Name:
Jan Zakowski
AIPAC Role:
Member of AIPAC's Board of Directors
Professional Profile/Associations:
AIPAC national board member and prominent leader in Los Angeles Jewish community institutions centered on Sinai Temple, focusing on mobilizing faith-based support for pro-Israel lobbying. Past president of Sinai Temple—the oldest and one of the most prominent Conservative congregations in Los Angeles—and chaired the Sinai Temple Preschool Committee, the Sinai Akiba Academy Committee, and the capital campaign for the new facility. For eight years, she has assisted Rabbi David Wolpe in recruiting 200–300+ people to participate in the Delegation to the AIPAC annual Policy Conference, the largest synagogue delegation in the country from Los Angeles. Her father was Larry Weinberg, former AIPAC President (1976–1982), Portland Trail Blazers founder, and chairman emeritus of AIPAC's strategic planning committee. Her mother Barbi Weinberg was the founding president of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, the think tank co-founded by her parents in 1985 with ties to AIPAC.
Accountability:
As a member of AIPAC's Board of Directors, Jan Zakowski 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. 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.
