Partners | Consultants | Affiliates | Associates
Partners
Dr. Barbara Silverstone and Dr. Ann Burack-Weiss are licensed clinical social workers and prolific authors with decades of practice, supervisory, administrative, and educational experience. They are co-authors of the text Social Work Practice with The Frail Elderly and Their Families: The Auxiliary Function Model, published in 1983.
Dr. Barbara Silverstone has a distinguished career in human services administration, social work practice and the field of aging. She served as President and CEO of Lighthouse International for 21 years and prior to that as Executive Director of the Benjamin Rose Institute, Chief of Social Services for the Jewish Home and Hospital and as a social work practitioner in the field of mental health. Her wealth of experience combines a knowledge of the challenges facing human services administrators as well as those facing workers on the front lines of service.
A Phi Beta Kappa, she received her BA from Duke University, her MA from the University of Chicago, and her doctoral degree from Columbia University. Her professional affiliations include serving as the President of the Gerontological Society of America and President of the New York City Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. She is a distinguished Practitioner and Member of the National Academy of Practice. Dr. Silverstone has taught at Case Western Reserve University and the Brookdale Center on Aging of Hunter College, and she is currently an Adjunct Associate Professor in Community Medicine at the Mount Sinai Medical Center.
Dr. Silverstone’s numerous publications have reached professional and lay communities. The acclaimed You and Your Aging Parent now in its 4th edition was one of the first popular books to address the challenges facing the families of aging parents. Growing Older Together, also co-authored with Helen Kandel Hyman, addresses the issues faced by aging partners. A product of her years at Lighthouse International is the Lighthouse Handbook on Vision Impairment and Vision Rehabilitation for which she served as a Co-Editor-in-Chief. Most recently she published a seminal article in Families in Society entitled “Social Work With the Older People of Tomorrow: Restoring the Person-in-Situation.”
Dr. Silverstone’s honors include the American Society on Aging Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Aging, the New York State Society on Aging, Walter M. Beattie Award for Distinguished Service in Aging, and the New York City Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers – Social Work in Aging Distinguished Service Award.
Dr. Silverstone can be reached at bsilverstone@sbwpartners.com.
Dr. Ann Burack-Weiss is a graduate of Simmons College. She received her masters and doctorate degrees from the Columbia University School of Social Work where she has taught two generations of students. Classes taught include: Direct Practice, Clinical Practice, Intergenerational Practice, The Aging Field of Practice. Social Work Practice in The AIDS Epidemic, Life Histories and Narratives, the Seminar in Field Instruction, and Advanced Seminars in Field Instruction. She has also served on the faculty of the Post-Masters certificate program in Aging and Mental Health of the Brookdale Center at Hunter College. Dr. Burack-Weiss has been a visiting professor, chaired panels, designed and led staff training sessions, and been a keynote speaker at over 100 professional and lay conferences in the United States and Israel. She is currently teaching in the Masters program in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University.
Dr. Burack-Weiss is the author of The Caregiver’s Tale: Loss and Renewal in Memoirs of Family Life (2006 Columbia University Press) and co-author of Gerontological Supervision: A Social Work Perspective in Case Management and Direct Care (2nd edition: 2008 Taylor and Francis), Social Work Practice with the Frail Elderly and their Families (1983, Thomas) and First Encounters Between Elders and Agencies (Brookdale Institute, 1985). She is currently under contract with Columbia University Press for a book (working title: The Lioness in Winter) about life writings on the aging experience of noted women authors. She has authored several chapters in edited collections and papers that have been published in peer-reviewed professional journals. Her mainstream writing includes essays and humor pieces that have appeared in the New York Times and the East Hampton Star.
Dr. Burack-Weiss’s understanding of the issues facing clients and workers is based on extensive practice, supervisory, and administrative experience. Formerly a caseworker at the Community Service Society of New York and Associate Director of Social Service at Jewish Home and Hospital, she has worked as a care manager and psychotherapist in private practice and – as a volunteer clinician – provided individual and group work services to clients at Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) and the Lenox Hill Neighborhood Association Shelter for Homeless Women. Among the agencies with whom Dr. Burack-Weiss has consulted prior to the founding of SBW Partners are: The New York Academy of Medicine, Lighthouse International, The New York State Department of Social Services, the Pennsylvania Case Management Institute, The American Society on Aging (ASA), and the National Council on Aging (NCOA).
Dr. Burack-Weiss can be reached at aburack-weiss@sbwpartners.com.
Consultants
Nelson Burros, LMSW, has spent his 35 years as a social worker and administrator in the field of aging in a diversity of settings, including nearly 25 years with the Hebrew Home for the Aged in Riverdale, primarily as the Director of Social Services at its main campus. Prior to that, he directed Project SCOPE, a large Title III Program at Lenox Hill Neighborhood Association serving homebound and isolated older adults. Nelson was also a community organization social worker for Montefiore Hospital, helping local community groups and agencies develop and coordinate services and activities for older adults. Nelson has co-authored several articles for professional journals, participated in numerous conference presentations, and created organizational newsletters. He was also the host and producer of the Hebrew Home’s award-winning public access television program, “You Should Live So Long.” Nelson earned his MSW at the Hunter College School of Social Work.
C. William Bechman, SPHR, has extensive experience in human resources administration, strategic management, mentoring staff and creating practical, innovative systems. The former Senior Vice President for Administration at Lighthouse International, a leading resource on vision impairment, Bill is currently Director of Human Resources at the College of Mount Saint Vincent in Riverdale, New York, where he is also an adjunct faculty member. Before working at the Lighthouse, Bill was Director of HR at the ICD-International Center for the Disabled. He has led many change management initiatives and provided strategic guidance to administrative teams. As a motivational speaker, he leads seminars on effective communication, customer service, and conflict resolution. As a consultant, Bill helps organizations and individuals to reach their potential, and acts as a facilitator in helping teams to collaborate effectively and accomplish organizational goals. He is certified by the Human Resources Institute as a SPHR-Senior Professional in Human Resources, and holds a Master’s degree in organizational psychology and an MBA in health administration from Temple University.
Roslyn H. Chernesky, DSW, ACSW, has been Professor at the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service since 1981 where she designed the administration curriculum and teaches courses in management, supervision, community organization, program and proposal development, program evaluation, and organizational theory. She is also Faculty Research Scholar at Fordham’s Ravazzin Center on Aging. Dr. Chernesky provides consultation as an evaluator and trainer in both the public and private sectors. Her work spans the fields of aging, HIV/AIDS, child welfare, and substance abuse and she has authored publications on women and management, case management, staff retention, and managing multicultural agencies. Dr. Chernesky received her master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh and her doctorate from CUNY.
Christopher J. Godfrey, PhD, is a behavioral health program developer with extensive experience in designing, administering and evaluating community-based programs for healthcare and government as well as a clinician with expertise in behavioral risk reduction management. He has developed capacity development programs for community health, assisted living and mental health care providers. His work spans the fields of program evaluation, research-to-practice translation, HIV/AIDS risk reduction, lifespan and health psychology, and emergency preparedness for health care. Dr. Godfrey received his doctorate from Long Island University and holds faculty appointments at Pace University and Medgar Evers College.
Daniel B. Kaplan, LICSW, LMSW, CSW-G, QDCS is a gerontological social worker with extensive expertise in Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, as well as clinical practice in geriatric mental health. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. from Columbia University School of Social Work while working closely with the Hartford Geriatric Social Work Faculty Scholars Program and the Geriatric Mental Health Alliance of New York. Daniel is the former Director of Social Services for the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, where he oversaw a vibrant array of social service programs, implemented a nationwide counseling helpline for caregivers, and helped to establish a premier professional training and membership association, Dementia Care Professionals of America. He has led numerous training sessions and presentations on dementia care strategies for professionals and paraprofessionals, and plans to conduct research on clinical interventions and training programs for patients, family members and professionals. Daniel is a recent recipient of the Hartford Geriatric Social Work Doctoral Fellows Pre-Dissertation Award. He received his MSW from Simmons College Graduate School of Social Work and his bachelor’s degree from SUNY Binghamton.
Elise Feuerstein Karras, LMSW, CSW-G, ACSW, has been working in the field of aging since 1978. She has held positions in community agencies as well as in the business community. Working in corporate eldercare for over 10 years, she has not only consulted with employees on aging issues, but has helped develop programs and conferences to support employees/caregivers. Her articles have appeared in industry publications such as Small Business Reports and the Federico Newsletter. She is a founding member of the Eldercare Taskforce of the New York Business Group on Health, past president of the Manhattan Borough-Wide InterAgency Council on Aging, and has presented papers on managing work and eldercare at various conferences, including the New York State Society on Aging and the Society for Human Resource Management.
Patricia Kolb, PhD, is a gerontological social worker with extensive practice experience including direct practice in community and nursing home programs, supervision, administration, and research. She is an Associate Professor in the Social Work Department at Lehman College, CUNY, and was the Principal Investigator and Project Director of the department’s GeroRich project, Geriatric Enrichment of the Lehman College Baccalaureate Social Work Program/City University of New York, funded by the Council on Social Work Education and the John A. Hartford Foundation. She has an extensive history of professional presentations in New York City and at state and national social work and gerontological conferences, many of which have addressed topics related to diversity and aging. Dr. Kolb has published articles in professional journals, book chapters, and two books, Caring for Our Elders: Multicultural Experiences with Nursing Home Placement (2003) and Social Work Practice with Ethnically and Racially Diverse Nursing Home Residents and Their Families (2007), both through Columbia University Press.
Rose Starr, DSW, LMSW, was an Associate Professor at the Hunter College School of Social Work of the City University of New York for 24 years. At Hunter, Dr. Starr taught community organization and research, directed the School’s Government Benefits Education Program, and served as Acting Associate Dean. She devised curriculum for the school’s Intensive Case Management training program on the integration of community organization, knowledge and skills as an ICM function. She co-authored a book entitled, Designing a Work-Study Program – Where Social Service Employment Meets Professional Education, and has written articles on social work education, community organization, and social work in school settings.
Dr. Starr directed a social service training program to integrate community and clinical expertise in public school settings (the NYS School-Based Mental Health Program) and collaborated with the NYS Department of Health on training and guidelines for mental health services in School-Based Health Centers. She directed a federal Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) grant to develop MSW curriculum on social work in schools, in collaboration with the NYC Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers and the City’s five graduate schools of social work, and was a research consultant for the School Support 1 Project of the NYS Office of Mental Health.
Following her career at Hunter, Dr. Starr was the Director of Policy and Planning of the Alliance for School Mental Health (ASMH), a program of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System. Working with a team of psychologists and social workers, she specialized in mental health and school-based services planning, program development and training, with a focus on systems approaches to bully prevention.
Dr. Starr was President of the NYC Chapter of NASW where she also served as first and third vice president and member-at-large. She received her bachelor’s degree from Bryn Mawr College, a Masters from the Columbia University School of Social Work, and a doctorate from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
Affiliates
Bob Carpenter, MBA, is the founder and president of InSight Management Development, a performance improvement firm based in Mount Vernon, NY. The company is focused on developing high-achieving leaders and teams since 1995, and has dramatically improved employee engagement, creative thinking, and job commitment at numerous client organizations. Over the last 20 years, Bob has been recognized for his work in Asia and Europe as well as in the United States, where he typically assists Fortune 500 managers and technical professionals improve their operational effectiveness. Bob delivers leadership seminars for the American Management Association, the world’s leading management development organization, and for ESI International, the recognized leader in project management training and consulting. He holds an MBA degree from Columbia University.
Mary E. Genkins, DSW, LCSW of the Genkins Consulting Group is an executive coach with a 20-year track record, who combines clinical expertise with business acumen. She has worked with major corporations across industries, financial institutions, leading law firms and non-profit organizations to develop and retain their best talent. Her extensive experience with organizations experiencing cultural change, mergers and acquisitions, and downsizings has enabled executives to successfully navigate job transitions and management crises. Appointments have included board member and co-chair of the Leadership Committee of the Financial Women’s Association, co-director of the Leadership Development Council for The Conference Board, and member of Women in Development. Prior to starting the Genkins Consulting Group in 1999, Dr. Genkins served as a partner for 12 years at Harris, Rothenberg International (HRI), an international global consulting firm. She holds a doctoral degree from the Hunter School of Social Work, City University of New York, and a faculty appointment at The Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.
Ed Olson and his firm E jj Olson & Associates are nationally recognized as consultants for health and human service continuum of care systems with a special emphasis on developing programs in gerontology and geriatrics. Established in 1988, E jj Olson & Associates is committed to working with government and private sector agencies in developing new and innovative programs and strategic solutions. The firm assists health systems in developing coordinated continuums of care, works with human service agencies and Area Agencies on Aging, evaluates program effectiveness, counsels governments, designs integrated human service departments, and evaluates strategic options for government and non-profit agencies.
Associates
Frances Coyle Brennan, LCSW, is the Director of Social Services at the Mary Manning Walsh Home in New York City. She was formerly an adjunct lecturer at Columbia University School of Social Work and is currently associated with Fordham University. She has over three decades of experience with the elderly in community and institutional settings, including supervisory and administrative positions at the Jewish Home and Hospital and has written and presented extensively on issues in aging. She is the co-author, with Ann Burack-Weiss, of First Encounters Between Elders and Agencies: A Practice Guide and Gerontological Social Work Supervision: A Social work Perspective in Case Management and Direct Care (2nd Edition, 2008).
Suzannah Chandler, LMSW, was Co-founder and, from 1972 through June 2006, Executive Director of Search and Care, a privately funded not-for-profit community-based agency that provides care management and preventive protective services to socially isolated, chronically ill and mentally impaired older people–most of them homebound, and living on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Prior to establishing Search and Care, Chandler provided program support for the National Council on the Aging, including coordination of the first Regional White House Conference on Aging (Kansas City, August 1970). She was also Co- founder and past President of the East Side Council on the Aging and member of the Advisory Board of the New York State Office of Children & Family Services. A member of the Hunter College Hall of Fame, Suzannah Chandler also was a recipient of the Samuel Sadin Law Institute Distinguished Service Award.
Harriet Rzetelny, LCSW, received her MSW from Adelphi University in 1976. Since then, she has worked, taught and written extensively in the field of aging. She was associated with Brookdale Center on Aging for over 20 years where she developed and taught courses on a wide range of aging-related subjects including Work with the Frail Elderly in Residential Care Facilities and Senior Centers, Reminiscing and Life Review, and People in Mid-Life Transitions. She was an Associate Professor at the NYU School of Social Work where she taught courses in aging and advanced clinical practice, and has written numerous training manuals and curricula for a variety of aging programs including A Multidisciplinary Training Curriculum for Family Caregivers of Dementia Patients Living at Home for Memory Care Home Solutions in St. Louis, MO and Home Again: Here to Stay – a Model for Culture Change for Isabella Geriatric Center in New York. Aging also figures in her fiction writing: her series of detective stories, published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, features a home care social worker. In addition, she maintains a private psychotherapy practice.
Renee Solomon, DSW, ACSW, was an Associate Professor at Columbia University School of Social Work (CUSSW) from 1975 until 2002. She has received numerous honors for her teaching and work with the elderly, including Outstanding Professor at CUSSW and the Lydia Rapaport Distinguished Visiting Professorship at Smith College School of Social Work. She has authored numerous articles and taught about clinical practice, social gerontology, social work with groups, practice with women and intergenerational practice. She currently serves as consultant to various social service organizations and has a private psychotherapy practice in New York City.
Leslie Chabon Wiesner, LCSW, received her MS from Columbia University School of Social Work (CUSSW) in 1974. Her postgraduate training certificate, awarded in 1980, is from Downstate Medical School Department of Psychiatry in Sex and Couples Therapy. Her extensive involvement in social work education spans almost thirty years and includes classroom and field education instructing and training. Wiesner has been on faculty at CUSSW since 1980 where she divides her time between teaching academic courses as an Adjunct Senior Lecturer and serving as an Assistant Director of Field Education. In addition, she has taught and consulted at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. As a private practitioner, she has worked for over 30 years as a clinician, presenter, trainer and consultant specializing mostly in the fields of sex and couples therapy, women’s issues, depression, caregiving and clinical supervision.