Board of Directors
Officers
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Joseph C. Shenker, Esq., President
Merryl H. Tisch, Chair
Israel Englander, First Vice President
Shonni Silverberg, M.D., Vice President
Judy Wesalo Temel, Vice President
Linda Spitzer, Secretary
Benjamin Lopata, Esq., Treasurer
Robert Goodman, Development Committee Chair
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Directors
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Abraham Biderman
Jeffrey Bogatin
Gerald Feldhamer
Feliks Frenkel
Rabbi Haskel Lookstein
Dustin Blumenthal
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Menachem Lubinsky
Martin Minkowitz, Esq.
Steven Price
Benjamin Rouah
Richard N. Runes, Esq.
Observers
Rachel Jonas
Paul Siegel
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Stacy Scheinberg
Noel J. Spiegel
Richard B. Stone, Esq.
Joseph Strasburg, Esq.
Scott Weiner
Michael Rabin
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Executive Staff
Chief Executive Officer: William E. Rapfogel
William E. Rapfogel is a lifelong New Yorker and has been Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty since 1992. During this time, Met Council has quadrupled the number of clients it serves in its array of programs and expanded the scope of anti-poverty efforts. Mr. Rapfogel’s advocacy has won praise and recognition at national, state and city levels, including personal contributions from the President and First Lady for the past 5 years. Met Council is considered to be cutting edge in its development of best practices and comprehensive services for the needy.
Prior to joining Met Council, Mr. Rapfogel served as Executive Director of the Public Policy and Advocacy Institute for Public Affairs of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. He also served as Executive Director of the American Jewish Congress, Metropolitan Region. Mr. Rapfogel spent several years as Assistant New York City Comptroller under Harrison J. Goldin, and three years in the administration of Mayor Edward I. Koch. A graduate of Brooklyn College and the Columbia University Graduate Institute for Non-Profit Management, he serves on the board of the New York City Primary Care Development Corporation, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Kingsborough Community College Foundation, and as Vice Chairman of Senior Health Partners. He was recently appointed to the New York State Food Policy Council.
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Chief Operating Officer: Peter Brest
Peter Brest has been with the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty for over 11 years, first as Director of Housing and currently as Chief Operating Officer. Prior to that, he worked for the New York State Department of Social Services for 11 years, serving as Associate Commissioner for Housing and Adult Services, with responsibility for the development of housing for the homeless throughout the state and oversight of the homeless shelter system and adult services. Mr. Brest has Masters’ Degrees in Social Work from Columbia University and Public Administration from New York University.
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Chief of Staff: Ilene Marcus
Ilene Marcus has over two decades of experience in social service programs, policy development and turn-around management and has served as Met Council’s Chief of Staff since 2002.
Ms. Marcus served for six years in the administration of Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani as Special Assistant to the Mayor and as Executive Deputy Commissioner in the New York City Human Resources Administration, spearheading New York City's historic welfare reform. She previously served as Public Programs Officer at DoubleClick, and Director of Public Affairs as well as Director of City Policy at UJA-Federation of New York.
Ms. Marcus holds two Masters Degrees from Columbia University, in Public Administration (MPA) and in Social Work (MSSW), and currently serves as adjunct faculty to Columbia University’s School of Social Work, where she is Adjunct Professor teaching financial management. She is a lifelong New Yorker and resides in Manhattan.
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Director of External Affairs: Linda Scalettar
Linda Schur Scalettar has more than 20 years of experience in Development and Community Relations, and joined Met Council in September, 2008 as Director of External Affairs.
Prior to joining Met Council, Linda served for ten years as the Director of Community Resources for AHRC Nassau and the Nassau County AHRC Foundation Inc. She was responsible for all fundraising, major gifts, capital campaigns, events and board development. In addition, she oversaw AHRC’s membership, public relations and government relations. Prior to her tenure at AHRC, Linda was with the development departments at both Long Island Jewish Medical Center and North Shore University Hospital.
Linda has a Masters Degree in Public Administration from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania.
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Chief Financial Officer: Steve Wolinsky
Steven Wolinsky has 30 years experience in the financial services industry. He consulted for companies including JPMorganChase and Citibank. As a senior vice president at JPMorganChase, he managed a global securities servicing business. His work has taken him to all parts of the world including Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Mr. Wolinsky is a trustee of UJA-Federation of NY. He also serves as treasurer of GrooveWithMe, a non-profit after-school dance program for girls in East Harlem.
Mr. Wolinsky is a graduate of Brown University.
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Executive Consultant: Rabbi David Cohen
Rabbi David Cohen has a long and successful history with Met Council and is responsible for ensuring the organization’s viability during its early years and its growth into a major force in the community. He has served as Executive Director and Vice President of Met Council. In addition to his responsibilities and leadership at Met Council, Rabbi Cohen is also the Director General of the Orthodox Union’s Israel Center in Jerusalem.
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