Name:
Betsy Berns Korn
AIPAC Role:
AIPAC Board of Directors Chair and Officer
Professional Profile/Associations:
Chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations since June 2025, the umbrella coordinating body for 50 national Jewish organizations. Served as AIPAC President from March 2020 through January 2023, then National Board Chair from 2023-2025. During her presidency, AIPAC launched its first-ever political action committee and super PAC, the United Democracy Project (UDP), in December 2021. Co-authored a March 2022 letter defending AIPAC's endorsement of 37 Republican members of Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election, declaring "This is no moment for the pro-Israel movement to become selective about its friends." Has traveled to Israel twelve times since October 7, 2023. Began as an AIPAC intern in 1989. Her husband Douglas Korn is founder of Victor Capital Partners, previously a partner at Bear Stearns Merchant Banking and early Vice President at Blackstone Group.
Accountability:
As a member of AIPAC's Board of Directors, Betsy Berns Korn bears individual legal responsibility for the organization's conduct. Under U.S. nonprofit law, board members hold fiduciary duties to ensure organizational compliance with applicable legal standards, implement oversight systems for core activities, and respond to credible information about organizational wrongdoing. In Stern v. Lucy Webb Hayes (1974), the federal district court held that nonprofit directors who fail to supervise organizational decisions breach their fiduciary obligations. In In re Lemington Home for the Aged (3d Cir. 2015), the Third Circuit upheld $2.25 million in damages against nonprofit directors who ignored red flags and failed to exercise reasonable oversight. In addition, as an officer of AIPAC, Betsy Berns Korn bears additional individual legal responsibility for the organization's conduct. Under D.C. Code § 29-406.42, officers with discretionary authority must act in good faith, exercise ordinary prudent-person care, and affirmatively report material information and potential legal violations to the board. While the DC Nonprofit Corporation Act provides automatic liability protection for directors of charitable corporations, it extends no such protection to officers—meaning executive officers face potential personal liability for conduct that would be shielded if committed by a director. Federal courts have sustained punitive damages against nonprofit executives while vacating them against directors, and federal tax law treats executive officers as "disqualified persons" subject to personal excise taxes on excess benefit transactions.
The information in these profiles is drawn primarily from AIPAC's most recent IRS Form 990, supplemented by publicly available sources including news reports, official announcements, and public records. As a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization, AIPAC is legally required to file Form 990 annually with the Internal Revenue Service, and these filings are public documents.
However, IRS regulations allow organizations up to eleven months after their fiscal year ends to submit these forms, meaning publicly available data typically lags by approximately one year. This inherent delay underscores why AIPAC—like most major organizations of its size and influence—should maintain a current, public-facing leadership page identifying its board members and senior executives. The absence of such transparency from AIPAC necessitates this project. We are committed to accuracy and will update these profiles as new information becomes available. If you have corrections, updates, or additional sourced information, please contact us at advocacy@dawnmena.org.
