Board of Directors
The Board of Directors provides overall leadership and coordination of all Friends of High School Park activities.
Directors serve one- or two-year terms. All Directors, must be members of the Friends of High School Park. Nominations are accepted, October through December and elections are held in January. Please contact us to volunteer or submit a nomination.
Officers | |
|---|---|
| President • | Martha Mowry |
| Vice President • | Caroline Stritzinger |
| Treasurer • | Susan Weinberg |
Directors | |
|---|---|
| Member • | Sue Aistrop |
| Member • | Cliff Bassman |
| Member • | David L. Cohen |
| Member • | Robin Eisman |
| Member • | Jo Fagan |
| Member • | Gail Korostoff |
| Member • | Robin Minkoff |
| Member • | Margie Patlak |
| Member • | Howard Soloman |
Advisory Board | |
|---|---|
| Member • | Diane Ehrich |
| Member • | Mark Kaplan |
| Member • | Rosemary Porter |
| Member • | Amy Steffen |
Howard Soloman, Susan Weinberg, Cliff Bassman, Jo Fagan, David Cohen,
Gail Korostoff, Martha Mowry, Sue Aistrop, Caroline Stritzinger,
Robin Eisman, Robin Minkoff, Margie Patlak
Board Biographies |
|---|
Sue Aistrop
Sue Aistrop is currently the Hunger Relief Coordinator for RSVP at the Klein JCC. She is expanding and developing For A Friend programs: Cook for a Friend, Grow for a Friend and Fix for a Friend, serving the homebound and food insecure senior population. She has 16 years experience working with non-profit organizations, including MANNA, Jewish Community Centers, and AIDS Fund. For these organizations, she has done marketing, event-planning, volunteer recruitment, and financial management. Sue looks forward to tapping those skills as an active planner and participant in Arts in the Park, and as a participant on the Marketing Committee of FHSP. She became a board member of FHSP in 2010.
A number of roads led Sue to FHSP. She has enjoyed walking her dog in the park, and has both attended and volunteered at Arts in the Park. Sue also had a rewarding friendship with Marjorie Bayersdorfer, a former FHSP board member, who was a big influence in her interest in native plants, and a contributor of those plants to her own garden.
Cliff Bassman
Cliff Bassman has been on the FHSP board since 2004. He is a sales and marketing consultant for a diverse clientele that spans technology, financial services and leadership development. Cliff serves as a liaison with FHSP's corporate sponsors, and works on the development committee. His interest is in having the park be a living example of community collaboration and enjoyment.
David Cohen
David Cohen has over 20 years of experience in urban planning, with a focus on public policy, analysis, and economic development. He currently serves as the Manager of Program Analysis and Development for Ben Franklin Technology Partners – Southeastern Pennsylvania, an organization that focuses on technology-based economic development. David has a B.S. degree in political communications from Emerson College, a master’s of urban and regional planning degree from the University of Illinois, and an executive master’s of business administration degree from Saint Joseph’s University. Mr. Cohen is certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), and is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). David is active in economic development efforts in Cheltenham Township, and recognizes the environmental and economic benefits High School Park brings to the community. He enjoys works on fundraising and government relations for FHSP. David became a board member in 2006.
Robin Eisman
Robin Eisman is a native Philadelphian who's lived in the Tookany and Pennypack watersheds most of her life and has a deep love of nature. Her graduate training was in genetics research at the University of Pennsylvania, and she now works part-time as a medical writer for a pharmaceutical company. Robin has done field work, as both a volunteer and paid consultant, on improving wetland habitat for an endangered turtle species, and developing a habitat management plan for a small section of French Creek State Park. She also did educational outreach for the North American Pollinator Protection Council. Other environmental projects Robin has worked on include coordinating the voluntary corner recycling program in her former West Philly neighborhood (before mandatory curbside recycling). She served on the Boards of Directors of that neighborhood and on the Clean Air Council. Currently, she takes care of a "vest-pocket park" near her home in Abington Township, where she has been planting primarily native species.
Robin has walked and volunteered at High School Park for a number of years, and has been very impressed with the dedication of FHSP's organizers/volunteers and the results the organization has produced. Robin joined the FHSP board in 2010 and hopes to help FHSP with its efforts to maintain and restore the park, which serves as a wonderful example of both volunteerism and the benefits of suburban habitat restoration.
Jo Fagan
Jo Fagan began her involvement with High School Park by participating in the first volunteer days there 15 years ago. Her initial interest was to bring large groups from the community to the park so they became invested in restoring the area. Jo also has enjoyed leading work groups and sharing with them her passion for plants and the park. She has served on the board since 2006, during which time she has co-chaired the PRAM (Park and Restoration Management) committee.
Gail Korostoff
Gail Korostoff is a middle school science teacher at nearby Perelman Jewish Day School. She first connected to High School Park when she brought her students there to do community service. She joined the board of FHSP in 2007 to expand her involvement. Together with Jo Fagan, she now leads the Park Restoration and Management (PRAM) committee, and organizes the plant sale at Arts in the Park.
Martha Mowry
Martha Mowry has been an Elkins Park resident of many years and often walks her dog in High School Park. Her career in nursing ended about 10 years ago and was followed by acquiring a master’s degree in organizational dynamics, which she is putting to good use as the current President of Friends of High School Park. Martha is really intrigued by organizations and what makes them thrive, and has helped restructure the organization of FHSP Board of Directors. She is inspired to be part of an organization that is enthusiastically dedicated to restoring the park so that all can enjoy it. She joined FHSP Board of Directors in 2008. Martha also chairs one of the two Youth Aid Panels in Jenkintown/Rockledge.
Robin Minkoff
Robin Minkoff has more than 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector working in fundraising and management roles. She currently serves as Associate Director of Moving Traditions (www.movingtraditions.org), a national Jewish organization that seeks to make Judaism more resonant in contemporary life. Robin previously worked for the Development Corporation for Israel, Anti-Defamation League, Albert Einstein Medical Center, and the Jewish Publication Society. She has a B.A. in sociology, an M.S.W., and an M.A. in Jewish History.
In addition to appreciating and enjoying the physical beauty of High School Park, Robin and her family have a strong interest in its future, as their backyard adjoins its property. She is interested in the vitality of FHSP, and looks forward to bringing her finance, administration, development and human resources skills to enhance its organizational strength. Robin joined the Board in 2010.
Margie Patlak
Margie Patlak has a B.S. in Botany and an M.S. in Environmental Studies, both of which strengthened her appreciation of native ecosystems. She is a freelance science writer who mainly writes about biomedical research and health. Margie became a FHSP board member in 2004, and has served as editor of the newsletter, website and other communications endeavors. She is happy to be doing her small part in restoring and maintaining the natural oasis that is in the heart of her neighborhood.
Howard Soloman
Howard Soloman is an attorney who practices in the areas of taxation, estate planning, eldercare, long term care planning, estate administration, and small business planning. He has served as a Board member for various charitable organizations, including Philabundance, Friends of Briar Bush Nature Center, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and Volunteers for the Indigent Program. Howard is currently a member of the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors of Beth Sholom Congregation and joined FHSP Board in 2010.
Howard lives in Wyncote and noted that High School Park always had been on his radar as a neighborhood treasure, but his desire to become more involved with the park was heightened recently when a couple of the Scouts in his Boy Scout Troop decided to do projects for the Park. He hopes to forge a continuing relationship between the park and the troop.
Caroline Stritzinger
Caroline Stritzinger is Vice President and Chair of the Marketing Committee, and has been on the Board since 2005. She has nine years of work and volunteer non-profit event planning experience, and is currently the Public Programs Coordinator at Abington Art Center. Prior to her involvement in the non-profit sector, Caroline had a successful fourteen-year-career in sales and management working in manufacturing, training & development and advertising.
Caroline began her involvement with FHSP first as the Chair of the artist jury committee for Arts in the Park, and then served as Chair of Arts in the Park for three years. She loves the collaborative and entrepreneurial nature of the Board, and is committed to supporting its growth and stability as an organization. She also hopes to increase awareness of FHSP and boost neighborhood participation in it. Caroline has lived in Melrose Park for 13 years.
Susan Weinberg
Susan Weinberg is the treasurer of FHSP. She is a CPA who has done accounting for a public accounting firm, various financial institutions, and public corporations. Susan currently works as an accountant for a non-profit synagogue. Susan learned about FHSP by walking her dogs in the park every day, where she couldn't help but notice and enjoy the natural beauty of the park. For her, the park is a natural oasis right in her own back yard. She enjoys the accounting component of her position as treasurer of FHSP, but claims that the best part is working with the other board members, who are so enthusiastic, talented and devoted to the future plans of the organization.
