Shelley Greenspan’s resume runs the gamut from Capitol Hill to the private sector, presidential races and nonprofits. She has worked for AIPAC and Amazon, and campaigned for Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden.
Shelley Greenspan
Late last month, the Jewish advocacy and outreach veteran was named as the White House liaison to the Jewish community, replacing Chanan Weissman.
“It’s rare to find a position that sits squarely at the center of the Venn diagram of who you are. I am Jewish. I am an American. I am a public servant,” Greenspan says.
A native of Miami Beach, Fla., Greenspan joined the White House this summer as policy advisor for partnerships and global engagement at the National Security Council. She manages public-private partnerships for the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs, a new program supporting women entrepreneurs around the world. Prior to that, she worked at the State Dept.
Greenspan said that strengthening the US-Israel relationship is her priority.
“Last month, President Biden arrived in Israel for the tenth visit of his career. Addressing Israel’s president and prime minister, he declared, ‘You need not be a Jew to be a Zionist.’ Truer words have rarely been spoken,” says Greenspan.
“President Biden has a lifelong connection to [Israel], and his charge to all of us is to make sure we’re doing all we can to strengthen Israel’s security, prosperity and integration into the larger region. That continues to be a priority for this administration, and I am committed to advancing this priority in my new role.”
Greenspan helped lead a national activist group called “Jewish Women for Joe” during the 2020 presidential election. She also served on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, handling research and rapid response related to Clinton’s State Dept. record.
Along with reinforcing US-Israel ties, Greenspan says she will concentrate on rooting out Jew-hatred.
“Attacks against the Jewish community are a strike against the soul of our nation and the values we stand for. No matter its source or stated rationale, as the president has said, we must and we will condemn this prejudice at every turn, alongside other forms of hate.”
Greenspan has extensive experience on Capitol Hill, she managed legislative projects in the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs Committees for three years with AIPAC. She has also been a board member of the ADL and Jewish Women International.
In February, she helped launch Jewish Democratic Women for Action, which seeks to expand Jewish outreach ahead of the November midterm elections.
“As President Biden said, we need to ‘focus on the ties that bind us together, not tear each other apart.’ We each have a role to play in building bridges in our communities across the country and throughout the world. Focusing on shared values and common interests is essential for effective policymaking,” Greenspan says.
“I grew up in South Florida. I went to an Orthodox day school, a Conservative summer camp and a Reform synagogue. I consider myself a Jewish mutt. I love and embrace the diversity and passion of this community.”
The Jewish liaison position often requires engaging parts of American Jewry opposed to administration policy on a host of issues, and an understanding of the subtleties that distinguish a number of Jewish denominations and groups. Greenspan says she will continue the regular online forums, pre-Shabbat briefings and open events that Weissman organized for the Jewish community.
Guest speakers at these events have included Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Yael Lempert and Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer.
Greenspan notes Biden’s visit to Yad Vashem last month and a widely circulated video of him approaching two Holocaust survivors, who began to stand in respect. Biden insisted they remain seated and crouched down on one knee to speak with them. She said it struck a chord with her.
“It’s even more meaningful for me to serve in this role as the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors. My zaydie [grandfather] was the only survivor in his family,” Greenspan says.