Leadership

President & CEO, Leichtag Foundation

Charlene Seidle

Charlene serves as Board Chair for Impact Cubed. She is also the Leichtag Foundation’s President & CEO. She plays a key leadership role in the development and implementation of Impact Cubed’s strategic framework. This includes grantmaking; designing innovative and creative programs such as funder partnerships and consortia, Jerusalem Philanthropy Initiatives, the Murray Galinson-San Diego Israel Initiative, the Israel Emergency Grassroots Response Initiative and others; and providing overall management and strategy development.

Charlene won the 2013 JJ Greenberg Memorial Award, an international prize given to one outstanding philanthropic professional under the age of 40 each year.

Charlene is a frequent speaker, presenter and writer about topics pertaining to philanthropy, Jewish community trends and social change. She served on the board of the Jewish Funders Network and San Diego Grantmakers and has served on many committees and councils. Charlene spent 18 years working for the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego in increasingly responsible positions including serving as President and CEO of the organization.

Charlene also serves on the Boards of Jerusalem Philanthropic Initiatives and Hebrew Free Loan of San Diego. She is on the Advisory Board of the Safety Respect Equity Network.

Vice President, Philanthropy, Leichtag Foundation

Sharyn Goodson has over 25 years of experience in philanthropy, program design and delivery, organizational development, and nonprofit fundraising. She is passionate about strengthening the ability of philanthropists and mission-driven organizations to achieve results in addressing society’s challenges and opportunities. For Impact Cubed, Sharyn leads San Diego Gives; leads funder partnerships; and trains and counsels nonprofits on revenue generation, board and organizational development, as well as program design and evaluation. Sharyn holds the Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) credential. She also serves as Leichtag Foundation’s Vice President of Philanthropy.

In April 2010, Sharyn joined the Leichtag Foundation as its first Program Officer. Beginning in 2012, she also began managing the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego’s philanthropy programs and served as the lead contact for major family funds and foundations as well as the Jewish Women’s Foundation. Her most recent role at the Jewish Community Foundation was as its Vice President of Philanthropy.

Sharyn was Director of Grants of Jewish Family Service of San Diego from 2008 to 2010 and with the Aspen Community Foundation in Aspen, CO, from 2005 to 2008, first as Program Officer and then Program Director. From 1994 – 2005, she worked for Jewish Family & Children’s Service in Pittsburgh, PA as a Career Counselor/Program Director.

Sharyn earned a BA in English from Mills College with honors and an MA in Career Development from John F. Kennedy University.

Sharyn currently serves on the Boards of Jerusalem Philanthropic Initiatives and Association of Fundraising Professionals, San Diego Chapter. She is on the Steering Committee for the Alliance for Regional Solutions.

Jessica Kort develops and manages communications and business strategies as well as directs special initiatives for Impact Cubed. As Leichtag Foundation’s Director of Communications and Strategy, Jessica manages all of the Foundation’s communications and research projects, and develops and implements organizational and inter-program strategy and evaluation. Jessica is highly skilled in the human-centered design research method and has extensive experience in developing and directing research projects of all kinds.

She previously served as Managing Director of Foothold Foundation, Communications Officer at the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego and Program Coordinator at Temple Emanu-El of San Diego.

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Heather Wolfson is the Founder and CEO of Maven Coaching and Consulting. She is a professional consultant and Board Certified Coach (BCC), specializing in helping people achieve organizational resilience and overcome roadblocks to their success. Heather’s experience in leading teams and developing strategies for organizations has given her the unique insight to propel people forward in their personal and professional lives. She is also a skilled and engaging facilitator who brings sessions to life for participants. Heather has over 15 years of experience working with organizations. She has served in many senior level positions including most recently as the COO of an international nonprofit organization that she helped establish.

David Cygielman is the founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Moishe House. He has been a non-profit innovator since high school when he started Feed the Need, a nationally recognized homeless feeding organization. While attending the University of California at Santa Barbara, David served as the Hillel Student President and later the Executive Director of the Forest Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to helping college and high school students develop leadership qualities while following their passions. In 2006, he helped establish Moishe House and became the organization’s first CEO. Through his work in the Jewish community, David has garnered many honors including the Avi Chai Fellowship, the JCSA Young Leadership Award, and the Bernard Reisman Award for Professional Excellence. In 2013, David was the recipient of UCSB Hillel’s inaugural Alumni Achievement Award.

Jeffrey Ressler is a retired attorney.  An active philanthropist long involved in San Diego’s nonprofit community, Jeffrey served as Board Chair of the La Jolla Playhouse and on the board of the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego.  He currently serves as board chair for the Jewish Family Service of San Diego Foundation and on the boards of the Tectonic Theatre Project in New York City and the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego.