Meet Our Staff
William Samers
Vice President
212.836.1755
Before joining UJA-Federation, Bill worked for the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science (ACWIS) for nine years, most recently as vice president of gift development and compliance. He recently completed his two-year term as president of the Planned Giving Group of Greater New York and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Committee on Planned Giving. He is a former member of the faculty of New York University’s Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising. Bill has published in the Journal of Gift Planning and has presented to the National Conference on Planned Giving and the Planned Giving Councils of New York, San Francisco, Houston, New England, and Connecticut, as well as to the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Bill is also a co-developer of tools for measuring fundraising effectiveness and managing campaigns.
Before joining ACWIS, Bill was affiliated with the American Society for the Technion. Previously, he was an associate at Heidell, Pittoni, Murphy & Bach, P.C. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and received his J.D. degree from Boston University Law School. Bill lives in Roslyn, Long Island, with his wife, Robin, and their children, Natalie and Brian.
Bill’s father, Bernard Samers, is the former executive vice president of ACWIS and his mother Edith Samers, is the former executive director of the Stamford Jewish Federation.
Stanley Baumblatt
Director
212.836.1305
Prior to joining UJA-Federation, Stan, a native Manhattanite, was a partner at the law firm of Kutak Rock for 20 years, CFO and counsel for the businesses and foundations of Leonard Bernstein, and manager of Philanthropic Programs and director of Foundation Services at Merrill Lynch.
He has a long and consistent record of community service and development work as both a board member and volunteer. Stan has served on the Board of Governors of the American Craft Museum (now, Museum of Arts and Design); Board of Directors of the Funders Concerned About AIDS; Board of Directors of In The Life; National Cabinet of UJA-Federation; Chair of Contributions Advisory Group; Broadcaster of In Touch Networks (Jewish Guild for the Blind); Planned Giving Committee of the Brooklyn Academy of Music; and treasurer of the Jewish Center of the Hamptons.
Stan is a graduate of Horace Mann School, Brown University, and University of Chicago Law School.
Carrie Miller
Director, Planned Gift Development
212.836.1531
Carrie is responsible for working directly with donors and financial-planning professionals and for developing estate-planning conferences for attorneys, accountants, and other estate-planning professionals. She was the founder and first director, in 1995, of the Jewish Women's Foundation of New York, a pioneering project for high-net-worth women who are managing their own investments and making grants to support Jewish women and girls. She recently began a new venture, the Women’s Estate Planning Advisory Committee, designed to use the expertise of women estate-planning professionals in charitable estate planning. The outgrowth of that committee is the new Women’s Financial Planning Institute.
Carrie has completed a $25 million and a $10 million endowed bequest, a $1 million charitable remainder trust with shares from an initial public offering, a $1.5 million charitable gift annuity with a woman who is managing the family investments after her husband’s death, and a $1.5 million charitable remainder trust with a man who had previously never contributed to UJA-Federation. She has raised over $75 million in planned gifts during her tenure with UJA-Federation of New York.
Carrie was president of the Board of Directors of Jewish Family Services in Albany, New York, the first woman to serve in that post in the agency’s 125-year history, and currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services of New York, where she is past chair of Geller House, a short-term residential treatment facility for troubled teenagers. She was also vice president of the National Association of Jewish Family and Children's Agencies.
Carrie also helped develop and is a member of the New York State Department of Health’s Head Injury Services Provider’s Council.
Julie Lazarus
Manager
212.836.1487
Julie works primarily with donors and professional advisors to develop planned gifts.
Prior to working in planned giving, Julie was a commercial litigation associate at Hahn & Hessen LLP. Julie is currently a literacy volunteer with the Partners for Literacy program run by the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan. She works with elementary school children who are having trouble meeting the reading standards established for their age group.
Julie is an attorney admitted to practice in New York and Massachusetts. She received her J.D. degree from Boston University School of Law in 2004, and her B.A. degree, magna cum laude, from Colgate University in 2000.
Julie lives on the Upper West Side in Manhattan with her husband, David, and their two energetic dogs.
Livia Kutsher
Senior Development Executive
212.836.1158
Livia helps donors meet their philanthropic and financial goals through planned strategies. Prior to joining UJA-Federation, she worked as the assistant director of major gifts in the New York regional office of the Anti-Defamation League, where she introduced donors and members of the business community to the major giving campaign, managed donor events, and helped design strategic plans with the development committee.
After more than seven years in the for-profit sector as a marketing, sales, and event management professional in both New York and Chicago, Livia realized that she wanted to make a difference in people’s lives, a belief that led her to pursue a career in the Jewish philanthropic community. She is also an active member in the American Parkinson Disease Association and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Livia received a B.A. in economics from Tufts University and an M.B.A. from Fordham University Graduate School of Business, where she majored in marketing. She also earned a certificate in corporate sponsorship from New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies.
David Rattner
Development Executive
212.836.1232
David works with donors to help them develop planned gifts and organizes a variety of events, including the Westchester Estate, Tax & Financial Planning Conference.
Prior to arriving at UJA-Federation, David served as operations manager for the inaugural season of the Israel Baseball League, the first professional attempt to play baseball in Israel. After returning to the United States, he held several positions at United Jewish Communities. He served as a program coordinator in the National Young Leadership department and worked on developing several social media platforms for the Strategic Marketing & Communications department.
David received a B.A. from Lehigh University in 2007, where he studied history and English. He lives in Midtown Manhattan.
Ali Rosof
Development Executive
212.836.1167
Ali helps donors reach their charitable and financial goals through personalized gift planning. Prior to joining UJA-Federation, Ali worked in the Brooklyn Law School’s development office, where she oversaw special campaigns, was responsible for increasing alumni engagement, and developed the Law Firm Challenge. She began her career at Friends Seminary, a Manhattan private school, where she directed major fundraising events and worked on elevating the building and endowment fund through its capital campaign. Ali’s enthusiasm for her work is coupled with a commitment to listening and providing individualized attention to the donors and professional advisors with whom she meets.
Ali received a B.A. from the Johns Hopkins University. She believes in the importance of community service and charitable giving, and enjoys being actively involved with her college and the human-rights educational nonprofit Humanity in Action.
Meredith A. Streit
Manager, Estate Administration
212.836.1314
Meredith is primarily responsible for handling the administration of estates. Meredith works with both donors and professional advisors in connection with their estate planning. Additionally, she supervises the UJA-Federation Community Trust for Disabled Adults, a pooled, supplemental-needs trust.
Prior to working at UJA-Federation, Meredith had been employed by The Legal Aid Society, Juvenile Rights Division. During her tenure there, she worked on child abuse, custody, and delinquency cases in Family Court.
Meredith is a graduate of Northwestern University with a bachelor’s degree in education. She received her J.D. degree from New York Law School and her M.S.W. degree from New York University.
Stacy Ferber, LMSW
Community Trust Administrator
212.836.1150
Stacy is primarily responsible for managing the Community Trusts for Disabled Adults. She is the liaison to trustees, family members, and F.E.G.S. Health and Human Services System advocates.
Stacy has more than 10 years of progressive management and executive experience in the not-for-profit setting, focusing on community center work, program operations, fundraising, and budgeting. Prior to working at UJA-Federation, Stacy was assistant executive director of the Riverdale YM-YWHA.
She also has held senior management and director positions for The Educational Alliance, where she focused on programs for older adults and the developmentally disabled, including managing senior centers, after-school programs, and a residential camping facility.
Stacy received an M.S.W. degree from Hunter College School of Social Work and a Bachelor of Science and Business Administration degree from Washington University, in St. Louis. In 2005, she completed a program at Columbia University’s Institute for Not-for-Profit Management for Jewish Communal Studies.
Planned Giving and Endowments staff members do not provide legal services and are not engaged in the practice of law.