Allison Rouse
Assistant Director AJC Los Angeles

A) What qualities make the nominee deserving of the Z3 Bridge Builder Award?

Allison has been an incredible ally to the Jewish Community - and I would like to nominate him on behalf of the Stanford GSB Jewish Alumni Chapter. He is the Director of Diverse Alumni Communities at Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He truly champions that role and its mandate.

After October 7th in conversation with the Stanford Business School we identified that there was no alumni chapter representing Jewish voices. There were chapters dedicated to many other identity groups - but no identified graduates to represent our identity group.

Allison helped establish and advocate for the establishment of the Jewish Alumni Chapter which has gone on to become one of the largest and most active groups at the school. He has been part of every meeting, establishing missions and curriculum, and has been an ally and staunch advocate every step of the way. He does it with grace and kindness, and I can confidently say he has made everyone in the group feel like they truly have a friend looking out for them. It is greatly appreciated.

B) In what ways has the nominee demonstrated exceptional leadership and commitment to their work in bridging divides?

Allison has been an integral part in setting up the Jewish Alumni Chapter's mandate based on the three pillars of education, community and advocacy.

He has helped us lead, host and organize speaker events with such leaders as Dr. Condoleezza Rise and Rabbi Wolpe, educational events with experts on anti-Semitism, a global alumni Shabbat dinner series to build community, and has acted as an advocate for improvements at Stanford.

He has done this all while also building bridges across the different alumni chapters. As you can imagine many other chapters, such as the Black Alumni Chapter, Asian Alumni Chapter, Latin American Alumni Chapter and many undergraduate groups, have overlap and allyship with the Jewish community and he has been instrumental at creating moments to partner on programming and dialogue.

His commitment to the Jewish community is daily. Whether in meetings with us, WhatsApp chats, check-in calls - he is present in our lives and a true friend and ally.

Allison is the type of leader we need on our side.

C) How has the nominee's work impacted the Jewish community and beyond?

Allison's work has impacted the Jewish community and beyond in numerous ways. The most notable is just being an ally.

Allison is not Jewish by upbringing but is there for our community as a member, a friend, and an advocate. He does it with compassion, intention and heart. This is what make it so meaningful. He celebrates our wins with us and shares the pain of the tough times. He then helps us work towards a better environment for our students, our alumni and the world.

Allison does the same with many other diverse alumni communities - building bridges and dialogue - and I am sure they would say the same about him. He is one of those people that you want on your side -- because you know that he will stand with you based on his values and beliefs.