The Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign named a veteran campaigner for Democrats with strong ties to the organized Jewish community as its Jewish outreach director.

Sarah Bard, 35, served on Clinton’s unsuccessful 2008 campaign and then switched to President Barack Obama’s campaign when he won the nomination. She led the Jewish Leadership Council during Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign, a fundraising body for the campaign.

She also worked for the Democratic National Committee, as an aide to its chairwoman, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., one of the most prominent Jewish lawmakers. In that capacity, Bard worked on Jewish outreach.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The daughter of a Boston area rabbi, Dov Bard, she has lived in Israel and has held leadership roles in the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington’s Young Leadership Division.

Jewish outreach directors shape messaging for the community and help fundraise.

“Since the beginning of the campaign, Hillary for America staff have cultivated and maintained strong connections with the full range of Jewish organizations and Jewish supporters, building on Hillary Clinton’s long-time ties with this community and her strong record on Israel,” the campaign said in a statement.

“Our policy and outreach teams have regularly consulted on key issues, and we have held events focused on this community, including an event for Jewish donors around the White House Hanukkah reception that top campaign staff attended.”

Clinton has been the front-runner in polls for the Democratic Party’s presidential nod, although in recent weeks, rival Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has surpassed her in polling in early voting states New Hampshire and Iowa.

“The campaign needed someone who is well versed in our complicated community, a veteran campaign organizer, knowledgeable about the issues, and not uncomfortable at a political fundraiser,” said Steve Rabinowitz, who heads a well-known Washington public relations shop for Democrats and Jewish groups, and who backs Clinton. “They get all that and more in Sarah.”

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re near the end of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make a Passover Gift Today!

$90 $180

$360

Other amount