What Is the JCPA? The Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Explained

The Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) is one of the oldest Jewish public-affairs organizations in the United States. If you've seen the acronym in headlines and wondered what it actually does — who it speaks for, how it's funded, and why it draws both praise and sharp criticism — this explainer walks through it.

What the JCPA is, in one sentence

The JCPA is a national coordinating body for Jewish community relations — historically an umbrella that brought together local Jewish Community Relations Councils (JCRCs) and national Jewish agencies to build consensus on public-policy questions affecting American Jews.

What the JCPA does

• Public-policy advocacy: Positions on antisemitism, civil rights, church-state issues, immigration, and Israel.
• Community-relations coordination: Historically convened dozens of local JCRCs and national member agencies to hash out shared positions.
• Coalition work: Partners with non-Jewish civic, faith, and civil-rights organizations on shared priorities.
• Programs against antisemitism: In recent years, initiatives such as the "Task Force to Confront Antisemitism" have been a central focus.

Who leads the JCPA

The JCPA is led by CEO Amy Spitalnick, who took the helm in 2023. Spitalnick previously ran Integrity First for America, the nonprofit that brought the successful Sines v. Kessler civil suit against the organizers of the 2017 Charlottesville "Unite the Right" rally. Her tenure at the JCPA has coincided with a reorientation of the organization's messaging around what it calls the intersection of antisemitism and threats to democracy — a framing that has been both celebrated and sharply criticized.

A brief history

The JCPA traces its roots to the National Community Relations Advisory Council (NCRAC), founded in 1944 to coordinate Jewish responses to antisemitism and civil-rights questions in the aftermath of the Holocaust. It was later renamed the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council (NJCRAC), and in 1997 became the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.

For most of its history the JCPA operated as a consensus body — its signature product was an annual policy compendium hammered out among member agencies. In 2022 the organization restructured, ending its formal umbrella relationship with the Jewish Federations of North America and repositioning itself as an independent advocacy nonprofit with a smaller, more agile footprint.

How the JCPA is structured

Today the JCPA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit headquartered in New York, governed by a board of directors and led by a professional CEO. It works with local JCRCs and partner organizations across the country rather than formally federating them.

Why the JCPA is controversial

Critics — many of them from the political center and right — argue the JCPA under its current leadership has moved from consensus community-relations work into progressive coalition politics, and that its emphasis on "antisemitism and threats to democracy" downplays antisemitism from the political left, including on college campuses and inside progressive coalitions. Supporters counter that antisemitism is a cross-partisan threat and that the JCPA is one of the few Jewish organizations willing to name it wherever it appears.

For a closer look at that debate, see our coverage of criticism of the JCPA's approach to left-wing antisemitism and our profile of Amy Spitalnick.

Frequently asked questions

What does JCPA stand for?

Jewish Council for Public Affairs.

Who is the CEO of the JCPA?

Amy Spitalnick has been CEO since 2023.

Is the JCPA the same as a JCRC?

No. A JCRC is a local Jewish Community Relations Council. The JCPA is a national organization that works with JCRCs but is separate from them.

Is the JCPA a lobbying group?

The JCPA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. It engages in public-policy advocacy but is not a registered lobbying organization in the way a 501(c)(4) or PAC would be.

Bottom line

The JCPA is a small national organization with an outsized public voice in American Jewish public affairs. Whether you view its current direction as principled or partisan, understanding what it actually is — and what it isn't — is the starting point for any honest conversation about Jewish community relations in 2026.