Alana Pugh-Jones Baranov

Alana Pugh-Jones Baranov, originally from Zimbabwe, is a freelance writer, researcher and social justice activist based in Durban, South Africa. Formerly the first Diplomatic Liaison for the SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) national office and the Vice President of the Council of KwaZulu-Natal Jewry, Alana was previously the Political and Social Justice Liaison of the SAJBD and the Social Justice Liaison of the Durban Holocaust and Genocide Centre. She is a freelance writer, having written for various national and international newspapers on international affairs, feminist and Jewish issues. Alana has a Master of Philosophy degree in Justice and Transformation from the University of Cape Town, completing her thesis on the topic “Justice and Identity: the ‘non-Jewish Jew’, Cosmopolitanism and the Anti-Apartheid Struggle In Twentieth Century South Africa”. She is a founding member and the Deputy Chair of the Hate Crimes Working Group, a multi-sectoral network of civil society groups that advocate for hate crimes awareness and legislation, and is a Steering Committee member of the World Jewish Congress’ (WJC) flagship program the Jewish Diplomatic Corps where she is the Co-Chair of the Women’s Representation Task Team. From October 1st 2023 Alana will be the first Country Director of HIAS South Africa, one of the world’s oldest refugee rights organizations. She is married to Gary and has four beautiful children.