Project Renewal

	Who We Are

Administration

EDWARD I. GEFFNER, President and CEO

Prior to being named President and CEO, Ed had been the Executive Director of Project Renewal since 1976. Before joining Project Renewal, he directed the Technical Assistance Department of the Vera Institute of Justice, where he also served as Criminal Justice Planner and Staff Attorney, and he began his career in social activism in the American civil rights and anti-war movements. Ed currently serves as the Co-Chair of the American Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, and he is a member of the New York City Bar Association's Ad Hoc Committee on the Legal Problems of the Homeless and the Committee on International Environmental Law. He is currently Chair of the Government Relations Committee for the Human Services Council, has served as the first Chair of the Board of Managed Care Innovations, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation organized to provide managed care to chronically mentally ill Medicaid recipients, and was President of the Coalition of Voluntary Mental Health Agencies. Most recently, the Brooklyn College Alumni Association conferred on him its Distinguished Achievement Award in Human Development. Ed was the recipient of the United Way's first annual Joseph Weber award for the Best Managed Social Service Agency. His publications include a report on New York City policies toward homeless people for the Association of the Bar of New York, an article on the selection of housing sites for alcohol and drug addicted people for the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's Manual on Housing, and a chapter on alcoholism and the homeless in Health Care of Homeless People .

MARK HURWITZ, Deputy Director

Mark joined Project Renewal in 2007 after a long career advocating and working with the homeless population in a number of multifaceted organizations. Most recently, Mark was the Deputy Commissioner for the City of New York’s Department of Homeless Services and managed the Adult Services Division. Prior to joining DHS, Mark worked at the Urban Justice Center and implemented the Mental Health Project helping homeless, mentally-ill people gain access to housing and support services. He is now in charge of all of the direct services Project Renewal provides to its clients, including the mental health, addiction and employment programs. He has a bachelor degree from Harvard College and a law degree from Columbia University.

SUSAN E. CANTER, ESQ., General Counsel and Secretary

Susan joined Project Renewal in 2004 and oversees a wide array of legal matters that arise within the diverse programs and facilities that make up Project Renewal Inc. Before joining Project Renewal, Susan gained extensive experience in corporate law and litigation from her positions at a major New York City law firm and a Fortune 50 company. Susan is a graduate of New York University School of Law and Queens College of the City University of New York. Susan is admitted to both the New York and Connecticut Bars. Susan currently serves on the Mental Health Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.

STEPHANIE COWLES, Associate Director

With more than 30 years of experience in social service, Stephanie has been Associate Director of Project Renewal since 1984 having started here in 1976. She oversees all of the organization’s addiction programs, including our ‘housing first’ program for chronically relapsing addicts -- In Homes Now; a transitional housing program for homeless men on methadone; two shelter-based residential treatment programs; our Crisis Center; our Outpatient Clinic and our year-long residential treatment program – Renewal House. She also started and runs the organization’s award-winning Culinary Arts Training Program and Renewal Farm. From these two programmatic successes, she created three of the organization’s social purpose ventures which she also oversees: Comfort Foods, Renewal Landscaping, as well as the Farm’s sales arm -- selling Renewal Farm produce at New York’s greenmarkets.

SUSAN DAN, Associate Director

Susan, who runs all of Project Renewal’s mental health programs, started out as an outreach worker to mentally ill New Yorkers in 1983. Four years later, she became the program’s director and five years after that, became director of all Project Renewal’s outreach programs, including A-PLUS Intensive Case Management, one of only eight National Institute of Mental Health Demonstration programs in the country. In 1998, she was named Associate Director and runs all our outreach, emergency shelter, transitional and permanent housing programs for mentally ill New Yorkers. Susan helped develop and implement several new initiatives, including the Parole Support and Treatment Program -- the first program of its kind -- helping mentally ill parolees reintegrate successfully into the community. In addition, Susan was involved in all aspects of planning, designing, and developing our newest residences -- the LeonaBlanche house with 53 apartments, and the St. Nicholas House with 94 apartments.

ROSLYNN GLICKSMAN, Medical Director

Prior to joining Project Renewal in 2007, Roslynn supervised the Site Medical Directors and clinical staff as Rikers Island Prison Health Service’s Regional Deputy Medical Director. Her previous work and accomplishments in community medicine include establishing an on-site clinic at Flushing Shelter for homeless women and working as Medical Director at Settlement Health, a community health center in East Harlem. Also, Roslynn served as Regional Peace Corps Medical Officer, providing comprehensive healthcare in Zaire, Burundi and Rwanda (1984-1985). Roslynn has a Bachelor’s degree from Boston University, a medical degree from the University of Vermont College of Medicine, and a Master’s of Public Health from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. She is board certified in internal medicine.

STEVEN JONES, Chief Financial Officer

Steve joined Project Renewal in 2004 and is responsible for all functions of the Finance Department. Before joining Project Renewal, Steve spent ten years serving not-for-profit organizations at one of the nation’s leading professional services firms. Steven attended Boston University and Queens College and is a Certified Public Accountant.

ELIZABETH OUDENS, Director of Psychiatric Services

Elizabeth started working with Project Renewal in 2000 as the primary psychiatrist at Fort Washington. She has been Director of Psychiatric Services since 2003, overseeing all of the organization’s psychiatric programs while still continuing to see the clients at Fort Washington. Before joining us, she had a Fellowship in Public Psychiatry from Columbia University after completing medical school and residency training in psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco. Her previous work with homeless people included setting up a program for homeless youth in Ulster County NY while a fellow, and co-founding a student-run medical clinic within a shelter in San Francisco.

JASON SHAPLEN, Associate Director

Since joining Project Renewal in 2003, Jason has led all of the organization's education and employment programs. This includes its adult education program, job training program, job placement agency, money management program, job transportation agency, retention & alumni program etc. He also oversees the organization's award winning Job Links program, which provides employment training services to our mentally ill clients. In 2006, Jason founded Project Renewal's most recent social purpose venture, IMPRINTS, which doubles as state-of-the-art digital print company and training program for Project Renewal clients. Prior to joining Project Renewal, Jason worked in a variety of capacities, including as a journalist at Newsweek and Dow Jones, a speechwriter on the Bill Bradley for President Campaign, and a management consultant at Booz Allen & Hamilton. From 1995-1999, he served in an appointed diplomatic capacity working on issues related to North Korea's nuclear program. He was a Thomas J. Watson Fellow (Malaysia and Israel, 1988) and a Fulbright Scholar (Philippines, 1989-1990). His work has been published in numerous newspapers and journals.

FENELLA THORNTON, Development Director

Fenella joined Project Renewal in 2003 to expand fundraising outreach to individuals, and became Development Director in 2007, directing fundraising strategies that raise over $2 million annually from private sources. Fenella has been in Development since 1984, most recently with Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn and National Audubon Society before that. Fenella grew up in New York City and received her bachelor’s degree from Yale University.