Hello from New Executive Director of Jewish Family Service

by Steve Schauder

 

My name is Steve Schauder and I’m incredibly thrilled to be joining the Jewish Family Service of Harrisburg as its new Executive Director.

 

I’ve spent my 31 year career in nonprofits, with 26 years in Jewish communal service and 15 years as an Executive Director. I have my Master’s Degree in Social Work Administration and Community Organization from Yeshiva University and spent the first 8 years of my career working in JCCs in New York and New Jersey, where I oversaw youth, family, and camping programs. I lived in Israel for more than 2 years when I was chosen as one of 18 global participants in the Mandel Jerusalem Fellows, a prestigious fellowship in Jewish education and leadership, and later served 10 years as the Executive Director of the Commission for Jewish Education in West Palm Beach, Florida, where I currently reside. 

 

I’ve had the honor of leading a JFS in the past when I served as the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Durham-Chapel-Hill, and have also worked in agencies providing a full range of mental health, substance abuse treatment, children/youth, family, and senior services, with time spent as the Director of Development of an LGBTQ agency in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. 

 

My most important role models in life have been my parents; my mother is a Holocaust survivor and my father lived through wartime occupation in Shanghai and both of them instilled in me and my brother the Jewish values of taking care of those less fortunate and always being sensitive to the needs of others. I come to Harrisburg from Florida (Goodbye hurricanes, alligators, and sharks--Hello snow!) with an incredible desire to maintain the important adoption/foster care, mental health, and senior and family services currently being provided by JFS, while working with the board and staff to  lead this highly-respected organization into the future.

 

I fully believe that the Jewish values of tikkun olam and chesed can positively impact the world around us and look forward to being very involved in the Harrisburg Jewish and civic community.