Chair Emeritus

Ralph Grunewald

Ralph Grunewald is proud to serve as the Chair of the Jewish Electorate Institute. He was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador. His parents were refugees from Nazi Germany who found safe haven in Ecuador, where they were married. Mr. Grunewald and his family immigrated to San Diego in 1961.

Mr. Grunewald is married to Marilyn Grunewald, MSW, a stress reduction therapist. They have two children – Emily, Director of Partnerships in the Israel office of MassChallenge, a start-up accelerator, and Jonathan, Principal Software Engineer at Capital One; both are graduates (K-12) of the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, MD.

Today, Mr. Grunewald serves as the Principal of GrunewaldSolutions LLC, a boutique consulting firm for non-profits and political candidates.  He also served as the Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Howard County, Chief of Staff for The Israel Project, Executive Vice President of Hillel International, Executive Director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and Assistant Executive Director for Policy and Program at the American Jewish Committee.  He was also the founding Director of External Affairs of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Ralph Grunewald has a long history as serving as a volunteer in the Jewish community, maintaining volunteer leadership positions with Hillel International, Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, BBYO, PANIM, and the United Jewish Appeal and was a founder of the Greater Washington Area Chapter of AIPAC.