Our Staff
Michelle Wolf
Founding Executive Director
Janet Algazi
Customer Service Representative
Janet Algazi was born in Mexico and came with her family to the US 27 years ago. Initially recruited as a volunteer for her Spanish interpreting skills, Janet quickly displayed strong competency for working in a larger capacity, and was quickly promoted to a part time position as a Customer Service Representative. Her creative and professional attributes have been a great asset to the mission of JLA Trust and our Spanish speaking community. Janet is also a well-respected and accomplished graphic designer and photographer.
Thalia Bradley
Director of Client Services
Thalia is the Director of Client Services for JLA Trust and Services. She supports the Client Services team and provides direct services to our most complex clients. Thalia has over a decade of experience in the non-profit and governmental sectors, including 8 years in leadership positions. Much of her work has focused on finding employment and advocating for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Thalia is also a past board member and treasurer of both international and local non-profit organizations that provide opportunities to disadvantage children and youth for educational opportunities. She is actively involved with G6:9 Foundation as a consultant and former board member.
Melissa Miranda
Administrative Assistant
Melissa is our part time administrative assistant. A Coachella Valley native, she has worked in administrative positions for over 8 years and 2 years in public health. She supports our in-office and remote staff. She has a strong passion for public health equity and advocacy, and is a movie enthusiast and nature lover.
Alexandra Oatman
Director of Marketing & Outreach
Alexandra oversees outreach and marketing at JLA Trust, working on the organization’s digital communications, branding, media relations, and publications. She and a background in communications, web design, and writing; working in the nonprofit and entertainment industries. In her spare time, she enjoys running, pie-making, and ice skating.
Ron Parks
Trustee & Business Manager
Ron has joined our team as Executive Manager overseeing financial operations and budgeting as well as taking on the challenge of streamlining our administrative practices and office procedures. A native Californian, Ron practiced law in British Columbia, Canada for many years before finding his way back to California. Most recently, Ron was Business Manager for a Los Angeles Real Estate Investor and Philanthropist overseeing a portfolio of properties valued in excess of $50,000,000 while at the same time providing business and administrative oversight to local and international philanthropic projects and initiatives. Ron is excited about JLA Trust being the next chapter in an already interesting life.
Tina Stevens
Customer Service Representative
Tina has worked in law offices as a Legal Assistant/Paralegal for many years, mainly in family law, not only using her top-notch organizational and problem-solving skills, but communicating with all parties in an effort to bring harmony to difficult situations, leading her to her position as Customer Service Representative. She is musically gifted, studied piano and voice, and has been entertaining all her life – for the past 28 years at Canter’s Kibitz Room on Wednesday evenings.
Our Board of Directors
Sandor Samuels
Founding Board Chair
Debbie Babb
Board Member
A third-generation lawyer, Debbie Babb began her career as a commercial real estate attorney before discovering her love for working with individuals and families and transitioning to estate planning. Her practice includes special needs planning, business planning, and trust and probate administration. She holds an undergraduate degree from Smith College and a law degree from the Gould School of Law at USC. She is a member of the Beverly Hills Bar Association and WealthCounsel. She loves spending time with her own family, staying active in the community in Los Angeles, long hikes, and grounding herself in nature.
Dr. Yechiel Shalom Goldberg
Board Member
Yechiel Shalom Goldberg, PhD, is a financial planner with Fraser Financial Group. After 25 years studying and teaching Jewish thought and Kabbalah and helping students envision and achieve their academic goals, Yechiel left the university, to pursue a second career helping families envision and achieve their financial goals. Yechiel is particularly passionate about helping families with children or adults with special needs create and implement financial plans that address the special financial needs that accompany caring for a loved one with special needs.
Janice M. Jager
Board Member
Janice M. Jager, herself the parent of a special needs child, is a pharmacist with a doctorate degree from the University of Southern California. With more than 30 years of clinical experience, Janice specializes in geriatrics and long-term care, and is the consummate advocate for her patients. She brings both a clinical perspective as well as a parental compassion and nurturing to her work, and carries a large supply of humor to everyday living.
Erez Kabaker
Board Member
Erez Kabaker is a Senior Wealth Manager at BNY Mellon. He works with a select group of successful individuals and families as a professional CFP®. He helps align their assets to their goals and objectives through a whole balance sheet approach. He is responsible for setting investment portfolio allocations, often within a context of multiple trusts and both retirement and taxable accounts. He helps ensure that their plan are current with their changing needs. Erez earned a BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara and an MBA at the California State University of Northridge, where he graduated with distinction. Erez and his wife, Rebecca, live in the San Fernando Valley with their two children. Erez is an avid reader and his wife is a fan of Disneyland, a passion he has easily adopted.
Stanley Kandel
Board Member
Stanley Kandel was raised in Los Angeles, received his B.A. degree in mathematics from UCLA, and in 1969 his J.D. degree in law from U.S.C. Practicing law for 18 years, he specialized in real estate and general business law. He practiced litigation and transactional law, representing, among others, title insurance companies, contractors, real estate developers, and business owners. He contributed to the Continuing Education of the Bar text on real estate, published real estate articles in statewide legal newspapers, and taught an upper division course on urban real estate at USC. He has sat on the boards of the Jewish Federation Council, Builders of Jewish Education, American Jewish Congress, LA Museum of the Holocaust and is a past co-chair of the Middle East Commission (now the Israel Commission) of the Jewish Community Relations Committee. He is a past President of Bet Tzedek Legal Services, and currently sits on its Board. He also sits on the board of Jewish Family Service and the Advisory Board of the Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management of the Hebrew Union College.
Bill Lepler
Board Member
Bill Lepler is a marketing analytics leader with over 20 years of experience in the field. He currently serves as the Director of Marketing Analytics at the City of Hope, measuring and analyzing their national marketing campaigns. He has executed campaigns for a diverse range of national brands, including Truecar, Yahoo!, Wells Fargo, and Gap Inc. Bill holds an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, along with a Master’s from Yale and a Bachelor’s from Oberlin, both in Music. He is the proud father of two adult boys (one with special needs) and is a trustee of Adat Ari El. In his free time, he enjoys reading, hiking and birding.
David Pollock
Board Member
David Pollock is a Managing Director and Financial Advisor with Morgan Stanley. He and his team serve high net worth individuals, corporate executives and foundations by offering investment consulting and wealth management services. Before joining Morgan Stanley, David worked at J.P. Morgan, where he was a member of the J.P. Morgan Securities Portfolio Manager Program (PM Program), an exclusive group of advisors who have completed a screening process to manage discretionary assets, and are subject to ongoing qualitative and quantitative reviews. David initially joined E.F. Hutton & Company in 1977, and then went to Oppenheimer & Co., from 1979-1990, serving in both wealth management and investment banking capacities. He moved to J.P. Morgan Securities’ predecessor firm, Bear Stearns, in 1990. Money Magazine named him as one of the top brokers in the United States in 1987. A graduate of the University of California, San Diego, with a B.A. degree in Economics and History, David was a board member of the Jewish Federation Council of Los Angeles and Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills. He graduated from the Wexner Heritage Program, and served on the Executive Committee of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation. He served as Chairman and now is an Advisory Board Member of the Milken Institute Israel Center.
Brenda Shorkend
Board Member
Brenda Shorkend, MA, CMC, is a Certified Aging Life Care Manager® or Geriatric Care Manager
with Shorkend Care Management. She has a background in Rehabilitation Psychology and is a member of the Aging Life Care Association. She has worked with older people and people with special needs and disabilities and their families for over 25 years. She has worked in a wide variety of hospital and community settings, including working as an ombudsman for people with developmental disabilities, and at Huntington Hospitals Senior Care Network.
Brenda is a strong advocate for her clients. She helps to tailor unique solutions for each individual that maximize their independence and autonomy while ensuring their safety and well-being. She emphasizes the importance of building a team or circle of care that includes family, friends and trusted advisors. She is the Chair of the Aging Life Care Associations Standards Committee, and of the San Gabriel Valley End of Life Care Coalition.
Adynna Swarz
Board Member
Adynna Swarz has served in the nonprofit community for nearly 15 years and currently works as a consultant specializing in aiding small to mid-size nonprofit organizations. She has previously worked at the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, first as the Planning and Research Associate and then as the Director of Caring for Jews in Need, and also worked at the BJE, Etta Israel Center and The New England Friends of the IDF. Adynna received her MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, a Certificate in Jewish Communal Service from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and her BA in Sociology from Brandeis University.
Myra Wiener
Board Member
Myra Wiener has 40 years of work and volunteer experience in community-based human services. A leader and public servant who has spent most of her career in Ontario, Canada, Myra has served as the Director of the Developmental Services Policy Branch with the province’s Ministry of Community and Social Services, as well as directed the Business Improvement Office with the Ministry of Health, and the Canada Ontario Infrastructure Works Program with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. In these roles, Myra has overseen billion dollar budgets and supported and created policy to serve in the public interest. She splits her time between Toronto and Los Angeles, and holds a MBA from York University, a MSc in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Toronto, and a BA from Goucher College.