Leadership
Our JCP Board is made up of dedicated community members who contribute time, energy, and resources to helping build a vibrant and diverse downtown community.
Executive Committee
Rachel Ziff
Co-president
Rachel Ziff is a graduate of Emory University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and a minor in Jewish Studies. She has served in a variety of roles in the financial services industry, beginning her career at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and most recently serving as the Chief Compliance Officer and Head of Investor Relations at an equity and credit hedge fund. Rachel has been a downtown resident for more than 18 years and is now a full-time mother living in Tribeca with her husband, Eric, their daughters, Madeleine and Molly, and their Goldendoodle, Totti.
Stacy Pollack*
Board Chair
Stacy Pollack graduated with a BSJ from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and holds an MSc in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics. She is currently a full time mom and dedicated volunteer. In her pre-mom life, Stacy worked in both television news and as the director of marketing for a designer shoe company. Stacy sits on the board of MS Hope for a Cure, a charity dedicated to funding research and helping people living with multiple sclerosis. She is also on the leadership committee for the Guggenheim Museum’s Learning Through Art program and involved in various women’s cancer research charities. After almost eight years in London, Stacy and her husband Jonathan moved back to New York City in 2009. They currently live in Tribeca with their two sons, Braden and Evan, and their three dogs.
Shira Altman
Executive Committee
Shira Altman graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Colgate University, earning a BA in History with a minor in Jewish Studies. She then obtained a Master of Arts from NYU in Humanities and Social Thought, with an emphasis in Documentary Film. After working in various positions within the film industry, Shira founded her own boutique video biography company which specialized in creating historical legacy videos for families. In 2013, Shira and her husband, Michael, moved downtown, where they are raising their three children. Currently, she is a full-time mom and a dedicated volunteer, having served many roles at JCP, including leading the Parent Associations in the Early Childhood Center and the Hebrew School Project.
Shari Coats
Executive Committee
Shari Coats is a proud Texas Longhorn. She is an employment attorney and recently retired Deloitte principal, where she was the Deputy General Counsel and served on the Extended Leadership Team. Shari earned her MHS in Mental Health and currently conducts mental health research with Johns Hopkins University. Community service has always been important to her and her family, and, in addition to JCP, she serves on the Board of The Mercy Center, serves various roles at her children’s schools, and participates in community food programs throughout New York City. She and her husband, Stephen, have 3 children who have all gone through JCP’s HSP program.
Jared Friedberg
Executive Committee
Jared Friedberg is the Founder and Managing Partner of Sycale Advisors, an investment manager, and Portfolio Manager of the Mercator Fund. Prior to founding Sycale, Jared was Co-Founder and Partner of Compass Global Investments LLC, a single-family investment company. Jared was a Principal at Cortec Group for seven years, a U.S. middle-market leveraged buyout fund. Jared earned his MBA from Columbia Business School and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. He serves on the boards of Sirenas Marine Discovery, Sandton Capital Partners, and Globalpak Holdings, Ltd. Jared and his wife live in Greenwich Village with their two daughters, one of whom is enrolled in JCP’s Bar/Bat Mitzvah Program. They actively support children’s education in Latin America through the Genesis Foundation.
Jeffrey Ross
Executive Committee
Jeffrey Ross is a partner and chair of the Executive Compensation & ERISA department at Fried Frank. For over 15 years, he has counseled clients on ERISA fiduciary matters and assisted clients with the executive compensation aspects of merger and acquisition transactions. More generally, Jeff has worked with several clients on a broad variety of employee benefits and compensation matters, including the negotiation of employment, non-competition and severance agreements, as well as equity-based compensation arrangements. He received his JD from New York University School of Law in 2001, where he was an Associate Casebook Editor of the law school’s Moot Court Casebook, and received his BA, cum laude, with honors in Latin Literature, from Yale University in 1998. He has called Tribeca home for nearly 10 years and enjoys exploring the neighborhood with his wife Solange and his three children Gabriel, Naomi and Billie.
Trustees
Josh Banschick
Trustee
Josh Banschick is a Managing Director in the Global Markets Division at Goldman Sachs. Prior to joining Goldman, Josh spent ten years at J.P. Morgan in mortgage trading and one year at Bear Stearns in structuring & analytics. Josh received a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Michigan in 2007. He currently lives in Tribeca with his wife, Lexie, and three children, Lucas, Leo & Olivia.
Laurel Dugan
Trustee
Laurel Rom Dugan is a graduate of University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received a dual masters from NYU Steinhardt for childhood and special education. She taught at PS 183 on the upper east side for several years and at a school in Boca, Florida. Laurel is currently a full time mom and volunteer. She lives in Tribeca with her husband, Josh and their children Jude and Rosie.
Shayna Glaser
Trustee
Manda Greenblatt**
Trustee
Manda moved from London with her young family to Tribeca, NYC in the summer of 2019. Manda holds a BSc (Hons) in Psychology & Counselling. Before becoming a mother, Manda worked with children with Special Needs in both educational and recreational settings and counseled young people who were experiencing social and emotional challenges. Latterly Manda was a full time Yoga Teacher.
Nikki Hertzberg
Trustee
Nikki Hertzberg is a graduate of the University of Virginia and spent her career working in Development and Fundraising at non-profit organizations including the 92nd Street Y and Facing History and Ourselves. Nikki is now a full time mother and volunteer living in Chinatown with her husband, Jim, and two children, Ari and Theo.
Sandy Lavipour****
Trustee
Sandy is currently the Chief of Staff and Head of Strategy at Betterment, a leading technology-driven financial services company. Prior to Betterment, Sandy spent nearly 15 years at Paramount Global (formerly Viacom) in a variety of roles, including serving as the SVP of Strategy for Nickelodeon. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, she now lives in Tribeca with her husband Mike and two sons, Gabe and Theo.
Matthew Levine
Trustee
Matt Levine is a Partner at Brunswick Group, an advisory firm that consults leading companies on communications and policy matters, where he specializes in stakeholder engagement campaigns and issues and crisis management. He was formerly the Head of Programming at Bloomberg Television and spent most of his career at financial media organizations. Matt lives in Tribeca with his wife, Sara, and two children, Samuel and Harry, both graduates of the Early Childhood Center at JCP.
Erica Marks
Trustee
Erica Marks is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, holding a BS in Consumer Journalism. She has held various communication roles, including public relations, television media buying, ad sales marketing and events, and television marketing, and was even a personal shopper! Additionally, Erica graduated from the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) Culinary Arts and Business Management programs.
With over 10 years at JCP, she has served on the board for three years and participated on numerous committees, including multiple terms as JCP Benefit Chair. Erica runs Freshly Baked by Erica, a made-to-order baking business. She and her husband, Brian, have lived in Tribeca for over 13 years with their two children, Lila and Jordan, and Cavapoo, Cooper.
Sasha Martinez***
Trustee
Sasha Martinez graduated from Skidmore College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and a minor in Art History. She started her career in fashion working for luxury brands, Louis Vuitton and Prada and went on to fashion strategy at IMG Fashion running strategic partnerships for global fashion weeks. Sasha now resides in Tribeca with her husband, Andrew and 4 children.
Shira Oberlander****
Trustee
Shira Oberlander is a Psychotherapist (LMSW) with a keen interest in complex and developmental trauma and the use of both psychodynamic and behavioral approaches to healing. She works at the Fifth Avenue Counseling Center, a mental health clinic which has been providing care to New Yorkers for over 50 years. She serves on multidisciplinary team of clinical social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists to provide holistic support for clients.
Formerly, Shira was a Social Impact leader with 15+ years of experience building and managing philanthropy, employee engagement, cause and sustainability programs. Shira served as Vice President of Corporate Engagement at Goldman Sachs and Head of Community TeamWorks, the firm’s signature global volunteering initiative. In this capacity, she led all international employee community engagement, overseeing 1,800 service projects with more than 900 nonprofits each year. She was also a member of the Women’s Network and was selected to lead the firm’s 2020 Women’s History Month efforts.
Previously, Shira was Vice President of Social Impact at 21st Century Fox, the world’s premier portfolio of media assets, including FOX, FX, Fox Sports, National Geographic and STAR India. Shira’s team developed and launched Social Impact, creating programs, partnerships and multi-platform campaigns to drive positive change while delivering business value. She also served as Board Chair for Women@21CF New York to support the company’s Inclusion efforts.
Early in her career, Shira was a Human Resources Consultant at Fidelity Investments, gaining expertise in program implementation, change management, and organizational development.
Shira holds a Bachelor’s Degree in History from the University of Wisconsin, a Masters in Social Work from NYU, and lives in downtown New York City with her family.
Robert Raphael
Trustee
Robert Raphael is the Trader at Avoro Capital Advisors, a global life sciences investment firm that focuses on supporting emerging biotechnology companies. Prior to joining Avoro, Robbie held trading roles at Jafra Capital, Jericho Capital Asset Management, and TPG Axon. Robbie received his BA, cum laude, from the University of Rochester. He lives in Battery Park with his wife Erica and their two children, Max and Reese.
Liz Rosenberg
Trustee
Liz Rosenberg is an attorney at Labaton Sucharow LLP where she practices securities litigation. Liz studied Psychology at the University of Michigan and received her law degree from Brooklyn Law School. She has lived in downtown Manhattan since 2001 and has been involved with JCP since 2008. She currently lives in TriBeCa with her husband Adam and their three children, Zara, Luca, and Ayla.
Margrit Wiesendanger
Trustee
Margrit Wiesendanger is a rheumatologist at the Mount Sinai Hospital, where she divides her time between caring for ambulatory patients in the faculty practice and the hospital-based clinic, and consulting in the care of hospitalized patients. She also serves as the program director for the rheumatology fellowship training program and precepts small group sessions for students of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Margrit received her MD-PhD degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine (Yeshiva University) in the discipline of immunology, and completed her residency and fellowship at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia campus. She has lived in Tribeca with her husband Dan, a neuroradiologist at Mount Sinai West, since 2002. Their children Joey and Izzy are alumni of the ECC and current Project Gadol/Project Bet students, respectively.
Rachel Yedid
Trustee
Rachel Yedid graduated from University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts in English and holds a Masters of Science in Special Education from Lehman College. Before becoming a full time mom, Rachel taught 2nd grade special education for 6 years in the Bronx. Since becoming a mother, Rachel has taken on various leadership roles at her children’s schools including Parents Association President and has dedicated her time to volunteering and serving on multiple school wide committees. Rachel is a college essay advisor and works with high school juniors and seniors. She currently resides in New York City with her husband and two sons.
Advisory Council
Scott Berrie
Advisory Council
Scott Berrie is an Emmy Award winning producer for “The Loving Story,” a documentary on the watershed civil rights case Loving v. Virginia released by HBO. He is the CEO and founder of Impulse Creative Productions, LLC and serves as Vice President of the Russell Berrie Foundation which makes social investments in innovative ideas that promote a rich Jewish communal life; supports medical advances in diabetes and humanism in medicine; and fosters religious understanding and pluralism. Scott’s currently developing “Jerusalem, I Love You,” a feature length, narrative film along the same format as films widely acclaimed “Paris, Je t’aime” and “New York, I Love You.” Before founding Impulse, Scott was the co-founder and CEO of VisionSpring, a three-time winner of Fast Company’s Social Capitalist Award for reducing poverty and economic advancement in the developing world through the sale of affordable eyeglasses. Berrie was given the first NYU Stern Stewart Satter Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award. In 2007, Scojo New York joined the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America. Scott is a trustee with the the Jewish Community Project Downtown, the American Society for Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, American Friends of the Shalom Hartman Institute, and Jerusalem Foundation. He’s a graduate of Colorado University, Columbia University Graduate School of International and Public Affairs with a certificate in Middle East Studies where he was a SIPA International Affairs Fellow and New York University Graduate School of Business Administration. Scott served as a Combat Engineer in the Israel Defense Forces from 1989-1990.
Victoria PL Feder*
Advisory Council
Victoria PL Feder, JCP Founder, leads a digital education company that develops internet and mobile based corporate training classes in the area of digital marketing. Victoria was previously a consultant with The Boston Consulting Group and was co-founder of an internet software company, ExpertCommerce. She holds MBA from Harvard Business School and BA from Yale University. An active member of New York’s Jewish community, Victoria co-founded JCP in 2002 to build Jewish community downtown in the wake of 9/11. She is now active with and passionate about the American Jewish World Service (AJWS), which drives for global justice in the name of Jewish. Victoria is a 21-year resident of Tribeca where she lives with her husband, Ben, and four children, Sam, Oliver, Rita and Nava.
Lori Fineman*
Advisory Council
Lori Fineman is the Executive Director of Transport Group, a not-for-profit, Off-Broadway theater company. Prior to her role with Transport Group, Lori was the Global Director of Knowledge Management for the Capital Markets Company, an Antwerp-based financial services consulting firm and was the Director of Knowledge Management, Pharmaceutical Practice for Andersen Consulting. Ms. Fineman has also worked professionally as an actor, choreographer and yoga instructor and served as the Executive Director of the National Women’s Theater Festival in Philadelphia. Ms. Fineman graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in English and Theater Arts and a B.S.E. from the Wharton School. Lori lives in Tribeca with her husband, Steve and their three sons.
Dori Friedman
Advisory Council
Dori Friedman received her Bachelor of Arts in Speech and Language Studies from Indiana University. She spent nine years at The Advertising Council, a national non-profit organization. As Director of Special Events for the Ad Council, Dori was responsible for coordinating and running all of the organization’s events including their Annual Benefit that raised over $2,000,000. Dori is now a full-time mother and lives in Tribeca with her husband and two daughters, Samantha and Danielle.
Brian Friedman
Advisory Council
Brian Friedman is a Senior Portfolio Manager at Brevan Howard Investment Management. Prior to joining Brevan Howard, he was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs in their Interest Rate Product group in charge of Hedge Fund Sales, and received a BS in Finance from Indiana University. Brian serves on the board of directors for Advocates for Children, which provides free legal and advocacy services to students with disabilities and from low income backgrounds, to promote access to the best education and services that New York can provide. He lives in Tribeca with his wife Dori and daughters Samantha and Danielle.
Evan Roth*
Advisory Council
Evan Roth is a Managing Partner of BBR Partners, a multi-family office where he co-runs the firm, and is a Director of Portfolio and Wealth Advisory. He is a member of BBR’s Executive Committee and Investment Committee. He co-founded the firm in 2000. Evan’s focus is working with multigenerational families and individuals who have newly-created wealth to define and translate their values into a comprehensive, sophisticated investment program. Prior to founding BBR, Evan served as the Director of Private Accounts for Global Asset Management (GAM), and worked previously at Goldman Sachs & Co. in their asset management division. Evan graduated with a concentration in Finance from the Wharton School and holds an additional degree in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania. He earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and is a member of the CFA Institute. Evan is Treasurer and a member of the Executive Committee of the Gotham chapter of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO). He is a Life Trustee of The Kentuckians of New York and is actively involved with the Mary Byron Foundation. Evan is a co-host, along with his brother, of the business podcast “Breaking the Mold”, where he interviews entrepreneurs and executives who have found success through non-traditional paths.
Nathalie Rubens
Advisory Council
Nathalie Rubens is a former Equity Research Analyst at Morgan Stanley and Solomon Smith Barney, where she covered the Israeli technology and US retail sectors. Prior to working in Finance, she was a freelance journalist and the Grants Director at The Abraham Fund, a not-for-profit organization seeking to promote coexistence among Jewish and Arab Israeli citizens. She received a M.A. in International Relations and Economics with a concentration in Middle East Studies from the The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and a B.A. in History from the University of California at Berkeley. She is currently with American Jewish World Service (AJWS) as part of its New York Leadership Council. Nathalie has lived in Tribeca since 2002 with her husband Saul Goodman and their four children, and has been active in JCP’s leadership since its founding.
Dan Senor
Advisory Council
Dan Senor is an author, investor, and television commentator on global affairs. He is currently a senior advisor to Elliott Management, a New York-based hedge fund. He is also adjunct senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. Prior to re-joining the investment management business, Dan was one of the longest serving civilian officials in Iraq, where he served in 2003 and 2004 as a Senior Adviser and the Chief Spokesperson for the U.S.-led Coalition. For his service, he was awarded the highest civilian honor by the Pentagon. Dan also served as a Pentagon adviser to Central Command in Qatar.Dan completed his BA at the University of Western Ontario and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; he completed his MBA at Harvard Business School. Dan is the co-author of the New York Times bestseller Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle. He writes frequently for the Wall Street Journal, and has also been published by the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek Magazine, and Time.
Susan Silverstein*
Advisory Council
Susan Silverstein has served on the JCP Board since 2010. She became JCP’s volunteer Transition Team Leader in 2011, and then served as President of the Board from July 2012 to June 2016 and Chair of the Board from July 2017 to June 2018. Susan worked on Wall Street for 18 years until 2006 when she completed her four-year role as Global Director of Equity Research at Banc of America Securities. Prior to that, she was a US equity research analyst, and was awarded the #1 ranking in US footwear and apparel research and stock picking, as reported by Institutional Investor Magazine’s All-America Surveys and the Wall Street Journal’s top stock picking polls. In addition to her JCP volunteering, Susan and her partner live in Tribeca and raise their daughter. Susan’s other joy is to serve up her knubbel (garlic) borscht to any takers or borscht devotees. Word is that her cholent has an underground following as well.
Laurie Slosberg Kaminsky
Advisory Council
Laurie Slosberg Kaminsky is an attorney in private practice in Tribeca. After growing up in Baltimore, Maryland, she graduated from Tufts University with a degree in International Relations and earned her J.D. from the Boston University School of Law. Laurie is a member of the State Bar of New York and that of California. She is a member of the 2009 Gala Host Committee for LIFT, an organization dedicated to providing information and support, as well as access to justice and neighborhood-based resources, for families and individuals involved in New York City Family Court. Prior to starting her own law practice, Laurie clerked for the Honorable Geraldine Mund of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California and worked as an associate in large law firms in Los Angeles and New York City. A resident of Tribeca since 2003, Laurie lives with her three true loves, her husband Howard and their children, Isabelle and Oliver.
Molly Snyder
Advisory Council
Molly Snyder is a clinical social worker at the Jewish Board of Family and Children Services. Prior to that she founded Metropolitan Moms, a company that runs various educational classes at galleries, museums, and other cultural institutions throughout New York City. Molly started her career at Goldman Sachs in investment banking in New York and London and then went to work at the New York City Investment Fund providing funding and mentoring to companies affected by 9/11. Molly received her MBA and MSW from Columbia University. She also serves on the board of directors of StreetWise Partners, an organization that leverages mentorship to increase employment opportunities for adults from under-resourced communities.
Aaron Stone
Executive Committee
Aaron Stone is a Senior Partner of Apollo Management, a private equity firm, where he runs the firm’s Media, Entertainment & Communications group. Prior to joining Apollo in 1997, he was a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions group at Smith Barney and received an AB in Social Studies from Harvard College. Aaron serves as co-Chairman of Endemol Shine Group and has served on numerous other corporate boards of directors. He is also a board member of The Civilians, a non-profit that creates and produces new theater, and is a Trustee of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
**ECC Parents’ Association Co-President
***ECC Parents’ Association Vice President
****Hebrew School Parent Organization Co-President