Meet the Staff

William Samers Vice President 212.836.1755 samersw@ujafedny.org

William D. Samers is vice president of planned giving and endowments at UJA-Federation of New York, the largest local nonprofit in the country, where he leads an 18-person gift-planning department. Before UJA-Federation he worked for the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science (ACWIS), most recently as the vice president of gift planning and compliance. He is a past president of the Philanthropic Planning Group of Greater New York and served on the executive committee of the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning as secretary and chair of the investment committee. Bill has presented at the AFP International Conference; the National Conference on Planned Giving; the Planned Giving Councils of New York, New England, Connecticut, Philadelphia, Palm Beach, Houston, and San Francisco as well as to the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants. He has been published in The Journal of Gift Planning and the Conference Proceedings for the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning National Conference. Bill has been quoted in many publications including The New York Times, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, and The NonProfit Times. Bill graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and received his J.D. from Boston University Law School.

Stanley Baumblatt Director 212.836.1305 baumblatts@ujafedny.org

Prior to joining UJA-Federation, Stan, a native Manhattanite, was a partner at the law firm of Kutak Rock for 20 years, CFO and counsel for the businesses and foundations of Leonard Bernstein, and manager of philanthropic programs and director of foundation services at Merrill Lynch.

He has a long and consistent record of community service and development work as both a board member and volunteer. Stan has served on the board of governors of the American Craft Museum (now, Museum of Arts and Design); board of directors of the Funders Concerned About AIDS; board of directors of In The Life; national cabinet of UJA-Federation; chair of contributions advisory group; broadcaster of In Touch Networks (Jewish Guild for the Blind); planned giving committee of the Brooklyn Academy of Music; and as treasurer of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons.

Stan is a graduate of Horace Mann School, Brown University, and University of Chicago Law School.

Shira Hudson Associate Director 212.836.1232 hudsons@ujafedny.org

Shira enjoys working with donors to ensure that the mission of UJA-Federation, which they care deeply about during their lifetimes, will endure. Prior to joining UJA-Federation, Shira had the opportunity to direct the annual campaign at a Jewish day school in Atlanta, where she attended as a student. Shira also worked for two fundraising consulting firms, where she assisted in providing fundraising counsel through a variety of services to social service organizations, independent schools, colleges and universities, and museums and religious organizations.

Shira received a B.A. in Middle Eastern and Asian languages and cultures from Columbia University and a B.A. in Jewish history from the Jewish Theological Seminary. Shira lives on the Upper West Side with her husband David and Australian shepherd Moby.

Meredith is primarily responsible for handling the administration of estates. Meredith works with both donors and professional advisors in connection with their estate planning. In addition, she supervises the UJA-Federation Community Trust for Disabled Adults, a pooled, supplemental-needs trust.

Prior to working at UJA-Federation, Meredith had been employed by The Legal Aid Society, Juvenile Rights Division. During her tenure there she worked on child abuse, custody, and delinquency cases in family court.

Meredith is a graduate of Northwestern University with a bachelor's degree in education. She received her J.D. degree from New York Law School and her M.S.W. degree from New York University.

Minal Jain Senior Accountant 212.836.1417 jainm@ujafedny.org

Minal is responsible for all accounting functions for the planned giving and endowment department. Minal has many years of experience in both public and private sectors.

Minal is a graduate of Seton Hall University with a bachelor of business administration in accountancy.

Inna Galperin Administration Assistant 212.836.1204 galperini@ujafedny.org

Inna Galperin was born in Kiev, Ukraine. When she was 13, her family moved to the United States to escape anti-Semitism. Inna graduated FIT and worked as a fashion designer for many years but decided to leave the garment industry in 1999 to do more meaningful work. She then joined UJA-Federation of New York’s PG&E department as an administrative assistant.

UJA Day School Team

Chavie N. Kahn Director, Day School Initiatives Day School Challenge Fund 212.836.1259 kahnc@ujafedny.org

Chavie N. Kahn is manager of strategic partnerships for UJA-Federation of New York's Day School Challenge Fund. This signature initiative of UJA-Federation is the centerpiece of a communal effort to help New York-area day schools develop, manage, and increase their endowment funds. Her area of focus includes serving as the strategic partner to day schools in their endowment development efforts as well as co-managing and implementing the strategic vision of the Day School Challenge Fund.

Chavie is a former litigator at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson and was in-house litigator at Prudential Securities. She was a day school leader for more than a decade and most recently served as first vice president of Manhattan Day School and as a member of the school's executive committee. Chavie also served as co-chair of UJA-Federation's Manhattan Tov B'Yachad initiative.

Chavie received her B.A. with honors from Washington University in St. Louis and her J.D. cum laude from Cardozo Law School. Chavie lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with her husband, Heshy Kofman, and their three teenagers, Simon, Sarina, and Julian.