Jo Silver appointed Stand Up CEO
Stand Up’s Board has welcomed Jo Silver, as its newly appointed CEO.
Jo Silver
She is a passionate social justice campaigner with a career spanning strategic planning, education, advocacy, health and community development.
Jo has extensive experience in leadership and lived abroad for six years in Singapore and London running school camps and corporate training. With an MBA and experience working with Indigenous and multicultural communities, Jo’s strengths are in building organisational and personal capacity with a strong focus on communications and relationships.
Stand Up Chair, Catherine Fritz-Kalish, explained that “this is an exciting time for Stand Up and we have bold and ambitious plans for our future. Gary did a remarkable job getting Stand Up to where it is today, and I’m looking forward to working closely with Jo to actualise our vision of an inspired and activated Jewish community pursuing social justice for all.”
Gary Samowitz is moving on from Stand Up after an extraordinary 10 years as the organisation’s highly accomplished CEO. “Working at Stand Up has been a real privilege. Building a movement of Jewish Upstanders who are making a meaningful difference in the lives of others has been incredibly rewarding. I’m excited for the organisation’s next chapter under Jo’s leadership. She has been a long-standing volunteer at Stand Up and brings a wealth of experience.” Gary said.
Jo’s background is a unique combination of skills perfectly suited to Stand Up. She has a deep understanding of the Jewish community through her work with LGBTI support and child protection at the Jewish Community Council of Victoria. She is a skilled strategic planner and community developer through her roles at Maribyrnong and Greater Dandenong Councils and she is an experienced advocate having represented non-government school parents to government and media at the Victorian Parents Council.
Jo has held board positions with the Jewish, Christian Muslim Association, Spiritual Care Victoria, and Australian Parents Council and is on the board for the Online Hate Prevention Institute, Kehilat Nitzan and a Trustee with the Marian and Kurt Lippmann Foundation.
She is married to Steve Silver and has two boys, James and Aidan, two dogs and loves walking at the beach and camping. She begins her new role on the 19thJune 2019. “I love the organisation and what it stands for” said Jo. “I have been volunteering at Stand Up for many years and this really is my dream job. The organisation is dynamic, vibrant and values driven and I can’t wait to get started.”
