The current Chair is Lesley L. Weiss of the District of Columbia, having served as Chair and a Member in the Commission under both Democrat and Republican Administrations.
She has worked for over 30 years as a professional in a number of Jewish organizations and is currently at the National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry (NCSEJ). She is a recognized expert in heritage preservation, restitution of Jewish communal property, Holocaust education and awareness, combating antisemitism, and advocating on behalf of Jewish communities in Eastern Europe and Eurasia.
She is also a member of the US Delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. (IHRA)
A graduate of American University with a BA in Jewish Studies, Weiss also received an MA in Modern Jewish History and MSW from the Baltimore Hebrew University and University of Maryland School of Social Work.
A daughter of an Auschwitz survivor, Lesley works with her mother, Irene Weiss, to educate about the Holocaust and antisemitism.
The Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad was established in 1985, by U.S. Public Law 99-83, to ensure that sites important to populations impacted by Nazism, communism, and the Cold War would be preserved for future generations.
As an agency of the Government of the United States of America, the Commission is a bi-partisan, independent agency and was established to identify, protect, and preserve cemeteries, monuments, and historic buildings in Eastern and Central Europe that are associated with U.S. heritage.
The work recognizes that the population of the United States is mostly comprised of immigrants and their descend-ants, and that the United States has an interest in the preservation of sites in other countries related to the heritage of these Americans. In cooperation with the U.S. Department of State, the Commission obtains assurances from the governments of the region that the properties will be protected and preserved.