Board of Trustees

Originally from Boston, Leslie and her husband Nick moved to Brooklyn in 2007 and became involved with Brooklyn Jews before joining CBE in 2010. Both of their children attended ECC––where some of their most meaningful friendships were formed––and later Yachad. Leslie has held roles on the Yachad Parent Committee, Membership Committee, and Development Committee, as well as various search committees. She spent 20+ years working at Seeds of Peace, a global nonprofit focused on leadership development and conflict resolution, serving the last decade as Executive Director. Leslie now leads her own consulting practice focused on board and organizational development. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and received a master’s degree in Public Administration and Nonprofit Management & Policy from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service.

Matt has lived in Brooklyn since 2006 and currently resides in Prospect Heights with his wife and daughter. His family joined Union Temple in 2019 and are regular participants in Shir L’Shabbat at CBE. Matt spent many happy summers at URJ Eisner Camp, and has been a youth educator at congregations in Washington, Albany and Brooklyn. Professionally, he serves as director of communication and policy for a New York State Senator, where he crafts messaging and strategy to advance an ambitious legislative agenda. Matt sits on the leadership committee of the Brooklyn Eagles (the Brooklyn Public Library’s group for young professionals) and is president of his co-op board. Born and raised in Manhattan, Matt attended public schools and graduated from Stuyvesant High School. He holds a BA from George Washington University and an MPA from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University.

Jonathan joined CBE following the combination with Union Temple and is thrilled to be part of the future of CBE. Having grown up in Shaker Heights Ohio as a “clergy kid”, he now lives in Park Slope with his wife, Zoe, and their adopted schnauzer-terrier Babka. Professionally, Jonathan leads The NRP Group’s New York City office, originating and overseeing market rate and affordable development. He is responsible for the company’s development efforts in New York City, Westchester, Long Island, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Jonathan graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, from which he holds a degree in Urban Studies with a minor in Urban Real Estate from the Wharton School of Business. He has served as a past president of the Young Leadership division of the Jewish National Fund, former member of the Young Leadership board of the Conference of Presidents, and is a member of the board of the Enterprise Community Partners Gotham Society as well as Neighbors Together, a Brooklyn based food bank.

Ariella has lived in Brooklyn since 2006. She and her husband and their two daughters have been CBE members since 2007.  Ariella has served on the CBE Covid Council and Philanthropy and Engagement Committees and co-chairs the Union Temple House Steering Committee. She is Partner and Founder of a private equity firm specializing in medical devices, InnovaHealth Partners, based in New York. Ariella is also on the Board of Trustees at Hannah Senesh Community Day School in Brooklyn where she is on the Finance Committee. Ariella received a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s College of Arts and Sciences. She went on to receive an M.B.A. from the Wharton School with a concentration in Health Care Management and an M.D. from the School of Medicine.

A born and raised New Yorker, Molly joined CBE in 2017 after becoming involved with the synagogue through Brooklyn Jews and the voter registration trip to North Carolina in summer 2016. She served on the Assistant Rabbi search committee, was a member of the Ritual Committee, was co-chair of the Philanthropy and Engagement Committee, and now is the co-chair of the Membership and Engagement Committee. Molly is the Associate Director of Humanities at BAM, where she organizes engagement programs for the work on BAM’s stages along with literary and ideas-based programming. She lives in Prospect Heights with her husband Zach.

Aaron and his wife Rachel have been active members of CBE since being welcomed through Shir L’Shabbat in 2016. They have three children, all of whom are either currently enrolled or attended ECC. Aaron has served on the ECC Committee and Finance Committee and as a volunteer for CBE’s Respite Shelter. He grew up attending Temple Hesed in Scranton, PA and is a proud alum of URJ’s Camp Harlam. Professionally, Aaron is Senior Counsel at Broadridge Financial Solutions and a graduate of Syracuse University, University of Pennsylvania Law School and Tsinghua University.

Joanna grew up in Manhattan and has been a Park Slope resident since 2004. Joanna serves on CBE’s Nominating and Governance Committee. She, her husband, and their daughter (a Yachad student) have been CBE members since 2013. Joanna is the General Counsel of the Robin Hood Foundation, New York’s largest poverty-fighting organization. At Robin Hood, Joanna advises the staff and board on a wide range of legal matters affecting the organization, including corporate governance, employment, intellectual property and business contracts. Prior to joining Robin Hood, Joanna worked at Planned Parenthood Federation of America and at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. Joanna received a J.D. from New York University and an A.B. from Harvard.

Robin, her husband, and her son have been CBE members for about 14 years. She is a Co-Chair of CBE’s Dismantling Racism Team (DRT), a DRT representative to the Brooklyn Justice Advocacy Coalition, a CBE Ritual Committee member, a Shabbat morning services regular, and a past Yachad Parent Committee member. Her son became a bar mitzvah after attending the ECC, After School Program, CBE Elementary Day Camp, and Yachad. Robin has been a Managing Director and Associate General Counsel for JPMorgan Chase since 2013. Earlier in her career, she was New York State’s Executive Deputy Attorney General for Criminal Justice; an Assistant United States Attorney and Deputy Chief/Acting Chief of Appeals in the Southern District of New York Criminal Division; and a litigator at two international law firms. Her awards include the U.S. Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service and the New York City Bar Association Stimson Medal for outstanding career as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. She graduated from Columbia Law School and Cornell University. Robin has engaged in pro bono legal work throughout her career, most recently representing an asylum seeker in immigration proceedings, and previously served on the board of a non-profit organization.

Esta Bigler and her husband Charlie have been members of CBE for more than 30 years. Their children became b’nei mitzvot and were confirmed at CBE. Esta has a long history of service to CBE. She has served on the Board of Trustees as a member and as a Vice President and as a member and chair of the Religious School and Nominating Committees. She has also served on Search, Kehillah and Finance Committees. Esta, a labor and employment lawyer is an extension faculty member at the Cornell ILR School. She directs the Labor and Employment Law Program and its Criminal Justice and Employment Initiative at ILR.

Neil Corwin and his wife, Margery Cooper, have been members of CBE since 1998. They have two adult children, Emily and Matt, who both attended Hebrew school and had their b’nei mitzvot at CBE. Most recently, Neil has served on the membership and engagement committee and the governance committee. He is also part of the “core team” seeking to grow CBE’s relationship with the Antioch Baptist Church community. Neil is an attorney who graduated from Amherst College and NYU School of Law. He is currently the Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. He has served in that office as a “line” Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Civil Division, Chief of Civil Rights, and Deputy Chief of the Civil Division. In his current role, he oversees his office’s hiring and recruitment of attorneys. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he worked for the New York City Law Department in its Affirmative Litigation Division. Neil is also an adjunct professor at Fordham Law School and a volunteer mediator at the U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

Jack Frishberg has been a member of CBE for over 20 years and a member of the finance committee for over 10 years. Jack received a B.S. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1982 and a M.B.A. from the University of Chicago in 1984. Professionally Jack has over 30 years of banking experience. He lives in Park Slope with his two daughters both of whom attended Yachad and Hazakah and were B’nei Mitzvah at CBE. His wife, Leslie, is also an active member at CBE.

Rebecca is a native Brooklynite and almost a lifetime member of CBE. Having grown up at CBE, she attended the ECC, camps, after school, Hebrew School and youth group and also became bat mitzvah and was confirmed at CBE. While in graduate school, Rebecca taught Hebrew School, Academy and was the BESTY advisor. Rebecca volunteers on several committees, including Yachad and helping to support Shir L’Shabbat. Rebecca and her husband Eyal live in Ditmas Park with their two daughters, one is an ECC alumna and a current Yachad student and the other will be attending the ECC. Rebecca graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Near Eastern studies and Comparative Literature and has a MA from the Jewish Theological Seminary in Modern Jewish Literature. Professionally, Rebecca is an Executive Vice President at Toby & Company, a kids and baby accessories company.

Doris joined CBE as a Union Temple legacy member in 2021. As a member of the Union Temple community for forty plus years, Doris served on many committees (Ritual, Adult Education, Nominating, Rabbinic Search), was a trustee, secretary and then, from 2004 to 2011 president of the congregation. She was married and became a b’nei mitzvah at the temple. Doris was a teacher, a guidance counselor and then a supervisor and administrator of pupil personnel services for the NYC Department of Education. As a retiree, Doris has focused her volunteer activities on voter registration and food banks.

Born in Crown Heights and raised in Canarsie, Danielle has returned and settled in Crown Heights for the last two years. She joined CBE in 2021 after searching for community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Danielle converted to Judaism in 2022, and has participated in many Adult Learning programs, including Parsha Study and learning how to read Hebrew and chant Torah. She is a member of the Membership and Engagement Committee, Chesed Committee and New York City’s first Reform Chevra Kadisha, a partnership between CBE, Plaza Jewish Community Chapel, Temple Shaaray Tefila, and students at Hebrew Union College. Danielle earned a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and JD from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (Yeshiva University). She is currently appointed as a Support Magistrate for the Kings County Family Court, and serves on several committees with the court system and her alma mater dedicated to access, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Jaime Levy Pessin joined CBE with her family in 2013; her son was bar mitzvah’d at CBE in 2021 and her daughter is currently a Yachad student. Jaime previously worked as a reporter at Dow Jones Newswires, The Charlotte Observer and Chicago Lawyer, among other publications, and is a founding member and former New York state chapter leader of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. Most recently, she worked as development director for New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. She has served on the board of Duke Student Publishing Company and on the finance committee for US Representative Lucy McBath of Georgia. A Miami native, she holds a BA from Duke University. She is working on a collection of short stories and a historical novel, both of which focus on Jewish life in Florida.

Cara has lived in Park Slope Brooklyn for 24 years, with her husband Rob (a CBE past president). Together they have two daughters, one attending college and one attending high school. CBE has been a central part of all their lives for almost 20 years. Cara has served in many capacities at CBE, leading community dialogues, galas and fundraisers, clergy installations and various committees. Currently Cara is the Chair of the CBE Chesed Committee. Professionally, Cara, a former attorney, works as a strategic conflict advisor, mediator and facilitator. Cara is also an ethics advisor to the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR).

Tamar Renaud (French, Swiss, Brazilian) and her husband, Iain Levine (English, Irish) decided to drop some roots after years of global wanderings and confused national identity, finding their home at CBE in 2011. They have two children, Maya and Liam, who studied in Yachad and became madrichim. Tamar co-leads the Ritual Committee and a monthly havdalah in the park, was on the CBE COVID Council, and loves learning through CBE, be it on anti-racism, Israel, or anti-Judaism. Professionally, Tamar has spent her career in public health, and has worked with the UN, NYU-Langone, the NYC health department, and non-profit organizations, including one that she co-founded in Thailand.

Debbie lives in Park Slope with her husband Jonathan and two children. They have been members of CBE since 2013, though they were regular attendees at Shir L’Shabbat two years prior. Currently, Debbie is the chair of the Chesed Care Package Team. She has worked in senior executive roles in New York City and State government for two decades managing major agencies, policy portfolios and legislative issues. Previously, Debbie served as the Chief of Staff to the First Deputy Mayor and as Chief of Staff at the New York City Office of Management and Budget. Prior to her work at the Mayor’s office, Debbie served as a senior staffer in the New York State Assembly, the New York City Council’s Health Committee and the New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene. She also serves on the Foundation Board of the CUNY School of Professional Studies. Debbie holds a B.A. from Washington University.

Jonathan Spear grew up in Queens, NY and has lived his entire life in New York except for a few years in Chicago and a few years in Stamford, CT. He and his wife Lisa Cowan have been living in Brooklyn since about 1998. They were founding members of Brooklyn Jews, and joined CBE in 2010 when their son started Yachad. They have celebrated both children’s b’nei mitzvah with the community. He is a regular at Saturday morning and holiday services. Jonathan has been involved on the Ritual Committee that he now leads, and on search committees. Jonathan’s career has been in education, as a teacher, school administrator, and as co-Founder of Generation Schools Network, supported the launch of new schools and coaching of teachers and principals in existing schools; he now works as a consultant. He has served on the board of schools and other non-profits. He received a BA from the University of Chicago and a Masters from the Bank Street College of Education.

Ethan lives in Park Slope with his wife and two young daughters. He moved to Brooklyn after meeting his wife in 2017 and they joined CBE together after taking a class with Rabbi Matt Green. Ethan and his family are regular attendees of Shir l’Shabbat and his daughter is a student at the Early Childhood Center. Professionally, Ethan is a Partner at EQT Partners, a private equity firm, where he is responsible for investments in the life sciences sector.