Three Fresh Faces at the JCC

This year, the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan has been fortunate to welcome several new staff members. Now, with our newest center and department heads comfortably settled in at the JCC, we'd like to make a few introductions.

Sheryl Parker, Director of The Joseph Stern Center for Social Responsibility

Sheryl Parker joined the JCC family this past summer and hit the ground running! Most recently the director of the Live with Purpose/Time for Good initiative (of which our Engage Jewish Service Corps is a part) at UJAFederation of New York, Parker has focused on "doing good in the world" since her grad school days at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned a master's degree in public health. While working as an epidemiologist, Parker, mother to Theo and Zoe, volunteered with Hands On Atlanta, which she found much more interesting than what she was being paid to do. Once in New York, volunteer work for New York Cares turned into a paid position. She stayed for seven years, an opportunity she calls "a gift." At the JCC, she says the challenge is "figuring out how to become the bridge between the power and the potential of the community, their desire to do good, and the places where we can do real good."

Working with Ruth Messinger, the JCC's social justice activist in residence, has been a thrill. "I've had the chance to work with amazing role models," says Parker, who stresses that "the more we can learn from others in doing the work of social responsibility, the more powerful our work can be."

Alicia Stoller, Director of The Saul and Carole Zabar Nursery School

Understanding child development and the role of the family in it has been a key focus of Alicia Stoller's career. "It's a period in education when the child's and family's experiences are very connected and interwoven," says Stoller, who joined us as the nursery school's new director in July.

The founder of EduHaven, created to provide support for teachers and administrators in the development and implementation of early childhood programs, she also served as director of the Early Childhood Center at the Jewish Community Project and associate division head of the early learning center at Avenues: The World School. Stoller, a mom to son Quin, earned her master's degree at the Bank Street College of Education, where she has also served as an adjunct professor. For Stoller, one of the most rewarding things about working with young children is helping them see themselves as part of something that's bigger than their family and as part of their community. "They have a voice in the world and a capacity to impact it. The way in which we support their ability to engage in the world as changemakers is a big part of what draws me to education." Stoller looks forward to being part of "the larger work" of the JCC. [Former director] "Noah Hichenberg told me, ‘It's a place where everybody is rowing in the same direction,'" she says. "And that's exciting to be a part of."

Yael Kahn Pinto, Director of The Bert and Sandra Wasserman Center for Family Life

Before she left to serve as an education and family engagement consultant with the Jewish Education Project four years ago, Yael Kahn Pinto was a teacher in the JCC's nursery school, a member of the school's leadership team, and ran the Day Camp at the JCC (not to mention a member of a teen social action program and a CIT at the camp in its first two years of operation).

Today, the mom of two is back with a new perspective—that of a parent with children in JCC programs. Daughter Rozzie, 4, is in the nursery school, and her son, Jake, is in 2s Together. "It's really helpful," she says. "Either I'm going through a lot of the same things other parents are going through, I've been through them, or I can anticipate them. "As someone who's raising her kids here, too, I understand the uniqueness of raising young children in New York City and all of the benefits and challenges that go along with it." Kahn Pinto, who has a master's degree in education from the Bank Street College of Education, feels a strong responsibility to maintain the warm relationship former director Mara Braunfeld formed with the community and staff alike. "It's really important to feel heard and cared about," she says.

For more about programming within The Joseph Stern Center for Social Responsibility and The Bert and Sandra Wasserman Center for Family Life, visit mmjccm.org. To learn more about The Saul and Carole Zabar Nursery School, visit nurseryschool.mmjccm.org.

Winter / Spring 2020 (3051)

Sherri Lerner is the former editorial director at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. She has written and edited for numerous publications and is currently on the staff of the Wechsler Center.