Meet Our Staff
Management Team - Program Directors
- Becky Abrams, MSW , Director, Squirrel Hill Food Pantry
- Leslie Aizenman, Director, Refugee Services
- Jordan Golin, Psy. D, Director of Clinical & Elder Care Services
- Nicole Iole MS.Ed. , Director of Guardianship Service
- Julie Marx, Director, Career Development Center
- JoAnn White, Director, Family Hope Connection
Becky Abrams, MSW
Director, Squirrel Hill Food Pantry
Becky Abrams, MSW, joined the staff as the director of the Squirrel Hill Food Pantry. As director, she is responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations, forming community partnerships, conducting outreach and special programs and soliciting funding and food donations. Becky also administers the SOS Pittsburgh program at JF&CS.
Prior to joining JF&CS, Becky was the manager of corporate support for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and former grant writer for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. In addition, she has experience working in program administration, development and volunteer management in non-profit organizations. Becky holds a master's in social work in administration, social policy & planning from the University of Pittsburgh, School of Social Work and a bachelor's in communication and psychology from Chatham University.
Leslie Aizenman
Director, Refugee Services
As Director of the Refugee Program, Leslie Aizenman coordinates and supervises the activities of the resettlement program, including case management and vocational and legal immigration services for refugee clients. She also develops, writes and oversees refugee-related foundation and government contracts as well as represents the program within JF&CS and in the external community. Prior to assuming this position, Leslie served for five years as JF&CS's grant writer and project developer. In that capacity, she worked agency-wide on grant applications, business plans, research and development for new and continuing programs.
Leslie's professional background is in writing. Prior to joining JF&CS, she held numerous positions in the publishing and writing field including managing editor for a nonprofit literary journal, reporter/research for Inc. Magazine and copy editor for Dow Jones News Services.
Leslie holds a bachelor's degree from Boston University and is pursuing a master's degree in Public Policy and Management (MPPM) from the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. She is conversant in Spanish and assists with translation at JF&CS whenever needed.
Jordan Golin, Psy. D
Director of Clinical & Elder Care Services
In his role as director of Clinical Services, Dr. Golin brings with him years of psychological expertise conducting individual, family and group therapy; supervising therapy staff; and conducting psychological testing. Dr. Golin has advanced the programming and offerings of clinical services provided through Squirrel Hill Psychological Services and its parent agency, Jewish Family & Children's Service. These include counseling and consultation, psychological testing, caregiver and care coordination services, special needs services and critical needs assistance.
As director also of Elder Care services, Dr. Golin has taken on a leadership role in administering AgeWell Pittsburgh, a collaborative program with Jewish Family & Children's Service, Jewish Community Center and the Jewish Association on Aging, which provides comprehensive services to the community's older adults.
Dr. Golin has previously served as the director of the Department of Psychology for Sharon Regional Health System. He is a member of the American Psychological Association and the Pennsylvania Psychological Association.
Dr. Golin obtained his doctorate in clinical psychology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a master's in clinical psychology from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a bachelor's from University of Florida.
Nicole Iole MS.Ed.
Director of Guardianship Service
Nicole Iole is the Program Director of Guardianship Services at Jewish Family & Children's Service. In this role, Nicole is responsible for developing and supervising all aspects of the program along with maintaining county and state compliance for her clients who have been deemed mentally incapacitated by the court system. Nicole also maintains relationships with other mental health/mental retardation (MH/MR) providers and other community organizations in order to maintain an awareness of community resources available for our clients.
Prior to her position at JF&CS, Nicole was employed by Family Links, Inc. as an Independent Supports Coordinator for dually diagnosed individuals, both children and adults. At Family Links, she supervised over 90 MH/MR clients ensuring all physical and mental health needs were provided for along with developing and implementing Support Plans for the County and State Office of Mental Retardation. Nicole also helped in providing IEP plans through the education system for her clients that were under 21. During her tenure, Nicole also worked with the county (through their partnership with Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh) to develop and implement treatment plans for children who had been physically, mentally or sexually abused.
Nicole also worked closely with the Pennsylvania Statewide Adoption and Permanency Network to establish an adoption department at Family Links that specialized in the needs of abused children.
Nicole acquired her bachelor's in psychology and child development from the University of Pittsburgh. She received her Master's of Science in Education in School Counseling from Duquesne University. Nicole is certified as a registered Guardian through the National Guardianship Association along with being certified through the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Social Work in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy.
Julie Marx
Director, Career Development Center
In her role as director of the Career Development Center, Julie Marx is responsible for planning, developing and administering career services programs for individuals and companies.
Prior to Julie's promotion to CDC director, she held dual positions of CDC's Work-Able Coordinator and Clinical Coordinator in Squirrel Hill Psychological Services (another division of CDC's parent organization, Jewish Family & Children's Service). In both capacities, she provided counseling services to clients. In addition, for Squirrel Hill Psychological Services, Julie focused on creating and promoting new and existing programs and services.
Past positions include senior clinician for the Late Life Depression Program at the University of Pittsburgh, providing assessment and counseling for older adults. She was involved in research on best treatment for depression in adults age sixty and above, as well as research on the relationship between depression and cognitive function in late life. She received training at Mercy Behavioral Health and through the geriatric unit of Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.
Julie received her master's degree in counseling from Chatham
University. She also has a master's degree in communications. Prior
to embarking on her work in counseling, she was the publisher of a
family resource guide in the Washington D.C. tri-state area that is
used as a fundraising tool for schools and children's
organizations. She is also a certified teacher.
JoAnn White
Director, Family Hope Connection
JoAnn White is the director of the Family Hope Connection (FHC). She is responsible for the overall operation of FHC, including supervision of all staff, development of programs, monitoring, evaluation of programs, maintenance of licenses (foster and adoption) and coordination of collaborative work with other adoption agencies.
JoAnn has been with FHC since the beginning of the program in September 1997. Prior to working at JF&CS, she was on the management team of Project STAR, the adoption and foster care program of the Children's Institute for 10 years. Prior to this JoAnn was the social worker for a large Early Intervention program in North Carolina for 8 years.
JoAnn has worked with children and their families in some capacity for 30+ years. Primarily her career has focused on working with families who have children with special needs. She has worked specifically in the adoption field since 1987.
JoAnn holds a master's degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from West Virginia University and a bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh.
