AIPAC role:
AIPAC Former CEO, Board of Directors, and Officer
Professional Profile/Associations
AIPAC's Chief Executive Officer since 1996, retiring at year-end 2024. Native of Cleveland, Ohio. Graduate of Cleveland Heights High School (1974) and Kenyon College. Before joining AIPAC, served as Deputy Director of the National Jewish Coalition (predecessor to Republican Jewish Coalition RJC), Assistant Washington Representative of the American Jewish Committee, and Management Fellow at the Department of Defense. In December 2004, FBI agents raided AIPAC offices and seized Kohr's computer equipment and files as part of an espionage investigation; Steve Rosen later alleged in court filings that Kohr received classified information and knew it originated from intelligence sources. Under his leadership, AIPAC's budget grew from $105 million in 2011 to $164 million in 2022, and staff expanded from 40 to 300.
Accountability:
As a member of AIPAC's Board of Directors, Howard Kohr 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, Howard Kohr 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.
