Matt Dorf Managing Partner of Rabinowitz/Dorf Communications, Matt is a veteran award-winning journalist and a former lobbyist. Matt joined the firm in 2000 from the American Jewish Congress, where he served as Director of Governmental Relations and Public Affairs.

You saw Matt's work at the April 2002 Israel rally that drew more than 100,000 people to Capitol Hill, for which the firm managed logistics and media, and for the Jewish partners of the What Would Jesus Drive campaign to increase fuel economy. More recently, Matt served as the director of Jewish affairs and outreach for Gov. Howard Dean's presidential campaign.

Matt has spearheaded the firms' media training program with the United Jewish Communities and Jewish Council for Public Affairs for top federation lay and professional leaders, including providing on-the-ground strategy in North Carolina to coordinate media strategy surrounding the Palestine Solidarity Movement conference at Duke University.

As AJCongress' chief representative and lobbyist in Washington, Matt worked on a range of domestic and foreign policy issues, including religious freedom, separation of church and state, civil rights, the Middle East peace process and Israel related matters. While at AJCongress Matt spearheaded the STOP THE GUNS: Protect our Kids petition campaign, which netted hundreds of thousands of gun safety petitions to targeted members of Congress. Matt led an interfaith coalition in lobbying members of Congress and the Clinton administration to adopt stricter gun safety measures.

A passionate advocate for religious freedom, many Jewish media outlets hailed Matt as "an instrumental force" in helping to secure House and Senate passage of a landmark 1999 religious liberty law.

Matt left a nearly ten-year journalism career to join AJCongress. For more than five years he served as the Washington Bureau Chief of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, known as the "AP of the Jewish world." Matt led the daily wire service's coverage of the White House, State Department, Congress and American Jewish opinion and politics. His articles have appeared in more than 100 newspapers and magazines in 10 countries.

Matt has covered three presidential campaigns and is known for his extensive knowledge of the American Jewish vote. Also regarded as an expert in Middle East affairs, Matt has traveled to the region numerous times and covered dozens of visits to Washington by Middle East leaders.

Matt's broad journalism career took him from the local police beat to a seat on Air Force Two to travel to Israel with then Vice-President Al Gore to cover Israel's 50th anniversary celebrations. He went from interviews on the top floors of the Small Business Administration as managing editor for Small Business Press to the seashore of Gaza, where he was among the first journalists to interview Palestinian Authority police officers.

Matt frequently trains both lay and professional leaders in media relations and is a frequent speaker on the situation in the Middle East, the American Jewish community and American ethnic politics, including most recently at UJC's Young Leadership Conferences and at the regional UJC-JCPA Israel Advocacy Institutes for which he wrote the media guide Israel in the Media: Effective Pro-Israel Advocacy Tools. A graduate of The George Washington University, Matt has appeared on numerous television networks as a Middle East and American Jewish analyst. He is a contributing editor to An Historical Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict.