Gray Aftor

Senior Development Executive , UJA-Federation of New York

Gray Aftor was born and raised in Israel and moved with his family to Brooklyn in 2006, amid the Second Lebanon War. His involvement in Jewish life began early, as an active member of his high school’s Jewish Club and later through NCSY. Gray’s passion for community service deepened through his volunteer work at Our Place, a youth drop-in center in Brooklyn, supporting at risk teens.

A graduate of Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business, Gray began his career in public service at the New York City Mayor’s Office, where he served for over three years. He later worked on the Mayoral Engagement Team for the Michael Bloomberg Presidential Campaign. 

For the past three and a half years, Gray has worked in Development as a Senior Development Executive at UJA-Federation of New York, where he oversees both UJAPride LGBTQ+ community and the Former Soviet Union Division Russian-speaking community. Under his leadership, UJAPride has grown tremendously in both reach and resources, now led by a vibrant committee of 30 dedicated lay leaders. 

Through his work, Gray continues to build bridges across communities, creating spaces of belonging, inclusion, and pride within the Jewish world.