About the Council
For over thirty years, the Jewish American Labor Council has carried the moral authority of Jewish tradition into the international labor movement — advocating at the highest levels for the rights and dignity of workers worldwide.
The Jewish American Labor Council is an international nongovernmental organization that advocates on behalf of the International Labour Organization and its mandate to promote social justice and internationally recognized human and labor rights.
We hold consultative status with the ILO and participate directly in the International Labour Conference, Governing Body sessions, and technical committees. We serve as a bridge between the American Jewish community, the broader labor movement, and the ILO's global mandate — translating international standards into domestic advocacy and bringing American perspectives to Geneva.
Tzedek
Justice
We are guided by the Jewish imperative of justice — not charity, but the structural transformation of conditions that deny workers their dignity and rights.
Tikkun Olam
Repairing the World
Our advocacy is an expression of the Jewish responsibility to repair what is broken — in labor markets, in legal frameworks, and in the lives of working people worldwide.
Kavod HaBriot
Human Dignity
Every worker, regardless of nationality, religion, or status, possesses inherent dignity. This principle animates every position we take and every convention we champion.
The International Labour Organization is the United Nations agency responsible for setting international labor standards, promoting rights at work, and encouraging decent employment opportunities. Founded in 1919, it is the oldest specialized agency of the UN system.
JALC holds formal consultative status with the ILO, granting us the right to participate in the International Labour Conference — the ILO's supreme decision-making body — as well as Governing Body sessions and technical committees. Our delegations attend the annual ILC in Geneva each June.
Through this relationship, we submit formal statements, engage with member state delegations, and advocate for the ratification and enforcement of core ILO conventions on freedom of association, collective bargaining, forced labor, child labor, and non-discrimination.
Our advocacy positionsOur Executive Director, Rev. (Rebbe) Roderick Andrew Lee Ford, was born of Lemba Jewish ethnicity — Black Jewish-Hebrew origins with roots in the ancient Levitical-Benjamite clan from ancient Israel, by way of ancient Yemen, Ethiopia, and southern Africa (present-day Zimbabwe and South Africa).
Founded in Baltimore, Maryland, by Executive Director Ford, whose formative years at Morgan State University in Baltimore brought him into contact with Randall Robinson — founder of TransAfrica Forum — and immersed him in the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa.
Executive Director Ford earns graduate certification in international human rights, international law, and American jurisprudence under Professor Dr. Francis A. Boyle (Ph.D. Harvard; J.D. University of Chicago) at the University of Illinois — where he meets and works alongside future Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. and future Obama Administration advisor Michael Strautmanis.
Executive Director Ford works with local Jewish lawyer and advocate Marvin Gerstein of Champaign, Illinois, and receives graduate training from Jewish law professor Anthony M. Taibi (J.D., Duke University) and Jewish law professor Steven Ross (J.D., University of Illinois) — becoming introduced to the Jewish philosophy of repairing the world through the pursuit of justice and law. “Justice, justice shall you pursue.” — Deuteronomy 16:18–20. Executive Director Ford earns the Doctor of Law degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Executive Director Ford is certified in international law of war and U.S. military law at Charlottesville, on the grounds of the University of Virginia, at the United States Army Judge Advocate General's School.
Our Judeo-Christian Labor Advocacy practice organized in Tampa, Florida, with global outreach — supporting advocacy before the United States Supreme Court, the Federal Courts of Appeals, the National Labor Relations Board, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the U.N. Office of Human Rights, among several other forums. Works in close cooperation with non-governmental organizations throughout Africa, Europe, the West Indies, and Australia.
Our Judeo-Christian Labor Advocacy practice receives several professional certifications in workers compensation, human resources, and labor relations from Michigan State University's School of Human Resources and Labor Relations, and graduate certification in Business Administration from St. Clements University.
Our Judeo-Christian Labor Advocacy practice receives several graduate and professional certifications from Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations (Ithaca, New York), from between 2013 through 2015.
Our Judeo-Christian Labor Advocacy practice receives senior professional in human resources-level certification from the Human Resources Certification Institute (Alexandria, Virginia).
Our executive director receives the Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) from Whitefield College and Theological Seminary in recognition of a six-volume postgraduate publication and lifelong work in the field of Jewish-Puritan-Reformed efforts to improve the American legal system and the plight of workers around the globe.
The Judeo-Christian Labor Advocacy is formally organized as the Jewish American Labor Council (JALC) and meets in London, England, at the invitation of the Academy of Executives and Administrators, participating in the 30th Anniversary of the founding of St. Clements University. January 2026 marks 30 years of global labor advocacy.
Executive Director
A labor attorney and ordained minister, Dr. Ford has led JALC for over a decade, representing the organization at ILO Governing Body sessions and the International Labour Conference in Geneva.
Director of International Affairs
With 25 years of experience in international labor diplomacy, Mr. Horowitz coordinates JALC's engagement with ILO member state delegations and multilateral institutions.
Chair, Board of Directors
Professor of International Law at Georgetown University, Prof. Weiss has advised governments and NGOs on ILO convention ratification and enforcement for three decades.
Whether you are a labor professional, legal scholar, community leader, or concerned citizen, there is a place for you in the Jewish American Labor Council.