Arlene Bearman, Ph.D., Chair
Michael C. Gelman, Chair-Emeritus_
Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, Founder & President
Sheryl J. Schwartz, Co-founder & Vice President
Margo Volftsun, Co-Founder & Secretary
Lennert J. Leader, Treasurer
Sheldon Bearman, M.D.
Newton Becker
Marc Cummins
Nancy Epstein
Andrew J. Groveman
Seth A. Klarman
Joseph Korff
Michelle H. Leader
Richard Levitt
David Naftaly
Karen Pack
Abe Pollin
Ronald R. Sklare
ARLENE BEARMAN, Ph.D., Chair
Arlene Bearman holds a Ph.D. in economics and ran the administrative sciences program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County for almost 25 years while also teaching. She holds the title of retired Emeritus Director of Administrative Sciences at UMBC. Dr. Bearman is a member of the Baltimore Women's Giving Circle and the Jewish Women's Foundation of Baltimore, part of The Associated Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore. Additionally, Dr. Bearman serves on the board of directors for the Shoshana Cardin High School, and has served on the boards of Turn Around Inc., an organization dedicated to helping victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and abuse, the Landsdown Magnet School, and Beth El Congregation. She is married to Sheldon Bearman, M.D. who also serves on The Israel Project board.
MICHAEL C. GELMAN, Chair-Emeritus
Michael C. Gelman is National Treasurer of United Jewish Communities (UJC). He chairs UJC's Consulting Committee and is former chair of the UJC Domestic Affairs Pillar. He was also co-chair of the 2003 General Assembly in Jerusalem. Mr. Gelman served three terms as president of The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and one term as president of its Endowment Fund. President Clinton appointed him to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council in 1995. He was a member of the Council's Executive Committee and chaired the Council's Ad Hoc Committee on Governance, Investment Committee, and Development Committee. He was appointed by Maryland Governor Glendening to serve on the University System of Maryland's Board of Regents.
Mr. Gelman sits on the boards of several organizations, including the Jewish Agency for Israel, for which he chairs the Aliyah and Klitah Budget Subcommittee, and Hillel International. He is a founding partner of Gelman, Rosenberg & Freedman, an accounting firm located in Bethesda, Maryland, and is a member of the Board of Directors of Congressional Bank. Mr. Gelman and his wife, Susie, have three children.
JENNIFER LASZLO MIZRAHI, Founder & President
Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi is an internationally recognized expert in public policy, communications, public opinion research, media and politics. Prior to starting The Israel Project, she was founder and president of Laszlo & Associates, Inc., a strategic communications and training company. She worked on winning political campaigns and communications efforts in the United States, France, Russia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Vincent, Ukraine and Venezuela. She worked on projects with the White House, dozens of U.S. senators and a host of advocacy organizations. Mrs. Mizrahi has been interviewed on "One-on-One with John McLaughlin," CNN, CNBC, FOX and MSNBC. She has been profiled in several publications including The Washington Post and Working Woman and Lifestyles. President George H.W. Bush recognized Mrs. Mizrahi as "A Point of Light" for her efforts in the non-profit and Jewish communities. Co-founding the DCJCC's Community Services Program remains one of her proudest achievements. Mrs. Mizrahi previously served as chairman of the DC Jewish Community Center's National Institute for Public Leadership. She chairs her local UJC campaign, is an alumnus of the UJC's Young Leadership Cabinet and is a member of The National Press Club. She is co-director of the Mizrahi Family Charitable Trusts and has been honored by the Baltimore Zionist District and Aleph Bet Jewish Day School.
SHERYL J. SCHWARTZ, Co-Founder & Vice President
Sheryl J. Schwartz is an attorney, entrepreneur and influential community leader. She is one of the three mothers who started The Israel Project and represented the organization at The Hague. Previously she was vice president and general counsel of her family's home building business, Schwartz Enterprises, Inc., from 1981 to 1996. In her work as an attorney she specialized in family, business, construction and real estate law. Mrs. Schwartz's volunteer work includes serving on the boards of the University of Virginia Annual Giving Advisory Board, Founding Member of the University of Virginia Families, UVA Hillel Northern Virginia Advisory Board, and The Board of Managers of the Club Villas Corp.
MARGO VOLFTSUN, Co-Founder & Secretary
Margo Volftsun is a full time philanthropist and a volunteer in the Jewish Communal world. Margo immigrated to the United States from Kiev, Ukraine in 1977. After graduating from Ohio State University with a degree in Computer Science, Margo pursued a successful career in the telecommunications industry. In 1999, Margo immersed herself in her second career - fighting for the safety and success of the Jewish People. In 2002, she co-founded the Jewish Youth Philanthropy Institute, a Washington, DC based organization educating Jewish teens about organized philanthropy and civic engagement. Ms. Volftsun serves on the boards of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, the Shalom Education Center (a Jewish educational institution aimed at the Soviet émigré community in Washington, DC), and NCSJ (advocates on behalf of Jews of Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States and Eurasia). Margo is also one of the three founders of The Israel Project, where she serves on the Executive Committee and frequently travels on behalf of the organization. Ms. Volftsun is a graduate of Leadership Fairfax, the Heritage program of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and the Wexner Heritage Foundation's Jewish literacy program for lay leadership.
LENNERT J. LEADER, Treasurer
After spending 25 years successfully building industry-leading information technology companies, Len Leader is now pursuing his charitable interests and dream of real estate development. He currently serves as president of Leader Development Group LLC, a Utah-based land acquisition and development firm. Mr. Leader, along with his wife, fellow TIP board member Michelle H. Leader, is very active in supporting organizations and initiatives that advance Judaism and Jewish-based teachings and help the State of Israel. Mr. Leader is an information technology pioneer and one of America's most visionary entrepreneurs. He was named president of AOL Ventures in 1998 after serving nine years as AOL's senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer. Under his leadership as AOL Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Leader helped manage the company's growth from $20 million in revenues and 100 employees in 1989 to more than $2.5 billion in revenues and 9,500 employees in 1998. During that time, Mr. Leader led efforts to fund the company's growth by securing several billion dollars of equity and debt, equipment lease and real property financing. In 1992, he guided AOL's initial public offering when the company had a market value of $65 million and helped the company increase its value to $29 billion in 1998. Mr. Leader also played an integral role in AOL's active acquisition strategy and has extensive venture capital and portfolio management experience. Before joining AOL in 1989, Mr. Leader was vice president for finance for Legent Corp., a publicly traded software and services company. Prior to that, he was chief financial officer of Morino Inc., a publicly traded systems software company, helping the company become a leading independent systems software supplier. He oversaw the company's initial public offering in 1986. Prior to entering industry, Mr. Leader had a career in public accounting with Price Waterhouse. In 1998, Mr. Leader was named Chief Financial Officer of the Year by the Northern Virginia Technology Counsel. In 1999 he was awarded the Albert Einstein Technology Medal. Mr. Leader graduated with honors from the University of Baltimore and is a Certified Public Accountant. In addition to previously serving on many publicly traded and privately owned company and not-for-profit organization boards, Mr. Leader is currently on the Board of Trustees of the Flint Hill School, the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of The Israel Project and a trustee of The Leader Family Foundation and The Leader Family Charitable Trust .
SHELDON BEARMAN, M.D.
Sheldon Bearman, a retired radiologist, serves as president and treasurer of the Herbert Bearman Foundation, Inc. The foundation funds projects that can make a difference to the well-being of individuals either by enriching the lives of people in disadvantaged circumstances or benefiting the general community. During his career in medicine, he served as president of the medical staff of Franklin Square Hospital in Baltimore, chairman of the department of radiology of Northwest Hospital Center, president of the Baltimore County Medical Society, and treasurer of the Maryland Medical and Surgical Faculty. Trained in radiology at Johns Hopkins, he has faculty appointments at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland and is a fellow of the American College of Radiology. He has served on the boards of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Beth El Congregation, state medical society and Med Chi, Maryland's physicians' association. He is married to Arlene Bearman who also serves on The Israel Project board.
NEWTON BECKER
Newton Becker, a CPA, has a long history of innovative entrepreneurial philanthropy. He serves on numerous boards of directors for organizations including the Jewish Federation Council of Los Angeles, Community Foundation of Los Angeles and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. He also has helped found and fund several other organizations, such as the campus-based group StandWithUs, now one of the most active pro-Israel organizations on U.S. campuses. Mr. Becker is a staunch supporter of Israel and the environment and in 1980 became founding investor and board chairman of L.A.-based Luz International. The company was at one time the world's largest solar power manufacturer, with research and manufacturing facilities in Jerusalem. He also began and directed the Becker CPA Review Course in 1957, which he sold to DeVry University shortly before his retirement in 1998.
MARC G. CUMMINS
Mr. Cummins is a Managing Partner of Catterton Partners. Catterton is the largest private equity firm in the U.S. focused on investing in the consumer sector with over $1 billion of capital under management. Prior to joining Catterton, Mr. Cummins spent fourteen years at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette ("DLJ") as Managing Director of DLJ's Consumer Products and Specialty Distribution Group, with overall responsibility for more than 30 clients. Under Mr. Cummins' leadership, DLJ developed one of the industry's leading franchises in business-to-business retailing and specialty distribution. While at DLJ, Mr. Cummins was also involved in a number of leveraged buyouts, and private equity and high yield financings. Mr. Cummins sits on the Board's of a number of public and private companies. Mr. Cummins received a B.A. in Economics, magna cum laude, from Middlebury College, where he was honored as a Middlebury College Scholar and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Mr. Cummins also received an M.B.A. in Finance with honors from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
NANCY EPSTEIN
Nancy Epstein is a longtime philanthropist for Jewish organizations and currently serves on the Board of Trustee's of DIFFA (Design Industry Foundation Fighting Aids). She also is founder and president of Artistic Tile, one of the United States' leading luxury stone and tile firms. Mrs. Epstein, who lives in Tenafly, N.J. began the company in 1987 and soon revolutionized the tile showroom design industry with her vignette-style displays, now an industry standard. The company's Secaucus, N.J. headquarters contains a state-of-the-art warehouse, training center, customer service center and design studio. In 2002, the company launched "The Jerusalem Stone Project," donating 100 percent of the proceeds from the sales of its Jerusalem stone products to the UJA-Israel Emergency Campaign. She and her husband Larry have four children (one daughter-in-law) and one grandson.
ANDREW J. GROVEMAN
Andrew (Andy) Groveman has been with Belz Enterprises, a multi-generational real estate development and investment company, for 27 years. He is Senior Vice President of Marketing and Administration, as well as President of its Belz Factory Outlet Division. Mr. Groveman is involved with many local, national and international Boards. In Memphis, he is Immediate Past President of the Memphis Jewish Foundation and has served as a Past President of Baron Hirsch Congregation and the Orthodox Day School and Yeshiva in Memphis. Nationally, Mr. Groveman serves on the Boards of AIPAC and the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization (BBYO), and is a Board Member of The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, United Jewish Communities (UJC), and United Israel Appeal, and is a Trustee of Yeshiva College of Yeshiva University. He also serves on the Board of Governors of the Ariel United Israel Institutes. Internationally, he is on the Executive Committee of the American & International Societies for Yad Vashem and is one of 36 Americans who sits on the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency for Israel. In 2007, he and his father-in-law Jack Belz will serve as the International Co-Chairs for the UJC General Assembly which will be held in Nashville, Tennessee in November 2007. He is also one of the founders of the Memphis Jewish High School, a modern Orthodox co-ed Jewish high school, which opened in fall 2006. Andy and his wife Jan have been married for 29 years and have two children, daughter Ariel who is married to Josh Weiner, and son Adam who is married to Julie Krausz. They are new grandparents to grandson Ilan.
SETH A. KLARMAN
Seth Klarman is president of The Baupost Group, L.L.C., which manages approximately $5 billion on behalf of individual and institutional clients. He has been responsible for the company's investments since its founding in 1982 and has been president since 1988. His book, Margin of Safety: Risk Averse Value Investing Strategies for the Thoughtful Investor, outlines his investment philosophy and has been featured in a variety of investment industry publications. Mr. Klarman graduated from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar. He received a bachelor's degree in economics, magna cum laude, from Cornell University. He currently serves on several not for profit boards.
JOSEPH KORFF
Joseph Korff, founder and president of Arc Development LLC, has been involved in the real estate industry in numerous capacities for more than 30 years. He also has been managing partner or principal/advisor in several billion-dollars of real estate transactions including structuring and restructuring complex financial real estate deals. Mr. Korff began his career at Dewey Ballantine, a Wall Street law firm. Mr. Korff was a key founder of the Council of New York Law Associates, an organization focused on providing legal help for local, national and international non-governmental organizations. The Council, now known as the Lawyers Alliance, also helped spawn groups such as Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and the Environmental Defense Fund. Mr. Korff also has been involved with The Real Estate Board of New York, The Urban Land Institute, Mid-Pac, a pro-Israel Pac and Manhattan's Congregation Orach Chaim. Mr. Korff's ardent support for Israel and for Jewish causes has deep family roots; his father Samuel I. Korff was a rabbi who built up a 1,000-family Orthodox congregation in Boston as well as the Associated Synagogues of New England. Mr. Korff's uncle Baruch, also a rabbi, was a member of the political wing of the Irgun.
MICHELLE H. LEADER
Michelle H. Leader has dedicated herself to a lifetime of helping others and to strong organizational and community involvement in various capacities. She is a major supporter of various organizations advancing Israel's position in the world and has participated in several missions to Israel. Her involvement in the Jewish community includes serving as a board member at Congregation Beth Emeth in Herndon, Va. She is currently a member of the synagogue's sisterhood board. Mrs. Leader is a registered nurse and at one time worked as assistant head nurse of the neonatal department at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore. She also volunteers at her children's day school, Flint Hill School. She is married to TIP board member Lennert Leader.
RICHARD LEVITT
Richard Levitt is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Nellis Corporation, a private capital management company. He is a retired Vice-Chairman of the Board of Wells Fargo & Company (San Francisco). Mr. Levitt currently serves as Director of the American Federation of Arts (New York City), Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (Washington, D.C.) and the Des Moines Art Center. Mr. Levitt attended The State University of Iowa where he received Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor degrees. He is a member of the Iowa Bar.
DAVID NAFTALY
David Naftaly is national chairman of the Israel Bonds Presidents Club and sits on the National Executive Committee of the State of Israel Bonds. Mr. Naftaly also serves on the Executive Board of AIPAC and on the BBYO board. Prior to his national involvement with Israel Bonds, Mr. Naftaly served as chairman of Israel Bonds of Maryland, campaign chair of the Jewish Federation of Howard County and board member of the Hebrew Home of greater Washington and Temple Isaiah. Additionally, he serves on the University of Maryland Business School Foundation Advisory Board through which he mentors business school students. He previously was a member of the board of the National multiple Sclerosis Foundation of Maryland and the University of Maryland Cancer Center Advisory Board. Mr. Naftaly is founder and former owner of Reliable Trash Service, which he sold in 1998 to Waste Industries, Inc. Mr. Naftaly served as chairman of The Israel Project's first national campaign, successfully fulfilling a $500,000 matching grant program.
KAREN PACK
Karen Pack has worked as a volunteer in Jewish philanthropy for the past 30 years. Karen is the incoming president of the Jewish Federation of Kansas City. Mrs. Pack is a Trustee and currently serves as a Vice President of the Kansas City Jewish Community Foundation. She has previously served on the 2000 Committee for Kansas City. Mrs. Pack serves on the Executive Committee as the Chair of the Women's and General Campaign's. She is Chair of the Partnership for United Jewish Communities and is Chair of the large-intermediate size cities. Mrs. Pack has been a member of the United Jewish Appeal's Young Leadership Cabinet and served on the UJC Women's Philanthropy Board. She has Chaired and participated in a number of missions to Israel. Mrs. Pack has served on the boards of the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy Day School and the Jewish Community Center. She is a Life Member of Hadassah and The National Council of Jewish Women. In 2001, Missouri Governor Bob Holden appointed Mrs. Pack to The Child Abuse and Neglect Review Board of Missouri. Mrs. Pack has been active in political fund raising at the state and national levels. She is a managing partner in Devinki Real Estate which is involved in investment and management in the Kansas City area.
ABE POLLIN
Abe Pollin and his wife Irene are the longest-tenured owners in the National Basketball Association and oversee operations of the Washington Wizards, the Washington Mystics, TicketMaster Washington/Baltimore and the management of MCI Center and the George Mason University Patriot Center. Mr. Pollin's wide array of philanthropic service includes serving as chairman of The Advisory Council for UNICEF, honorable chairman of the Salvation Army's Leadership Committee for Centers of Hope and co-chairman of the District's Community Capital Campaign for N Street Village. As co-sponsor of the I Have a Dream Foundation, Mr. Pollin guaranteed college educations for 55 students. His awards include the U.S. Army's Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the 1996 Robert F. Kennedy-Martin Luther King, Jr. Award, the 1996 United Cerebral Palsy Achievement Award and the 1997 Jewish Leadership Award. Mr. Pollin, along with basketball legend Michael Jordan created an education fund for children of victims of the September 11 attacks. Most recently, Mr. and Mrs. Pollin established the Pollin Prize for Pediatric Research, administered by New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
RONALD R. SKLARE
Ronald R. Sklare owns the Rowen Development Corporation which builds spec and custom homes in the north suburbs of Chicago. Mr. Sklare is also a partner in Green Way Development. Over the last year, Ron has been very active in the Sklare Family Foundation which was provided significant support to a small congregation in Mandeville, Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Ron also serves on the Midwest Board of the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science. Mr. Sklare earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Tulane University and a MBA from Loyola of Chicago. He and his wife Leah, currently reside in Deerfield, Illinois with his two sons.
