Board of Directors
Board Chair
Joel S. Iskiwitch, JD, CPA is an active volunteer with the St. Louis nonprofit community, having served as a Board Member/Trustee for many organizations. For over 20 years, he was an executive with two financial service firms, specializing in marketing and product development. He currently is a realtor associate with Coldwell Banker Gundaker working alongside his wife Joanne. He received his undergraduate degree from The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania, and his JD from Washington University. He and Joanne have two adult daughters who both live in Los Angeles.
Vice-Chair
David G. Rosenstock retired from the business of chemistry in 2022 after 37 years. He originally worked for The Dow Chemical Company for 20 years in a variety of sales and business management roles, and ended his career working for Minneapolis-based Hawkins, Inc. as business vice president and member of the executive team. David has served on the board of United Hebrew Congregation since 2012 and was president of UH 2018-19. He was an At-Large member of the JCRC Council 2015-18. David was in the 2014 cohort of the Millstone Fellows and recipient of the 2024 Michael and Barbara Newmark Emerging Leader Tzedek Award presented by JCRC.
David has also held leadership positions on non-profit boards for organizations focused on community theatre, advocacy for indivduals with developmental disabilities, and support of public school music programs. He earned a BS in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA in Finance and Marketing from the Anderson School at UCLA. David and his wife Lisa will have been married for 35 years in May, 2024. Their delightful young-adult children are Jacob, Greta, and Maggie Rosenstock.
Secretary
Anna Goldfarb Shabsin has been deeply involved with JCRC in a variety of capacities. She first served as a temple representative to the Council. Over the years, she has served as a member of the Environment Policy Subcommittee, then the Board and now the Executive Committee. She has served on committees and Boards of multiple Jewish and non-Jewish organizations in the St. Louis region and nationally. She was proud to be a Millstone Fellow, Levy Fellow, and a 2024 recipient of the Michael and Barbara Newmark Emerging Leader Tzedek Award presented by JCRC.
During the day, you can find Anna at the Brown School at Washington University, teaching classes on policy, lobbying, economics and Constitutional law. She is also the Assistant Dean for the Master of Social Policy program and the coordinator of Wash U's JD MSW dual degree program. Although she loves learning with her students on the St. Louis flagship campus, she especially enjoys teaching in Wash U's Prison Education Program, working with our students on our Pacific and Vandalia campuses. Since 2014, she has been the Safe Zone educator for all faculty and staff at Wash U, ensuring that our campus is an inclusive and welcoming place for LGBTQ students, faculty, staff and visitors.
Treasurer
Jane Tzinberg Rubin is an independent consultant for higher education institutions in accreditation and assessment, both in the US and abroad. She oreviously worked in public accounting for KPMG, in industry for Monsanto, and in education at the University of Illinois, University of Missouri-St Louis, and for AACSB: Global Business Network. Active AICPA member having received the organization’s highest volunteer award for Distinguished Service, and recently completed term as an AICPA National Accreditation Commissioner. Current Board member and Audit Committee chair of JCC Association of North America. Current Board member and officer of St Louis JCRC. Current Board member of St Louis JCC and NCJW. Long-time City of Frontenac Ways and Means Committee member. Married to Ken Rubin and have two daughters (and families) living in San Francisco and Chicago.
Governance and Nominating Chair
Nancy Solomon Desloge is a freelance communications strategist and retired director of public relations for Saint Louis University. Prior to joining SLU in 2001, Nancy worked as a journalist and freelance writer, editor and communications consultant, and is a proud graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Now in her third act, Nancy also volunteers with the Assistance League of St. Louis and is eager to begin a stint as a facilitator for the Impact Lab of the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum. An active community volunteer with a deep affinity for social justice, Nancy is fierce in her fight against antisemitism, intolerance and prejudices that undermine building a better world. In 2023, Nancy was honored to receive the Michael and Barbara Newmark Emerging Leader Tzedek Award presented by JCRC.
Programming Chair
Professionally, Nikki Weinstein is a social worker by trade and training currently working in public health research. She has more than 25 years professional experience in the areas of public health research, policy development, community engagement, and social service programming with a strong commitment to social and economic justice. Nikki has extensive facilitation experience including conducting strategic planning with organizations and task forces, as a stand-up trainer, and as a facilitator for anti-bias education workshops. But more importantly, she is Mom to 9-year-old Emma. In her spare time, she loves to plan a good trip. One of Nikki’s first encounters with JCRC was as a member of a young professional engagement effort led by Marci Mayer Eisen a long time ago. Other involvement in the Jewish community includes past positions with the Jewish Federation of St. Louis and Cultural Leadership, and as a facilitator for the Anti-Defamation League. Nikki is a member at B’nai Amoona Congregation.
Development Chair
Sally has worked in health care, in St. Louis and across the United States, since 1974. She was the health, science and technology editor at the St. Louis Beacon, a non-profit, online news source. From 2010-2016, Sally managed news partnerships at St. Louis Public Radio. For the past decade, she has consulted with organizations, including Health Equity Matters (formerly For the Sake of All) at Washington University, on policy matters concerning public health, social justice and racial equity. She and her husband, Richard Weiss, founded Before Ferguson Beyond Ferguson (BFBF), a non-profit dedicated to telling multi-generational stories of St. Louis families and their efforts to overcome systemic racism. BFBF rebranded as the River City Journalism Fund with a broader focus on social justice stories.
Sally has served on the boards of Oasis, Teach for America, Midwest Health Initiative and the Signature Foundation. She served on the executive committee of the St. Louis chapter of J Street. She is a past-president of Central Reform Congregation. She is the former president of the board of Crown Center for Senior Living. Sally served as an At-Large member of the JCRC Council for three years.
Executive Committee
Paul Sorenson founded and leads the collaborative St. Louis Regional Data Alliance (RDA) at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. The RDA supports local governments, nonprofits, funders, and universities in using data for community benefit. The RDA is also actively involved in building public health data infrastructure to address COVID-19 and beyond, and works closely with United Way 2-1-1 and its partners on establishing the St. Louis Community Information Exchange (CIE) to share referrals across health and social service providers. Before coming to UMSL, Paul previously founded and ran GoodMap, an online tool for nonprofits to organize information about community services, and also served as the Director of Strategic Planning at Grace Hill Settlement House, which provided a wide range of services for families and communities. Paul is also a co-founder of MaTovu, a Jewish community center in St. Louis City.
Immediate Past Chair
As an experienced attorney and economic developer with a passion for making a meaningful contribution to the community, Deborah has spent her career serving the people of Missouri. As VP of Business Recruitment & General Counsel for the Missouri Partnership, Deborah works with companies from around the world to bring investment and jobs to Missouri. She also manages all legal matters for the organization. Deborah began her career as an Assistant Attorney General prosecuting complex civil and criminal consumer fraud cases. She also served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Saint Louis University School of Law and then went on to serve for four years in the Office of Missouri Governor. Deborah currently serves as the President of the Women Lawyers’ Association of St. Louis, Chair of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), and Vice Chair of the Harris-Stowe State University Board of Regents (HSSU). From 2017 to 2021 she served as a special public defender representing criminal defense clients pro bono.
Shira Berkowitz is an artist, policy strategist, and social entrepreneur. They have over a decade of experience in civic and political strategy, from working within arts institutions, issues-based campaigns, and policy organizations. Currently, Shira serves as the Senior Director of Public Policy and Advocacy to lead PROMO's policy strategy, an organization striving to achieve comprehensive equity for LGBTQ+ Missourians. They hold an MFA from Washington University of St. Louis and is dedicated to building spaces for people to grow as community while addressing civic and social challenges in our built environment. They are a founding board member of MaTovu, a Jewish neighborhood center in the City of St. Louis, serves on the Board of Directors for the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, are a founding member of MARSH – a queer bio-culture laboratory and mutual aid hub in St. Louis City, and founded Camp Indigo Point – a camp for LGBTQ+ youth in the Midwest.
Susan E. Block, attorney, Paule Camazine & Blumenthal, has practiced in the areas of family, probate and juvenile law. She is considered a zealous advocate for her clients, a devoted mentor to younger lawyers and a lawyer’s lawyer to anyone seeking her advice. Formerly, she served as a judge for 25 years, presiding over civil, criminal and family law cases. As Administrative Judge of the Family Court, she initiated programs to serve youth and families. She is a board member for the Missouri Supreme Court Commission on Racial and Ethnic Fairness, the St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund, and the Jewish Community Relations Council.
Laura is a catalyst for learning, change, and giving. She has 20+ years of experience in nonprofit management and leadership with a specific focus on community organizing, systems change, and grant-making organizations. She is the Executive Director of the JF Roblee Foundation, a family foundation dedicated to promoting racial, ethnic, and gender equity, with a preference for early, upstream, catalytic, and movement-building approaches. Laura has a BA in American Studies from Tufts University and an MA in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University. Laura returned to St. Louis in 2014 after starting her career on the East Coast. After the Ferguson uprising, Laura co-founded and served for four years as the Executive Director of We Stories, which engaged white families in changing the conversation about and building momentum toward racial equity. She has worked for Jewish and secular community organizations, including JCRC of Greater Boston, Congregation B'nai Jeshurun in New York City, American Friends Service Committee, The Pew Charitable Trusts, and Generate Health.
Jessica is an attorney, practicing public interest law at Fathers and Families Support Center since 2015, proving free legal services in the area of family and criminal law to indigent participants as part of their parenting programs. The main mission of FFSC is to foster healthy relationships by strengthening families and communities. Jessica has been active in the St. Louis Jewish community since moving here in 2013, including volunteer roles with the JCRC, ADL, professional societies and other St. Louis Federation initiatives. Specifically with JCRC, she has served as a Council At-Large member for three years and the council representative for Kol Rinah for the past two years. Jessica was an active participant in the Jewish Coalition on Racial Equity, and served as a co-chair of the Strengthening Relationships Committee and as a member of the Steering Committee. In addition, she was a participant in the joint JCRC/JFED multipart program — Showing Up! Skills and Tools to have Challenging Conversations. Her main passion within the Jewish community and the broader STL community has been anti-racism work. A part of the St. Louis Communities Builder Network, she is a member of Social Policy & Electoral Accountability Collaborative (SPEAC). This is a group of leading St. Louis area organizations that are striving to hold elected officials accountable to the communities they represent — or are seeking to represent — both prior to an election and afterward. Originally from Des Moines, Iowa, she moved to St. Louis to raise her three children with her husband Ben, in a strong and passionate Jewish community.
Frances has had a distinguished career as a museum and community college administrator. She has a record of accomplishments in fundraising for capital projects, exhibitions and community relations projects, private foundation and federal grants administration, as well as museum programming and operational skills. She has served as project director on collections moves and rehousing projects, collections management grants, community programming grants, digitization projects and capital projects. Frances was the president and CEO of the Missouri Historical Society and Missouri History Museum from spring 2014 until summer 2022 when she retired. Under her leadership, MHS received the first-ever award for diversity, equity and inclusion from the American Alliance of Museums in 2017. She has received many community honors including awards from the St. Louis Business Journal, the National Urban League Salute to Women Award, NCCJ and the St. Louis Forum. In 2021, she received the Norman A. Stack Award for Community Relations from the Jewish Community Relations Council in St. Louis. Frances served as the interim executive director of the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum from September 2022 to October 2023. In its first year, under the leadership of Frances, the Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum was recognized regionally for the excellence of its educational programs and its nimble response to the rise of antisemitism. A native of Connecticut, Frances received her B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology from Southern Methodist University, Dallas.
Michael Novack serves as the Founder and CEO at Kiosite, a tech-focused company working to match talented individuals to meaningful career opportunities on a more transparent, more accurate, and more efficient basis. The company’s work seeks to improve the lives of individual job seekers, the productivity of private sector businesses, and the efficiency of public sector initiatives. Dubbed a “Wiz Kid” by the St. Louis Business Journal and named a “30 Under 30,” Michael has extensive entrepreneurial experience and regularly presents on a variety of business, hiring and development-related topics. Prior to his current work, Michael worked as a technology consultant through a firm he founded. Michael is a member of the Schusterman ROI Community and an alumnus of the Wexner Heritage Program. He serves as an advisor or director at a variety of non-profit and corporate boards in St. Louis, New York, and Israel, and attended Washington University in St. Louis.
Dr. Isaac Pollack serves as the Associate Superintendent for School Innovation, Turnaround, and Charter Partnerships for Saint Louis Public Schools. In his eight years in the role, Dr. Pollack has assisted with the development of the Citywide Plan for Education and the creation of the Saint Louis Schools' Collaborative for district and charter leaders. Prior to his work in Saint Louis, Dr. Pollack led reform efforts in the Achievement School District of Tennessee and several district and charter schools in New Orleans, LA and Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Pollack received his Doctorate in Education Leadership from Saint Louis University after studying Urban Education at the University of Pennsylvania and Physics and Secondary Education at the University of Maryland, College Park. Dr. Pollack lives in the West End neighborhood of North Saint Louis with his wife and four children
Council At Large
Emilie Fan (she/her) serves as the Senior Director of Advancement for the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. In this role, Emilie provides strategic leadership and direction to Brown School deans, leads a team of fundraisers and collaborates across the department to advance fundraising efforts for the Brown School to realize its vision for a better and more equitable society. A social worker by training, Emilie believes strongly in relationship building as the catalyst to transformative philanthropy and communities. Emilie joined Washington University in 2016 and prior to that, she began her advancement career at the Jewish Federation of St. Louis in 2013 and then served as Director of Development for Girls on the Run St. Louis. Emilie first recognized the importance of philanthropy and volunteer engagement during her work as an intern with the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, while completing her Master of Social Work degree. Emilie’s professional mission is to advance equity through philanthropy. Emilie, a Seattle-native, moved to St. Louis in 2011 for her Master of Social Work at the Brown School. She graduated in 2013 with her MSW, with a focus on nonprofit management and organization leadership. Emilie met her husband while attending the Brown School, and they have since made St. Louis their home, living in University City with their two children, Eleanor (5) and Teddy (3). Emilie recognizes the importance of community engagement and advocacy and spends any free time that she is not working or with her children volunteering with Temple Israel, Planned Parenthood and the Wilson School.
Rhona Lyons is a member of Kol Rinah Congregation, having been a member of both BSKI and Shaare Zedek prior to the merger. Professionally, Rhona is an ERISA lawyer representing multi-employer employee benefit plans. Rhona has been involved with the JCRC for many years first as a representative of the Jewish Labor Committee, working on, among other things, the Labor Seders, and a representative of Jews United for Justice, having been a founding member when JUJ it was formed in connection with the closing of the old Jewish Home for the Aged. She is on the advisory board of Bread and Roses and has been involved with NCJW and Hadassah in St. Louis as well as Jobs with Justice and Circus Harmony. Her four daughters, Ariel, Abra, Mital and Pardes, are all proud alumni of the Student-to-Student program.
Dana Silverblatt joined the Behavioral Health Network in June 2019 as the Director of Youth Initiatives. Previously, she served as Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and School Based Health Care at COMTREA, a community mental health center and federally qualified health center in Jefferson County. Through her collective work experience, Dana brings an extensive background in project management and program implementation within a safety net in urban, suburban, and rural settings.
Dana earned a Masters of Arts in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago and a Bachelors in psychology from the University of Michigan. Dana has deep roots in the St. Louis community and moved back after 16 years away from home. Dana is married and together they have a daughter and twin boys who keep them on their toes. In her free time, Dana enjoys exploring different neighborhoods in search of great food and live music.
Patrick L. Thimangu is the owner and master instructor of Arch Taekwondo. He opened the St. Louis-based school in 2009 after working as a journalist for nearly 15 years. Thimangu is internationally certified as a 6th Degree Taekwondo blackbelt by the Kukkiwon in Seoul, S. Korea, one of only 900 Americans currently holding that Kukkiwon rank. He has about 35 years of experience in taekwondo and is also a 2nd Class Kukkiwon International Master Instructor, a teaching designation held by few outside S. Korea. Thimangu, a native of Kenya, came to the United States in 1990 for university education and earned a bachelor’s degree in Speech Communications-Journalism from Olivet Nazarene University in Kankakee, Ill., and a master’s degree in Communications and Training-Media Communications from Governors State University. He began his journalism career at The Daily Journal-Kankakee. In 1998, Thimangu moved from Kankakee and briefly lived in Indianapolis, where he worked as an Associated Press newsman. The following year he relocated to Ohio and reported for three years at the Dayton Business Journal. Thimangu and his wife Rachel moved to Missouri in 2002, to both initially work as reporters for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Thimangu moved on to cover several beats at the St. Louis Business Journal until early 2009. The Thimangus live in unincorporated St. Louis County with their children Benjie and Eva, and their cat Jack. They are members of the Central Reform Congregation and Patrick and Rachel serve on its board of directors.
Rich serves as Vice President of The Family Business Consulting Group which supports multigenerational family enterprises in business strategy, ownership alignment, continuity/succession planning, governance planning, LeadingGen-NextGen development, family education and development, and conflict resolution.
Rich has been immersed in the family enterprise field for over 25 years in a wide variety of professional, leadership, operational, and management capacities in operating companies, holding companies, and single-family offices. He was a partner at the law firm Husch Blackwell focused on domestic and international business transactions. Rich developed and led the firm’s international law practice group.
Rich has served as trustee and on the boards of directors, advisory boards, and as interim CEO for domestic and international growth companies, turn-arounds, and early-stage businesses. Rich also worked in The White House as staff attorney for the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Rich lives in Creve Coeur, Missouri with his wife of 30+ years and their two dogs. He was elected to the Creve Coeur City Council for 10 years and served on several municipal and St. Louis County boards and commissions. The St. Louis Business Journal named Rich a “40 under 40” in 2002. He is the father of three wildly successful, independent, and outspoken daughters — each of whom have different passions and interests — but together as a family, they enjoy politics, international travel, dogs, hiking, and all St. Louis sports teams and cuisine.
