JHF Board Appoints New Trustees and Celebrates Outgoing Chair Debra Caplan
Type: News
Caplan stands next to the painting hung in the Board Room in her honor.
JHF’s Board of Trustees met December 9 to celebrate outgoing Board Chair Debra Caplan, approve its new Board leadership in preparation for the new year, and to award its last cycle of grants for 2025.
Caplan was recognized as the outgoing Board Chair after four years of service with the unveiling of a painting of Jerusalem, purchased from the oldest remaining gallery in Israel, Safrai Fine Art gallery. Painted by Izik Fleisheker, the painting hangs in the JHF Board room. During her closing remarks, Caplan, overwhelmed with gratitude, lauded JHF’s commitment to the legacy of Montefiore Hospital and its continued impact on the community.
The Board approved new and returning trustees for 2025 at its final meeting of the year.
The Board approved new and returning trustees for 2025, including: Owen Cantor, DMD; Rachael Heisler, MPA; Steve Irwin, JD; Emily Jaffe, MD, MBA; Jonas Johnson, MD, FACS; David Kalson, JD; Ellen Kessler; Mark Lewis, CPA; Steve Reis, MD; Jim Rogal, MA; Rick Stafford, MPP; Adam Tobias, MD, MPH; Mary Esther Van Shura, DEd; and Todd Wolynn, MD, MMM. The Board also appointed its new officers for 2025: Michael Ginsberg, JD (Chair), Irwin (Vice Chair), Kessler (Secretary), and Sue Kirsch, CPA, JD.
The Board recognized its departing Trustees: David Finegold, DPhil; Geoffrey Gerber, PhD; Susanne Gollin, PhD; Mark Kamlet, PhD; Valerie Njie, MS; Rema Padman, PhD; Daniel Pituch, MD, DMD; Jim Rooney; Patricia Siger; and Danny Rosen, PhD, who is taking leave from Board service to work as a consultant to JHF.
JHF’s Board approved the following grants: An increase of $100,000 to the annual block grant to the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh – now a $1,000,000 annual block grant – to address the health needs of the Jewish population; $100,000 capacity-building grant for the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh to support their COVID-19 recovery and continuing development efforts as they reposition themselves in the community in the post-pandemic era to continue support of teens and seniors; $250,000 per year from 2025-2027 to support the Pittsburgh Downtown revitalization efforts of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development; $100,000 per year for two years to media partners to advance responsible health journalism, including $25,000 to 90.5 WESA, $25,000 to PublicSource, $35,000 to The Jewish Chronicle, and $15,000 to WQED; and $68,000 to the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania Impact Fund to support the core program of its partner agencies and new initiatives that address critical community needs