and stateless persons around the world and advocates for their fundamental rights so they can rebuild their lives.

Our History

In the 1880s, the Jewish community founded HIAS (originally the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society) in New York City, the immigrant gateway to America. Supporting Jews fleeing persecution and poverty in Eastern Europe, our founders were guided by the traditions, texts, and history of the Jewish people — a history of oppression, displacement, and diaspora. HIAS has since helped generations of Jews facing violence and remains committed to helping Jewish refugees anywhere in the world. Today, our clients come from diverse faiths, ethnicities, and backgrounds, as do our staff members. We bring our experience, history, and values to our work across five continents, ensuring that refugees today receive the vital services and opportunities they need to thrive.

Learn more about our history

How We Operate

HIAS is a learning community, passionate about helping refugees and displaced people. We do our work with integrity, accountability, transparency, and a commitment to the highest ethical standards.

Our Leadership

David A. Weiss

Interim CEO

David A. Weiss

Interim CEO

David A. Weiss serves as Interim Chief Executive Officer of HIAS. A veteran humanitarian and international affairs leader, Weiss has most recently served as Vice Chair of HIAS’ Board of Directors. From 2010 to 2022, he served as President and CEO of Global Communities, and has held senior positions in the U.S. Department of State and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative as well as in the private sector. Weiss holds degrees from Hamilton College and Georgetown University and is a recipient of the U.S. Department of State’s Superior Honor Award.

Tamar Newberger

Board Chair and Chair, Executive Committee

Tamar Newberger

Board Chair and Chair, Executive Committee

Tamar Newberger is a computer scientist who has held executive positions at AT&T Bell Labs, Novell, and SCO, as well as several Silicon Valley start-ups. Her areas of expertise are computer security, operating systems, and technology in service of better democracy. She is active in promoting technology and science to young women considering careers in these fields.

Her civic engagement focuses on refugee rights, education, women’s advocacy, and technology for the common good. She served as the Midwest Finance Co-Chair of Harris for President. She is also a trustee of the Francis W. Parker school in Chicago and the Jewish Women’s Foundation of Chicago. She is on several boards, including that of The In(heir)itance Project arts organization, which brings disparate communities together to create theater, and on the nominating committee of the Vaclav Havel Center’s Disturbing the Peace Award, given annually to a courageous writer currently being punished by an oppressive regime. Ms. Newberger served as a Diplomatic Spouse when her husband was the U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic.

Our Values

We Welcome the Stranger

“You shall love the stranger for you were strangers…”(Deuteronomy 10:19). We are told 36 times in the Torah to love those who are strangers. For HIAS, welcome begins at our door and extends through our work with refugees, partners, and allies around the globe.

We Pursue Justice

“Justice, justice shall you pursue.” (Deuteronomy 16:20). At HIAS, we seek justice every day. Justice demands that we act for fairness and equity for all.

We Approach our Clients with Empathy

At HIAS, our clients come from diverse faiths, ethnicities, and backgrounds, and we understand that their stories are our story. We see our past and our future in their search for safety and a future for generations to come. “The stranger who resides among you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love the stranger as yourself.” (Leviticus 19:33).

We Believe in Changing the World through Partnership

“Two are better than one…For if one falls, the other will lift up their friend.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9). HIAS works humbly in partnership with others to create a more moral, ethical, and just world for refugees. We collaborate with organizations and institutions that share our mission. We walk side by side with refugees and all those we serve, accompanying them in their journey toward safety and opportunity.

We Act with Courage to Build a Better World

At HIAS, we speak truth to power. We stand with courageous conviction for what is right and what will help the people we serve. The great sage Hillel challenged us to act for others and not wait a single moment to do what is right: “If not now, when?” (Pirkei Avot 1:14).

We Adapt and Thrive, Continuously Demonstrating our Resilience

"A righteous person falls down seven times and gets up." (Proverbs 24:16). We are inspired every day by the resilience of refugees, asylum seekers, and displaced people worldwide. HIAS has adapted and grown stronger as we have overcome many formidable challenges throughout our history.

We Welcome the Stranger

“You shall love the stranger for you were strangers…”(Deuteronomy 10:19). We are told 36 times in the Torah to love those who are strangers. For HIAS, welcome begins at our door and extends through our work with refugees, partners, and allies around the globe.

Together, we can help create a world in which refugees find welcome, safety, and opportunity.

Your gift will help us provide vital services to refugees and asylum seekers and advocate for their fundamental rights so they can rebuild their lives.

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