Commission Leadership | U.S Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad

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The Commission consists of 21 members appointed by the President of the United States. Of these, seven are appointed after consultation with the Speaker of the House of Representatives and seven are appointed after consultation with the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, with three of each seven by tradition recommended by the minority leaders of each house of the Congress. The President designates a Chair from among the Members. Members are appointed for three-year terms but continue to serve until they are replaced. They are not paid for their service.

Commission Chair

Starlet “Star” Jones Lugo

Chair

Commission Members

Nancy D. Berman

Commission Member

Herbert Block

Commission Member

Rabbi Abba Cohen

Commission Member

John F. Cordisco

Commission Member

Joseph Douek

Commission Member

Emil A. Fish

Commission Member

Martin B. Gold

Commission Member

G. Jonathan Greenwald

Commission Member

Will Inboden

Commission Member

Nancy K. Kaufman

Commission Member

Harley Lippman

Commission Member

Dr. Michael Lozman

Commission Member

Michael T. Marquardt

Commission Member

Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali

Commission Member

Maureen C. Pikarski

Commission Member

Rabbi Yair Robinson

Commission Member

Roselyne Chroman Swig

Commission Member

Hershel Wein

Commission Member

Lesley Weiss

Commission Member

Commission Staff

Barbi Broadus

Executive Director

Nikola Otlans

Administrative Officer

Last Updated on December 12, 2024 by USCPAHA

Starlet “Star” Jones Lugo

Chair

Star Jones is an attorney, former New York city homicide prosecutor, business executive, best-selling author, and an Emmy award nominated TV host.

On January 31, 2022, President Joe Biden appointed Jones as the Chair of the United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad. As Chair she will lead a Commission of twenty Commission Members to preserve and protect American heritage abroad.

Jones served as President and Board of Directors member of Professional Diversity Network, Inc., and of the International Association of Women. She is also a co-founder and principal of the Instant Impact Group, LLC, a consultancy firm that assists individuals and companies build their diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Through her consultancy firm, Jones also acts as Executive Editor for Marquis Who’s Who. She was one of the original co-hosts of ABC’s “The View” for nine years and is a “Broadcasting and Cable” Hall of Fame inductee. She is President of Girlfriend Entertainment Productions, Inc., her own programming and production company.

After work as a prosecutor and senior assistant district attorney early in her career, Jones will become the host and new judge of Divorce Court this fall.

In 2010, Jones underwent successful open-heart surgery and, for over a decade, she has been the National Volunteer of the American Heart Association. She is a member of the international editorial board of the Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society and is a U.S. representative to the Women in Africa initiative. She is also a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and hosts international virtual town hall and forum series. She makes her home in Chicago and East Hampton with her spouse, attorney and Administrative Law Judge Ricardo Lugo, their son Jake, and their Maltese Mimi.

Nancy D. Berman

Commission Member

Nancy D. Berman is a community leader with a demonstrated record of service through volunteerism, board and committee memberships, and philanthropic leadership with a variety of affiliations and nonprofit organizations. Berman’s professional background is in marketing and her most recent endeavor is as the CEO and Founder of NANDANIE, a luxury fashion brand whose mission is to inspire confidence, build community, and empower women. Prior to launching NANDANIE, Berman applied her creativity as owner of an artisanal cakery.

Berman has served as the President of Yad Ezra, an organization that provides kosher food to vulnerable Jewish families in Southeast Michigan and was their 2021 dinner honoree along with her three children. She is also involved with Asra Kedisha, an organization for the preservation of Jewish cemeteries and gravesites throughout the world and has travelled to Cairo, Egypt to survey the restoration of the largest Jewish cemetery in the world. She currently serves on the Executive Board of the Frankel Jewish Academy, is a founding member of Kehillat Etz Chayim in Detroit, and is a member of The International Society of Female Professionals, the Accessories Council, BasBlue Detroit, Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, the American Jewish Committee, AIPAC, and FIDF. Berman lives in Huntington Woods, Michigan.

Herbert Block

Commission Member

Herbert Block is the Executive Director of the American Zionist Movement, a role he has served in since 2017. Block is the former Assistant Executive Vice President of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, where he was responsible for the Government Affairs and Property Restitution portfolios at the world’s leading Jewish humanitarian organization. He has served on boards addressing Holocaust-era assets, property restitution, compensation for Shoah survivors, and the preservation of Jewish heritage sites and cemeteries in Europe and the United States.

He was previously Assistant to the Mayor of the City of New York, Assistant Director of the New York City Independent Budget Office, and a Deputy Director at the Federal Corporation for National and Community Service (AmeriCorps). Block previously served as a Member of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad from 2011 to 2019, to which he was appointed for three terms by President Obama. He received a BA from Columbia University and a JD from Brooklyn Law School.

Rabbi Abba Cohen

Commission Member

Rabbi Abba Cohen is the Washington Director and Counsel for Agudath Israel of America, positions he has held since 1989. He has also been Vice President for Federal Government Affairs at Agudath Israel since 2010. Previously, Rabbi Cohen worked at the Anti-Defamation League as the Assistant Director in the Middle Eastern Affairs Department from 1981 to 1985 and as an Associate in the Latin American Affairs Department from 1979 to 1981. Rabbi Cohen received a B.S. from The Johns Hopkins University, a B.T.L. and Rabbinic Ordination from the Ner Israel Rabbinical College, an M.I.A. from the Columbia University School of International Affairs, and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

John F. Cordisco

Commission Member

John F. Cordisco began practicing law in 1987 and has spent the last 37 years representing victim’s rights. He is currently a partner at the law firm of Cordisco & Saile located in Trevose, Pennsylvania. At the age of 24, he was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He served three terms and was credited for legislation establishing the Pennsylvania Vietnam Veterans’ Commission, which is still active today assisting veterans exposed to Agent Orange, as well as the construction of a third Veterans’ Home located in southeastern Pennsylvania. For his efforts, Cordisco has been recognized by several Veterans’ Groups, including the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and The National Vietnam Veterans’ Organization.

Since leaving the legislature, Cordisco has chaired and served on several state and local boards and agencies including the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Disciplinary Board, Bucks County Community College Authority, and the Pennsylvania Joint Toll Commission. Beyond politics and law, Cordisco’s humanitarian efforts include the creation of Have a Heart, a charity responsible for financing summer programs and two accessible playgrounds in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Additionally, Cordisco has partnered with charities responsible for the construction of infrastructure, schools, orphanages, feeding centers, and housing throughout Central America. He graduated from Rider University with a B.A. and subsequently earned his J.D. from Temple School of Law. Cordisco is the father of three children and six grandchildren. He currently resides in Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Joseph Douek

Commission Member

In May 2020, Douek was appointed by the President of the United States to serve as a Member of the United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, and by recommendation of The Speaker of The House was reappointed by the President of the United States in 2023.

A businessman and philanthropist, Joseph Douek was originally appointed to the New York City Planning Commission by Borough President Martin Markowitz in 2012, and was reappointed by Borough President Eric L. Adams in 2017, and by Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2021.

NYC Commissioner Douek, currently serves as the Chairman and CEO of Viceroy Equities, an investment and management firm based in Brooklyn. Among other initiatives, Viceroy Equities has invested in Opportunity Zones, with the goal of spurring development in several areas throughout Brooklyn.

Douek got his start selling wholesale photography supplies and went on to become the owner and CEO of Willoughby’s, New York’s oldest photography retailer. Douek has also served on the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors for the New York City Economic Development Corporation, as well as the Board of Directors for the New York City Industrial Development Agency. Douek has served on the Board of Trustees for several non-profit entities, including the Brooklyn Public Library and the Jewish Children’s Museum. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Emil A. Fish

Commission Member

Emil A. Fish is a Holocaust survivor from the small town of Bardejov in Slovakia. In 1944, as a 9 year-old boy, he and his family were captured and arrested by the Gestapo. His father was sent to Buchenwald Concentration Camp and survived. He, his mother and sister were sent to Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp. In 1945, he, his mother and sister were liberated from Bergen-Belsen by the British Army.

Mr. Fish and his family immigrated to Los Angeles in 1955. He is the founder of Emil Fish Enterprises and Regency Park Senior Living, Inc. He has served as President of Congregation Shaarei Tefila, Hillel Hebrew Academy and the Union of Orthodox Congregations, West Coast Office. Mr. Fish has also served as a member of the Jewish Community Relations Committee of the Los Angeles Jewish Federation.

In 2006 he founded the Bardejov Jewish Preservation Committee – a non-profit organization – with the mission to preserve and document the Jewish heritage in Bardejov and to memorialize and honor its Holocaust victims.

In 2010, Mr. Fish was appointed by President Obama to the United States Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad. He currently resides in both Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Among his many achievements, he is most proud of his 3 children and 12 grandchildren.

Martin B. Gold

Commission Member

Martin B. Gold is a partner with Capitol Counsel, LLC. In service to our clients, he brings over 40 years of legislative and private practice experience. He is a recognized authority and author on matters of congressional rules and parliamentary strategies, and U.S. policy in Asia. He frequently advises senators and their staff and serves on the adjunct faculty at George Washington University. In 2022, he received the College of Professional Studies Faculty Excellence Award. Before domestic business, professional, and academic audiences, he speaks about Congress as well as political and public policy developments.

Gold has been a guest lecturer at Tsinghua University, the Beijing Foreign Studies University, the Beijing International Studies University, Moscow State University, the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, the State Parliament of Ukraine, and the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

G. Jonathan Greenwald

Commission Member

Jonathan (Jon) Greenwald, a Wilkes-Barre, PA native, has spent a half century in public service, including 30 as a senior U.S. diplomat and 17 as Vice President for the International Crisis Group, a prominent non-governmental conflict resolution organization. He has taught diplomacy at Lawrence University, served as the State Department’s nominee on the panel that adjudicated Holocaust-era claims for Austria, authored Berlin Witness: An American Diplomat’s Chronicle of East Germany’s Revolution, and directs and funds an initiative to bring young Israelis and Palestinians to study together at leading university preparatory schools.

A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Washington Institute of Foreign Affairs, J Street, and Foreign Policy 4 America, Greenwald serves on the boards of several conflict resolution-related international groups. He speaks German, Hungarian, and French and lives with his wife Gabriele and their cats in McLean, VA.

Will Inboden

Commission Member

William Inboden is Professor and Director of the Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida. He previously served as William Powers, Jr. Chair and Executive Director of the Clements Center for National Security, Associate Professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, and Distinguished Scholar at the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law, all at the University of Texas-Austin. He also serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Texas National Security Review. Inboden’s other current roles include Associate with the National Intelligence Council, member of the CIA Historical Advisory Panel, member of the State Department’s Historical Advisory Council, and Senior Fellow with the Trinity Forum. Previously he served as Senior Director for Strategic Planning on the National Security Council at the White House, where he worked on a range of foreign policy issues including the National Security Strategy, strategic forecasting, democracy and governance, contingency planning, counter-radicalization, and multilateral institutions and initiatives. Inboden’s other government service includes at the Department of State as a Member of the Policy Planning Staff and a Special Advisor in the Office of International Religious Freedom, and as a staff member in both the United States Senate and the House of Representatives. He also served as head of the London-based Legatum Institute, and as a Civitas Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Inboden’s newest book is The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, The Cold War, and the World on the Brink (Dutton, a Penguin Random House imprint), a synthetic overview of the Reagan Administration’s Cold War strategy and foreign and defense policies. He is also the author of Religion and American Foreign Policy, 1945-1960: The Soul of Containment (Cambridge University Press), co-editor of The Last Card: Inside George W. Bush’s Decision to Surge in Iraq (Cornell University Press), co-editor of Hand-Off: The Foreign Policy That George W. Bush Bequeathed to Barack Obama (Brookings Institution Press), and has published numerous articles and book chapters on American foreign policy, the presidency, and American history.

Inboden is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and his commentary has appeared in numerous outlets including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Foreign Policy, Politico, National Review, The Hill, World, Weekly Standard, NPR, CNN, and BBC. He has lectured widely in academic and policy settings, testified before the U.S. House Armed Services Committee and the US Congress Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, and received numerous research and professional development fellowships.

Professor Inboden has received multiple teaching awards including recognition as a “Texas 10” by the Texas Exes Alumni Association, selection as “Lecturer of the Year” at the LBJ School, and his classes Presidential Decision-making in National Security and Ethics and International Affairs were voted as “Best Class in the LBJ School” and “Class Most Likely to Challenge Your Assumptions.” Inboden received his Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in history from Yale University, and his A.B. in history with honors from Stanford University. He lives in Gainesville, Florida, with his wife and two sons.

Nancy K. Kaufman

Commission Member

Nancy K. Kaufman has a distinguished career as a public servant, advocate, and non-profit leader. Kaufman runs a strategic consulting and coaching practice and previously served as CEO of National Council of Jewish Women for 8 years. Prior, Kaufman was executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Boston for twenty years. Kaufman has also held a variety of positions related to health and human services delivery in state and local government and in the nonprofit sector. She worked for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as Deputy Director of the Governor’s Social Policy Office and Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services as an appointee in the Dukakis Administration.

Kaufman is a graduate of Brandeis University, Boston College School of Social Work, and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She is a recipient of an honorary doctorate in public service from Northeastern University. Kaufman lives in NYC and serves as board chair of the NY Jewish Agenda.

Harley Lippman

Commission Member

Harley Lippman is the Founder and CEO of Genesis10. Since its inception in 1999, Lippman has grown the company into one of the largest IT consulting firms in the United States and is consistently named among the top 50 “Best CEOs” by USA Today.

A dedicated philanthropist, Lippman has been the sole financial supporter of a Cambodian orphanage for more than 17 years and has funded efforts to explore an overlooked aspect of the Holocaust since 2009. Specifically, he works to find mass graves where Jews were murdered and buried and hosts memorials to honor and preserve their memory throughout the year. Lippman executive-produced Safeguarding Memory, an award-winning documentary on mass graves in Poland, which appeared on PBS. Additionally, Lippman is a regular commentator on national and international television on issues related to the Middle East, workforce development, U.S. politics, and the economy.

Lippman received a MA in International Affairs at Columbia University, studied abroad in Poland on a Fulbright Fellowship, and received a scholarship to study at the Ukrainian Institute at Harvard University.

Dr. Michael Lozman

Commission Member

Dr. Michael Lozman is a practicing orthodontist in Latham, New York. He has taught in the Graduate Department of Orthodontics at New York University School of Dentistry and has served in numerous professional leadership positions including on the Board of Governors of the New York State Dental Society and as President of the New York State Society of Orthodontics.

In 2001, Lozman founded an organization to bring college students to Eastern Europe to restore Jewish cemeteries that were destroyed during the Nazi era. To date, the organization has completed the restoration of fifteen Jewish cemeteries, ten in Belarus and five in Lithuania. Lozman also founded the Capital District Jewish Holocaust Memorial, Inc. and is working to develop a Holocaust memorial in the capital area of New York. Lozman has lectured in several countries, and he has been noted for his Holocaust educational activities.

Michael T. Marquardt

Commission Member

Born in Berlin during the Cold War, Michael Marquardt emigrated to the United States in 1991, a year and a half after witnessing the fall of the Berlin Wall, to attend college and graduate school, becoming a U.S. citizen in 2002. He has led several companies in the technology and healthcare sectors as CEO and has served on corporate boards in Indonesia, France, and the United States. As CEO of Global Kompass Strategies, Inc., Marquardt advises clients on global strategy, corporate governance, business development, and emerging technology opportunities.

Following a lifelong commitment to fighting cancer after losing several loved ones to the disease, Marquardt currently serves as Chair of the national Board of Directors of the American Cancer Society.

Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali

Commission Member

Elizabeth (Liz) Hirsh Naftali runs and owns a commercial real estate company in Los Angeles’ Fashion District. She has served on the board of Oakwood School in North Hollywood since 2002 and was the Board Chair from 2012 to 2015. She also currently serves on the board of the IKAR Shul in Los Angeles and the RAND Corporation Center for Middle East Public Policy.

In 2007, Hirsh Naftali developed BIG Giving, a philanthropic branch of the company she co-founded, BIG Shopping Centers, that primarily supports educational, developmental, and co-existence programs for Jewish and Arab children across Israel. She remains active in her philanthropy in Israel working with the Tel Aviv Foundation and Babylonian Jewry Museum. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020, Hirsh Naftali started the Make More Masks Campaign, producing and distributing over 100,000 masks to keep those most vulnerable in our communities safe.

Maureen C. Pikarski

Commission Member

Maureen Pikarski is a partner in the law firm of Gordon & Pikarski. Her practice includes real estate tax objections for commercial, industrial, and residential property owners. Pikarski has extensive experience in matters involving real estate property tax valuations. Prior to joining Gordon & Pikarski, she worked in the White House Executive Office, the Office of the Vice President, and House of Representatives.

Pikarski received her B.A. from Bryn Mawr College, M.A. from Villanova University, and her J.D. from Catholic University of America.

Rabbi Yair Robinson

Commission Member

As far back as he can remember, Yair Robinson has been committed to making a positive difference in the world. Active in social action causes since he was a teen growing up on Cape Cod, where his father was the rabbi of the local synagogue and his mother the president of Hadassah, Robinson Oberlin College and then received rabbinic ordination from the Hebrew Union College in 2003.

He served Shir Ami in Newtown, Pennsylvania for six years before moving to Wilmington, Delaware, where he has been the Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beth Emeth since 2009. In addition to his pulpit work, preaching, teaching, and providing pastoral care, he has worked with many local organizations, including serving on the boards of Rotary Club of Wilmington, The Anti-Defamation League of Philadelphia, The Ninth Ward Interfaith Coalition, The Siegel JCC and Jewish Family Services, Planned Parenthood of Delaware and Clergy for Choice, and the ACLU of Delaware, always striving for a sacred, just, and loving community. He is married to Dr. Marisa Robinson and they have one son, Elishai, who graduates from Mount Pleasant High School in Wilmington in 2025.

Roselyne Chroman Swig

Commission Member

Roselyne Chroman Swig is Founder and President of ComCon International, as well as Founder of Roselyne C. Swig Artsource. She was appointed Director of the U.S. Department of State Art in Embassies Program by President Clinton. Swig has devoted decades to philanthropic and community service efforts at the local, national, and global levels with a focus on women’s empowerment, social welfare, fine art, political advocacy, and education. She is Founder of the advocacy group Partners Ending Domestic Abuse and Founder and Member of Bayview Alliance.

Swig is National V.P. Emeritus of AIPAC, Lifetime Trustee of Shalom Hartman Institute, and Trustee Emeritus at Mills College. She served as President and Trustee Emeritus of SF Art Institute, President of Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archives, Chair of the Contemporary Jewish Museum, President Emeritus of Jewish Community Federation of SF Peninsula, Marin, and Sonoma Counties, President of SF Arts Commission, and Co-Chair of the National Gallery of Art Collector’s Committee, among others.

Hershel Wein

Commission Member

Hershel Wein, an active member of the New York Jewish community, is an attorney who has practiced law for over 36 years. He is currently a partner and member of the Energy and Infrastructure group of Wilson Sonsini, with a specialty in tax law and renewable energy.

Previously, he was a partner and member of the Washington National Tax practice of KPMG and a partner at the law firm Dewey Ballantine. Among his communal activities, Wein is a founder of one of the largest Jewish religious private schools in Long Island, NY, where he served on the board of directors. Wein graduated from the Columbia Law School in 1985 after attending Brooklyn College for his undergraduate studies. He currently resides in Long Island with his wife and children.

Lesley Weiss

Commission Member

Lesley Weiss is Deputy Director of the National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry. In this role, she coordinates democracy initiatives, community education and outreach efforts, and promotes advocacy on behalf of Jewish communities in Eastern Europe and Eurasia. She monitors compliance by the governments of the region in the areas of religious and cultural rights and works closely with the governments and the Jewish communities on the restitution and preservation of Jewish communal property, combating anti-Semitism, and Holocaust awareness. Weiss represents the National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry at Organization for the Security and Cooperation in Europe meetings and numerous other international conferences throughout Europe, Central Asia, and Israel on the Holocaust, anti-Semitism, and international religious freedom.

Weiss is also a member of the U.S. delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. In 2013, President Obama appointed Weiss Chair of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad, where she served until 2017.

Barbi Broadus

Executive Director

Nikola Otlans

Administrative Officer