EFE Office Updates

Board Leadership Transition Marks New Year

Newly Elected Chairperson Michael A. Parks with EFE President and CEO Zena Naiditch at the agency's annual holiday party held at La Strada restaurant

Newly elected officers to EFE's Board of Directors are Michael A. Parks, Chairperson; Doug Kenshol, Vice Chairperson; Mary C. Kupjack, Treasurer; and Kendra S. Saemann, Secretary. Also serving as directors are Kevin G. Burke and Stuart B. Frankel. The Hon. Virginia Fiester Frederick and The Hon. Mary Jeanne "Dolly" Hallstrom are Lifetime Directors.

Departing the Board and executive committee after serving with great distinction since 1994 are Edward J. Doherty, past Chairperson, and Donald J. Dalton, past Secretary, and immediate past Chairperson, Pamela A. Hansen, who joined the Board in 1995.

Reflecting on her leadership role, Hansen said how much she appreciated the Board's active commitment and involvement on their respective committees, which were organized under her tenure.

Outgoing EFE Board Members Edward J. Doherty (left) and Donald J. Dalton

"I will greatly miss working with these talented individuals, as well as with Zena and EFE's great staff," said Hansen. "My experience on the Board for the past seven years has provided me with a most rewarding experience in our collaboration to advocate for the rights of individuals with disabilities."

Parks, who is Senior Counsel for all intellectual property at Tribune Co., expressed his enthusiasm for taking over EFE's reins during this time of tremendous growth and expansion. "My major challenges," he said, "are to expand Board membership with a particular focus on recruiting entrepreneurial talent and to achieve a more interactive process between the Board and agency so we can better understand the issues facing EFE in its daily endeavors and the issues facing the disability community generally."

Pamela A. Hansen, Outgoing Chairperson

Commenting on the leadership transition, President and CEO Zena Naiditch said, "I will miss the close working relationship I had with Pam and Ed. They shared a deep commitment to our mission, and both were instrumental in moving our Board of Directors forward, particularly in the areas of fundraising, finance and connecting the organization to business leaders who volunteered their expertise.

"I look forward to partnering with Michael and our current Board as we look to the future and focus on strategic planning, board recruitment and development, and generating revenue." =

New PABSS Manager Named

Alan M. Goldstein succeeds John Coburn as Manager of EFE's Protection and Advocacy for Beneficiaries of Social Security (PABSS) Project. He will be working closely with PABSS advocate Cheryl Martin and EFE's Training Institute on Disability Rights.

Funded by the Social Security Administration pursuant to the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act, staff provide advice, advocacy and legal representation for Social Security beneficiaries on their rights to secure, regain or retain employment. Training seminars on employment rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Ticket to Work are also offered for people with disabilities, their families, employers, and service providers and agencies.

Alan M. Goldstein

"Alan is an enormous asset to our staff because of his impressive credentials in all three areas that are critical to the Project - expertise in Social Security, ADA litigation and public training presentations," says Barry Taylor, EFE Legal Advocacy Director. "Additionally, he has a range of disability-related activities, both professional and volunteer, that will add an exceptional dimension to his work."

From 1989 until joining Equip for Equality in February 2003, Goldstein maintained his own law practice, specializing in advocacy and training in employment law, ADA litigation in federal court, Social Security law, under which he represented many people in administrative hearings, and general litigation.

Before starting his own firm, Goldstein worked for small and medium-sized law firms, where he litigated cases involving workers' compensation, personal injury, immigration law, criminal law and corporate law. More recently, he served as an arbitrator in the Cook County Mandatory Arbitration Program.

A graduate of the DePaul University College of Law and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he received his B.A. in economics, he also has broad training experience with ADA and sports-related issues for such diverse audiences as the Chicago Bar Association, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC), United Cerebral Palsy (UCP), Abilities Expo and the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

His volunteer endeavors are voluminous. He first became involved in disability issues at The Center for Disability and Elder Law and at RIC with the Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Sports Program, which named him 1994 Coach of the Year and 1993 Volunteer of the Year. He coached the 1996 U.S. Paralympic Powerlifting Team and was a powerlifting coach for Wheelchair Sports U.S.A.

He has also worked with the Illinois Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and the Council for Disability Rights, and served on the board of directors of the Jewish Vocational Service and the USCP Athletic Association, and on RIC's Associate Board.

To explain his intense interest in the rights of people with disabilities, Goldstein tells a powerful story about how he gained valuable insight into the physical and attitudinal barriers people with disabilities face every day.

"It was 1993, not long after the ADA was passed, and I decided to see for myself how inaccessible the world really was - for a week. Coincidentally, I developed a muscle problem on the bottom of my foot and couldn't walk on it. I got a state-of-the-art wheelchair from RIC and ended up using it for almost two months in the dead of winter. I didn't have a car and had to use public transportation. It was a real eye-opener!"

About his new position at EFE, Goldstein commented: "I feel that my entire legal career has been leading up to this opportunity. The people at EFE are wonderful, and this position offers me the chance to contribute to the community in a meaningful way. There's a Jewish teaching that says assisting others to help themselves is the highest duty an individual can fulfill. My work with EFE will allow me to do just that."

Goldstein and his family live in Lincolnwood, Ill., an ethnically diverse community just north of Chicago, where 22 different languages are spoken in the homes of the grade school students. His wife, Laura, is a graphic artist/designer and flutist. He calls daughter Julia, age 12, the "drama queen" and sings the praises of 8-year-old Ben's prodigious drawing ability.

He says, "We have a home with an artistic soul, which is a nice change of pace from life in the courtroom." =

EFE Welcomes New Board Member

Stuart Frankel

Often Board members are drawn to the work of Equip for Equality because of some intimate connection with people with disabilities. Stuart B. Frankel's interest stems from a different place. In October 2001, he attended EFE's benefit, which honored McDonald's Corp. for its exemplary work in expanding employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

"I was impressed by the breadth of services that EFE offers and the great commitment to the organization made by many members of the business and legal communities of Illinois," says Frankel. "I am hopeful that by serving on the Board, my own business experience will be a valuable resource for furthering EFE's mission. I have no doubt that the experience will be a rewarding one."

New Board Member Stuart B. Frankel

When Frankel was in law school and during his first year of legal practice, he represented indigent individuals who were seeking, but who were previously denied, Social Security disability benefits. This was his first exposure to the challenges and difficulties facing people who were in some way disadvantaged and needed help in order to exercise their rights.

"I realized that I had taken so much for granted and that, even with a small effort, I had the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of people who otherwise might be without an advocate in their corner," he says.

Currently, Frankel draws from his legal and accounting background as the COO and CFO of Performics, a four-year-old online marketing services company with 80 employees that creates and implements response-oriented marketing programs to acquire and develop customers for its clients.

Prior to joining Performics in August 2000, Frankel gained experience with both traditional and emerging growth companies as the CFO of a venture-backed Internet and technology company, as a corporate attorney at a large Midwestern law firm and as a CPA at an international accounting and consulting firm. He attended law school at Vanderbilt University and earned his bachelor of science degree in accounting from Miami University in Ohio.

"Stuart's acceptance of a leadership role in our organization at this point in its development is very timely," says President and CEO Zena Naiditch. "He has considerable expertise addressing rapidly growing companies, experience that will be invaluable to EFE as we wrestle with the consequences of our own expansion."

Frankel, who grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and his wife, Rita, reside in the Lakeview area of Chicago. =

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