American Friends Service Committee

American Friends Service Committee

Founded	April 30, 1917
Founder	17 members of the Religious Society of Friends
Type	501(c)(3) organization
Tax ID no.	23-1352010
Location	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
Origins	Haverford, Pennsylvania, US
Area served	Worldwide with U.S. emphasis
Key people	Joyce Ajlouny, General Secretary
Revenue	US$40.9 million
Employees	350
Volunteers	thousands
Award(s)	Nobel Prize in Peace (1947)
Website	www.afsc.org

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Religious Society of Friends (Quaker)-founded organization working for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world. AFSC was founded in 1917 as a combined effort by American members of the Religious Society of Friends to assist civilian victims of World War I. It continued to engage in relief action in Europe and the Soviet Union after the Armistice of 1918. By the mid-1920s, AFSC focused on improving racial relations, immigration policy, and labor conditions in the U.S., as well as exploring ways to prevent the outbreak of another conflict before and after World War II. As the Cold War developed, the organization began to employ more professionals rather than Quaker volunteers. Over time, it broadened its appeal and began to respond more forcefully to racial injustice, international peacebuilding, migration and refugee issues, women's issues, and the demands of sexual minorities for equal treatment. Currently, the organization's three priorities include work on peacebuilding, a focus on just economies, and humane responses to the global migration crisis.