Who We Are

Our Staff

Adina Mermelstein Konikoff

Executive Director

Adina Mermelstein Konikoff brings almost two decades of leadership experience at Jewish communal organizations both domestically and internationally to the role of Executive Director. She comes to this work with a deep commitment to human rights and a lifelong history of working to promote and support Jewish values and community. Prior to joining YAFFED, Adina was a leader in the efforts to support the landmark trial against the white nationalists and neo-Nazis that terrorized Charlottesville in 2017, raising over four million dollars for the cause. In past roles she led a national rabbinic network supporting the rights of marginalized communities around the world and spearheaded engagement and outreach to young Jewish adults through volunteerism. She is a proud alum of the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education, the Columbia Business School Institute for Jewish Executive Leadership, and Boston University. She lives in the suburbs of New York with her college-sweetheart and three school aged children and enjoys being outdoors, traveling and reading.

David Golovner

Director of Advocacy and Government Affairs

David Golovner provides strategic support for YAFFED's advocacy initiatives and manages relationships with government agencies and stakeholders essential to advancing educational equity for yeshiva students. David has been working for political leaders and non-profit organizations for over twenty years with experience managing electoral and social issue campaigns on the local, state, and national level. His past employers include the White House, The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Planned Parenthood Federation, and the Office of the Bronx Borough President. He brings to YAFFED over 15 years of experience in New York education policy including as the Vice President of Policy and Advocacy at the New York City Charter School Center. He has a Masters degree in Business Administration from Metropolitan College of New York and a B.A. in Social Thought and Political Economy from the University of Massachusetts.

Chris Hazen

Legal Counsel

Chris Hazen provides legal advice and counsel on organizational activities and policies. He graduated from Seton Hall University School of Law with a J.D., and holds a B.A. in Government and Politics from Saint John's University. Previously Of Counsel to the Law Firm of Steifman, L.L.P., he worked on class action and administrative litigation. Chris has worked for New York City's Administration For Children Services (ACS) as a staff attorney, and briefly taught social studies in a well-regarded Yeshiva. His prior experience protecting neglected and abused New York children, coupled with his experience in a Yeshiva, made YAFFED an obvious next stop in his legal career. Chris' proudest accomplishments remain winning the heart of his wife, and fathering his two beautiful sons.

Izzy Canning

Development and Executive Assistant

As Development and Executive Assistant, Izzy Canning provides development and administrative support to assist the team in achieving their goals. Izzy brings a passion for the Jewish nonprofit sphere and is inspired by youth identity exploration.

Izzy received a Bachelors of Science in Human Development from Binghamton University. Prior to joining YAFFED, Izzy served with CityYear as a student success coach. Additionally they have held various leadership positions in Hillel at Binghamton, Young Judaea and Camp Young Judaea Sprout Lake. Izzy is a highly motivated and creative individual with a passion for social justice, program development, and community organizing. Izzy currently lives in Manhattan. Outside of work Izzy loves painting, doing yoga, playing pickleball and dodgeball.

Kalina Abrams

Community Engagement Coordinator

Kalina Abrams is YAFFED’s Community Engagement Coordinator via a fellowship through the Avodah Jewish Service Corps program.

Kalina will be working closely with YAFFED's network of supporters to help people get more involved in participating in YAFFED’s work.

She recently graduated from UMBC with a BA in Political Science. She lives in Brooklyn and enjoys reading, watching movies, and playing card games.

Meity (May) Hoffman

Community Organizer

Hi, my name is Meity Hoffman, but I usually go by my nickname May. I recently graduated from Brooklyn College with a dual degree in Psychology and Political Science, and I plan to pursue a career in the legal field. I grew up in the Hasidic communities of Brooklyn and Monsey, and I’m deeply committed to advocating for fair and equitable education for all students.

Sara Farkas

Educational Resource Coordinator

Sara is an Educational Resource Coordinator with extensive experience teaching and developing curricula within ultra-Orthodox communities. She earned a B.S. in History, summa cum laude, from Excelsior College through independent study, and has worked in both school and nonprofit settings, including curriculum development for the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation. She is pursuing her graduate degree at New York University’s M.A. program in Interdisciplinary Studies and brings deep cultural fluency to her work creating practical, accessible educational resources that expand educational access and career opportunity.

Shaindy Weichman

Parent Ambassador

Shaindy Weichman grew up in a Williamsburg, Brooklyn ultra-Orthodox community. By 19 years old, she was already a wife and mother. Later, Shaindy endured a four-year-long custody battle. As part of the case, Shaindy sought to be granted the right to enroll her son in a school that provided students with a basic secular education, unlike the ultra-Orthodox yeshiva he had been attending since the age of three, that did not. Despite ultimately losing the custody battle, and the right to change her son's school, today Shaindy is a strong advocate for her community's right, and access, to a basic secular education.

Our Board

Barbra Rothschild

Barbra Rothschild is YAFFED’s board chair. Barbara trained as a physician and is a lecturer in clinical ethics at Columbia University. She was an ethics researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the area of informed consent and genetic research as well as the researcher’s perception of intellectual property. She has been teaching medical ethics at the graduate level for 20 years. She also serves as an advisor to the Oak Foundation and serves on the board of Retro Report, a documentary news organization that uses the past to inform us about the present.

Anita Altman

Anita Altman is an activist and a life-long New Yorker. She is a graduate of CCNY and the New School for Social Research. A recent retiree, Ms. Altman had an almost 50-year career in New York City government and the nonprofit sector. For almost 3 decades she held a prominent position as a Jewish communal professional on the staff of UJA-Federation of New York.

There she played an instrumental role in organizing a Jewish response to the AIDS epidemic, helped put family violence in the Jewish community and addressing the needs and fostering inclusion for people with disabilities on the communal agenda, as well as championed programming to help enable seniors to age in their own communities. For 25 years she was responsible for the Rose Biller scholarship program, which has provided financial assistance to hundreds of Footsteps members. Ms. Altman was a recipient of the 2008 Woman of Valor award from the New York Board of Rabbis and is the founder of the ReelAbilities film festival.

Eric Huang

Eric is a lawyer and partner at Quinn Emanuel in New York, specializing in patent litigation. He also serves as Board Treasurer at the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI). From 2009 through 2022, he served as a trustee with the Blue School, an independent school in New York City. Born in New York and a product of NYC public schools, Eric has an engineering degree from the University of Michigan. And a law degree from George Washington University Law School.

Malkie Schwartz

Malkie Schwartz is an attorney who works at the Hunter College Foundation and is the Director of the Eva Kastan Grove Fellowship Program at Hunter College. In her role as Director, she works with policymakers, politicians, and advocates to engage students in projects that advance the public good. Malkie was raised Lubavitch in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. In 2000, Malkie chose to leave her community of origin, and three years later founded Footsteps, the first organization in North America to assist people who wish to leave the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community and live in mainstream society.

Malkie also served as Director of Community Engagement at the Institute of Southern Jewish life in Jackson, Mississippi from 2009-2015. Now, 19 years after leaving her community, Malkie continues to care about the issues that affect people who leave—as well as those who choose to stay—in insular religious communities of all faiths.

Rabbi David Gedzelman

Rabbi David Gedzelman is the President & CEO of The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life, which focuses on revitalizing Jewish identity through education and cultural initiatives. He has played a key role in developing Hebrew language public charter schools, which the Foundation has supported since 2007, and is a strong advocate for Hebrew fluency and literacy in North America. He played a lead role in founding both the World Zionist Organization’s Council on Hebrew Language and Culture and Brandeis University’s Consortium for the Teaching of Hebrew Language and Culture. He also helped launch Kayitz Kef, bringing Hebrew immersion programs to camps across North America. In addition, Rabbi Gedzelman has overseen numerous initiatives supporting Jewish early childhood education, post-Birthright programming, and OneTable, which encourages young adults to engage each other in Friday night Shabbat dinner experiences. He holds academic degrees from Hamilton College, Duke University, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, and has studied in Israel at Hebrew University and the Pardes Institute. Rabbi Gedzelman serves on multiple boards and lives in Harlem in New York City, with his wife Judith Turner and their three children, Nomi, Anina and Ziv.

Victor Kovner

Victor A. Kovner is concluding a distinguished legal career, with his last 27 years at Davis Wright Tremaine. Admitted to the New York Bar in 1962, Victor has been a steadfast advocate for a free press and for freedom of expression. Victor has also been actively involved in public affairs and philanthropy.

For more than 60 years Victor has been instrumental in strengthening First Amendment protections that are critical to all Americans. Beyond his legal practice, he has served as Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, the City`s chief legal officer, and served as member and later Chair of the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct. He has played a significant role in the State and City bar associations, having served as Chair of a number of committees, including the City Bar`s Committee on the Judiciary, and as Secretary of the City Bar Association. He has served for more than fifty years as a member of and later the Chair of the Fund for Modern Courts. He has been active in the struggle for reproductive freedom, having served as the Chair of the Board of Planned Parenthood of the City of New York and on other related entities.

His practice has been not limited to First Amendment work. For many years, he has served as one of two trustees for the Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg Foundation, which funds community-based wildlife preservation in many parts of the world.

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