JFS Desert, a leading agency and expert in the fields of counseling and senior care is proud to announce today, this year’s board of directors, who will serve during the 2018-19 fiscal year. Sandy Seplow has been elected as president of the organization after serving as its Vice President.
“I am so impressed by our board’s breadth of talent and experience and we are delighted to have found 4 new outstanding individuals to help guide JFS Desert into the future. I thank Barbara Fromm , our outgoing president, we owe her a debt of gratitude for her leadership. I look forward to working with Sandy Seplow as he has shown his devotion to JFS for so many years,” said Maureen Forman, CEO, JFS Desert.
For over 35 years JFS Desert (aka Jewish Family Service of the Desert) has provided family counseling and senior assistance to the entire Coachella Valley regardless of income, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation. JFS offers a wide-spectrum of programs and services that improves the quality of life of over 3,000 valley residents every year. JFS Desert is a grant recipient of Jewish Federation of the Desert, United Way of the Desert, Desert Healthcare District, Regional Access Project, Annenberg Foundation, and additional grants and is very grateful to all our wonderful donors who believe in our mission.
Board Officers: President, Sandy Seplow; Aviva Snow, Vice President; Barry Kaufman, Treasurer and Lee Erwin, Secretary.
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President elect Sandy Seplow is a retired financial services executive with NY Stock Exchange firms. He has been involved with the United Jewish Appeal Federation for more than 50 years and has been on the regional board of the Anti-Defamation League.
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He resided in NYC for 40 years and has been in the desert since 2001. Sandy is passionate about his 10 years on the board of JFS and feels that it has been extremely rewarding.
Aviva Snow is returning as board Vice President for which she has maintained the position over the last 3 years. Aviva worked as a Residential Realtor in Los Altos, CA and as a Real Estate sales manager in San Jose. Although her heart lies with seniors (particularly Holocaust Survivors) she shares the JFS philosophy of helping others regardless of religion, race, age or sexual orientation. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Welfare from the Sir George Williams University in Montreal, Canada and studied Gerontology at Notre Dame De Namur University.
Barry Kaufman will continue as the board treasurer and has over 20 years working at non-profit agencies. He is also the treasurer for the Joslyn Senior Center and Animal Samaritans board of directors. Barry is a regular volunteer with FIND Food Bank.
Lee Erwin is the newly elected Secretary and has been the Executive Director of Contour Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery Center for over 15 years.
He is passionate about information technology and utilizes his computer engineering degree and business consulting background to help propel the practice into one of the most advanced cosmetic dermatology practices in the desert.
Board Incumbents include: Ed Cohen, Lee Erwin, Patrick Evans, Gerald Fogelson, Joan Freeman, Barbara Fromm – Immediate Past President, Margot Halperin, Leonard Macias, Jerry Morgan, Peter Rittenhouse, Gail Scadron and Nona S. Solowitz.
Newly Elected Board Members include:
John Zeller, A native of Washington, DC, John has lived in the desert since 2005, after retiring from a career in the reprographics industry. He was President & COO of Rowly-Scher Reprographics, Inc., formerly a publicly traded company. He served on the Board of Directors of the Washington Hebrew Congregation and the International Reprographics Association and is beginning his 7th year on the HOA Board of Directors of Trilogy @ La Quinta.
Debra Dann Kay is a retired invitation and stationary business owner, who divides her time between Chicago, where she has two adorable grandchildren, and Palm Desert. She is currently on the Coachella Valley Repertory Theater advisory board and The Brandon Dann Rotstein Memorial Foundation board in Chicago. She has been on a variety of non-profit boards over the years and looks forward to her affiliation with JFS Desert.
Jan Gordon is a retired VP of special events and training from a Torrance, CA financial services brokerage firm and has lived in the Coachella Valley for the last 15 years. She enjoys her involvement with Palm Desert City Arts Program, Museum Service Council of the Palm Springs Art Museum, JFS Desert Auxiliary committee and the Muses at the McCallum Theatre.
Joanne Chunowitz served on the Jewish Federation board in Kansas City in addition to the American Jewish Committee / Jewish Community Relations Bureau in Kansas City. Her time in Kansas City also included serving on the women’s board of Menorah Hospital. Her involvement with Jewish Federation of the Desert is extensive serving on the Women’s Philanthropy board, being co-chair of the Lion of Judah event and co-chair of Major Gifts. Joanne also serves on the Women’s board at Tamarisk Country Club. She is proud of her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education along with a Master’s degree in Reading.
The JFS Desert Board of Directors is a working body that sits on a variety of different committees which consist of: Annual Patron Party, Finance, Legacy and Donor Development, Campership, Strategic Planning Committee and an exciting Fundraiser starring Larry Luckinbill to be held on Sunday, March 10, 2019.
For more information on how to support and get involved with JFS Desert, visitwww.JFSDesert.org or call 760-325-4088. JFS Desert is a non-profit 501© 3 organization.
