President: Jeffrey Berkowitz
Jeffrey Berkowitz is President and founder of Aurora Realty Consultants Inc., a leading brokerage and consulting firm working with and representing many of the top retailers around the world. Started in 1989 with an office in Montreal, today, the company operates across Canada as well as branches in the United States and Europe. International projects involving retailers, developers and landlords have included such markets as the Middle East, Russia, Central America and Japan. In 2017, Mr. Berkowitz co-founded Halcyon Brands – an operating platform set to license and joint-venture with international retail concepts for North America - expanding bricks & mortar, e-commerce and wholesale development. In addition to his business ventures, Mr. Berkowitz is actively involved in his community and sits on numerous volunteer boards. His involvement has included camps for underprivileged children, workshops for intellectually and physically handicapped individuals, mentoring young entrepreneurs and fundraising for numerous institutions. He holds a joint honours history degree, Certificate in Management and Diploma in Real Estate, all from McGill University. He lives in Montreal with his wife and 3 children.
Vice-President: Linda Schachter, BA, BCL, LLB
Linda graduated in Civil Law and Common Law from McGill University in 1989. She began her career in Civil and Corporate litigation, and is currently the Managing Partner at Devine Schachter Polak, a boutique firm which specializes exclusively in Matrimonial and Estate Law. She has lectured at numerous conferences and universities and has co-authored publications and the book: “Droit De La Famille Jurisprudence en Tableaux 2009”. She is a member of the Quebec and Montreal Bar Associations and sits as a Governor of the Quebec Bar Foundation. She has also been active in community having sat on the Board of JPS-Bialik for many years as well as the former Jewish Family Services Agency. She is married with three sons.
Vice-President: Karen Sigman
Karen is a Pediatric Allergist. She received her medical degree from the University of Western Ontario and completed her Pediatric residency and Allergy subspecialty at McGill University. She is affiliated with the Montreal Children’s Hospital as well as Hospital Maisonneuve Rosemont. She also works at The Children’s Clinic. She specializes in the management of food allergies and is an Assistant Professor at McGill University. She is an Osler Fellow and mentors McGill medical students. She has been active in the Montreal Jewish Community for a number of years. She is a Past-President of Akiva School and Camp Massad. She is a past Board member of BJEC. She is a past chair of the Allocations and Community Relations Commmittee as well as the Governance committee of FCJA. She is married and the proud mother of four boys.
Treasurer: Igor Bernadski, CPA, CA
Igor is a CPA, CA and a McGill Graduate. Igor currently serves as the CFO of Montreal Mini-Storage, a private real-estate and self-storage Company. Prior to that he worked as VP Finance at Thinking Capital for 5 years and was a consultant in the Richter US Consulting group between 2011-2015. Igor started his career at Ernst & Young. Igor immigrated into Canada from Israel and has a strong passion towards the local community needs and Israel. He also serves on the board of Baron De Hirsch foundation and Jewish National Fund. He is married and a proud father of 3 kids.
Past President: Joel Shalit, B.Comm, LLB, BCL, MBA
Joel is Managing Director and Partner of Seville Capital, a real estate private investment fund based in Montreal. Prior to founding Seville Capital, Joel was an attorney at a large international law firm based in New York City, and was President of Duo Display, a tradeshow display business based in Montreal. Joel is a past member of the Board of Directors of Federation CJA. He is a Past President of the Sylvan Adams YM-YWHA Montreal Jewish Community Centres, and has served as a member of the Y Country Camp Management Committee, as well as on various subcommittees of the Y. Joel is a graduate of McGill University. He is married and the proud father of two beautiful girls.
Bonnie Lester
Bonnie Lester is a graduate of McGill University and worked at Richter for 5 years before joining her family business, Lesters Foods. In 2005, her and her husband purchased the company from her father and uncle, and she currently holds the title of CFO. Bonnie is the proud mother of 2 daughters and has actively participated in many community events over the years. Bonnie says she is honored to be involved in an organization like Ometz that supports youth and families in need and helps individuals reach their full potential.
Brenda Gewurz
Brenda Urman Gewurz is a distinguished leader in both real estate and Jewish communal life. Professionally, she has served as Vice-President of Marketing and Sales for Proment Corporation for the past 30 years.
She has been a leader in the Jewish community since the early 1980s. She was Hebrew Academy’s first female President; served as President of the Bronfman Jewish Education Centre ; has been on the Board of Directors of Federation CJA; served as Vice President of Jewish Federations of Canada – UIA; and is the immediate Past Chair of CIJA Quebec, among other roles.
She was awarded the distinguished leadership award at Federation CJA, the Manny Batshaw prize for community leadership, and The Samuel Bronfman Medal. Brenda is also a member of the Board of Ensembles Quebec, and a member of the Campaign cabinet of the Montreal General Hospital.
She is married to Samuel, and they enjoy their three children and eleven grandchildren.
David Martz
David had an Executive business career with Steinberg Inc. from 1971-1983 as VP Strategic Planning and the Aldo Group from 1983-2003 as VP Development and Admin. From 2003-2014 he worked as an independent management consultant.
He is now an active investor, primarily in real estate, and serves on several corporate boards. As a volunteer, from 2002-2015 David served as a director of Procur, a province wide prostate cancer foundation. From 2002-2017, he assumed many leadership roles with Federation CJA, serving as Chair of Community Planning and Allocations, as Treasurer, and as a long time board member.
Currently, in addition to his Ometz responsibilities, he serves on the boards of the Jewish Community Foundation, Hope and Cope (a psycho-social support network for cancer patients and their families at the JGH) and on the finance committee at Temple Emanuel Beth Shalom Synagogue.
David has been married to Sandy (one of our tireless volunteers and champion fundraisers) for 48 years, has 3 adult sons. 3 grandsons and 2 granddaughters.
Geneviève Busbib
Gilbert Tordjman
Gilbert Tordjman is Vice President, Administration and Finance of the Montreal Clinical Research Institute. A certified general accountant, Gilbert previously held the role of Executive Director of Advancement Services at Concordia University’s Advancement and Alumni Relations. Prior to this position, he was Vice President, Administrative Affairs at the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé. In addition, he served as Director, Finance and Administration at the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation and also Medical Research Financial Management Officer at the Lady Davis Institute of the Jewish General Hospital. He also worked as an accountant at Friedman & Friedman.
Committed volunteer, he is the immediate past Chair of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District I and a former member of the Federation CJA Board of Directors.
Janice Heft
Janice Heft has recently retired from her position as Manager of Volunteer Services at Ometz. Her experience at Ometz, in which she worked closely with all departments, makes her uniquely qualified to serve on the Board of Directors. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of Kehilla Montreal, and has previously been involved with several other community organizations including Just for Kids Foundation, Auberge Shalom and MADA. She began her career as a lawyer practicing real estate and family law.
Micol Haimson
Micol Haimson is a graduate of McGill University and is currently Senior Vice President and Branch Manager of Raymond James Trust. Prior to that she had a 20-year career of senior executive roles in wealth management at a major Canadian bank. Micol is an active volunteer serving or having served as: Board member and President, Investment Committee, of the McGill University Health Centre Foundation; Vice-Chairman, The Trafalgar Ross Foundation; past Director of Membership of the Treasury Management Association of Canada; and past Committee Member, MS Society of Quebec.
Dominique McCaughey – Chief Executive Officer
A recognized leader in philanthropy, community development, and strategic engagement, Dominique McCaughey is the Chief Executive Officer of Ometz.
She became CEO in April 2020, after having served as Chief Strategy and Development Officer for Ometz since July 2015.
Dominique is known as a trusted, engaging, and nimble change leader. Shortly after taking over as CEO, she successfully steered the agency through the pandemic and the in-take of Jewish Ukrainian refugees. She leads on strategic planning, organizational renewal and fundraising to ensure that our team of dedicated professionals continues to deliver the best quality programming and services to meet the diverse needs of our clients.
Dominique has a long history as a professional and lay leader in the Jewish community. Her service and commitment to the community began with her work as a community organizer at Project Genesis. She then joined Jewish Family Services, focusing on community economic development initiatives in the Montreal Jewish community. Dominique subsequently served on the Boards of Project Genesis, Jewish Family Services and Ometz.
Dominique then focused on her legal career, first with Borden Ladner Gervais and later at Robinson Sheppard Shapiro. She joined Concordia University, where she undertook bold philanthropic initiatives in University Advancement and Alumni Relations as Associate Vice-President. During that time, she also served on the Board of the Foundation of Greater Montreal, and chaired the Allocations Committee.
As Ometz’s Chief Strategy and Development Officer, Dominique built brand recognition and reputation, resulting in Ometz being named one of Canada’s top charities. She increased fundraising capacity and culture, securing transformational gifts to support programs for school-age children, adults living with mental health challenges, and the groundbreaking Ometz Centre for Young Adults, L’Annexe. Dominique has a BA and MA from Concordia University and a BCL and LLB from McGill University. She currently serves on the Advisory Board of the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute of McGill University.
Susan Karpman – Chief Program Officer
Susan Karpman has been a leader in Jewish communal service throughout her career. Susan began at Project Genesis, eventually becoming its Senior Executive. She worked at Allied Jewish Community Services (now Federation CJA) for many years as a Planning Associate. For over twenty years, she has been a senior manager at Jewish Family Services (now Ometz) recently moving into the newly created position of Chief Program Officer. Susan is a founding Board Member of Kehilla Montreal, an organization whose mission is to identify and create affordable housing initiatives responsive to the needs of the Montreal Jewish community. She has a keen interest and involvement in programs, services and initiatives supporting and helping vulnerable and marginal groups and an advocate for social justice, assuring the protection of access to liberties, rights, and opportunities. In 2009, Susan was the recipient of the Federation Professional Excellence Award for exemplary professional performance and service to the Jewish community. She has a Master of Social Work from McGill University.
Allan Ptack – Chief Operating Officer
Allan has over 30 years of experience in both the public and private health sectors. His most recent position was Senior Director of the Employee and Family Assistance Program at Homewood Health, a national company that provides mental health and addiction services. Prior to this, Allan was Administrative Head of Allied Health Services at the Montreal Children’s Hospital-McGill University Health Centre, and preceding that worked at Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital as Director of the Department of Social Work, Co-Director of the Psychosocial Oncology Program.
He is a graduate of McGill University, where he earned his B.A., B.S.W., and M.S.W. degrees. In 2015, he completed a Master’s in Management degree (M.Mgmt) at McGill’s Desautels Faculty of Management, and currently teaches in the International Health Leadership program. Allan is also a former member of the Faculty at McGill’s School of Social Work where, from 2006-2016 he taught “Social Work in the Health Field” and served as an “Osler Fellow” in McGill’s Faculty of Medicine. In addition, Allan completed post graduate training at the Argyle Institute of Human Relations, where he obtained certification as a Psychotherapist. He has received extensive training in trauma counseling and crisis intervention and has maintained a private practice as a psychotherapist.
In this newly created role, Allan will be part of the executive management team responsible for implementing operational strategies to help us attain our goals. Allan will manage and build upon current operational infrastructure and systems including finance, risk management, Information Technology (IT), Human Resources (HR), impact measurement, and physical infrastructure. He will oversee the managers and staff from these various departments.