Meet our Staff
- Linda Ehrenreich, JF&CS COO, CDC Director
- Erin Barr, LSW, Social Worker
- Elizabeth A. Berkely, SPHR, Career and Employment Counselor
- Sandra L. Coda, CEC, GCDF, Career and Employment Counselor
- Joseph P. D'Anna, Career Consultant
- Dorcas Evans-Miller, Information & Referral Specialist
- Patrick Ferraro, Employer Relations Consultant
- Estee Gelman, Program Assistant
- Pamela A. Harris, NCC, Work-Able Career Counselor
- Justin Kelly, Career and Employment Counselor
- Alayne Lowenberger, LSW, JD, Scholarship Program Director
- George R. Ponticello, Career Consultant
- Wendy Solomon, Client Coordinator
- Jeanne Williams, Career and Employment Counselor
Linda Ehrenreich
JF&CS COO, CDC Director
Linda Ehrenreich began working at JF&CS in 1984 when the Career Development Center (CDC) was "born" and served as the Director of CDC for 15 years. Since that time, she has taken the role of Chief Operating Officer.
As COO, Linda oversees several programs of JF&CS including CDC, refugee services, immigrant legal services and the Central Scholarship & Loan Referral Service (CSLRS) program. She is currently acting director of the CDC. Directors of our refugee and immigration services and CSLRS report to her.
Linda also is responsible for program/project development and grant-writing for JF&CS and all its divisions; and serves on the executive committee of the JF&CS board of directors.
Prior to coming to JF&CS, Linda was Director of Human Resources for the Vocational Rehabilitation Center. Previous to that she was the Director of Counseling and Job Placement Services for a Department of Labor program in Pittsburgh. Linda serves on several other non-profit boards in Pittsburgh.
Linda has received several community awards including the Rudolf Award for Excellence in Jewish Communal Service, the Claudia Fogel Award for Exceptional Service, and nationally for the International Association of Jewish Vocational Services. She has served as vice president of the Association of Jewish Vocational Service Professionals.
Linda earned her bachelor's degree at the University of Wisconsin, her master's in vocational counseling at Duquesne University and a Post Graduate certificate in human resources management at the University of Pittsburgh, School of Business.
Erin Barr, LSW
Social Worker
Erin Barr is a Social Worker for the AUNO (Age Up Not Out)
program. In this role, she will develop relationships with young
adults between the ages of 18 to 21 who have aged out of the foster
care system. Her primary responsiblity is to assess each AUNO
participant to determine what barriers to employment may exist. She
connects participants with resources for housing, food assistance,
clothes, childcare, medical care, legal aid and any other needed
service.
Erin transitions over to this position after a history of working
at Jewish Family & Children's Service as a caseworker with the
Family Hope Connection. She was responsible for preparing children
for permanency, creating life books with children, writing child
profiles and recruiting families for waiting children. Erin
provided training for adoptive and foster families on the topics of
child development, and the impacts of physical/sexual abuse and
neglect. She also conducted orientation to adoptions meetings,
wrote home studies for families adopting both internationally and
domestically, supervised the placement of children and provided
post-permanency services to families who have finalized adoptions.
Prior to joining the Family Hope Connection, Erin was an intensive
case manager for Mon Yough Community Services working with
seriously and persistently mentally ill adults, connecting them
with needed services and providing crisis on-call services. In
addition to her current work, she teaches 2nd grade at Rodef
Shalom's Jacob Religious School.
Erin holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and religious studies from Allegheny College and a master's degree in social work from the University of Pittsburgh. Erin is a licensed social worker (LSW).
Elizabeth A. Berkely, SPHR
Career and Employment Counselor
Elizabeth "Betty" Berkely's responsibilities include providing assessment, career counseling and job search skills to a variety of CDC clients.
Betty is a proven educator and senior business leader with more than twenty years of experience in the management of line and staff functions with Fortune 500 companies. While the majority of her career has focused on human resource management, she also served as the Director of Career Services for the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. Betty is also an adjunct Career Management Consultant with Right Management, an international human resources consulting and outplacement firm.
Betty has an undergraduate and graduate degree in English from Slippery Rock University, and a graduate degree in the Sociology of Education and Mass Communications from the University of Leicester, Leicester, England. She is also a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) from the Society of Human Resource Management.
Sandra L. Coda, CEC, GCDF
Career and Employment Counselor
Sandra Coda's responsibilities include providing assessment, career counseling and job search skills training to a variety of CDC clients.
Sandy has over 20 years' experience relating to career counseling, job development, sales and marketing. Prior to joining the CDC, Sandy worked as a certified employment counselor for a company with more than 450 offices in the U.S. where she received awards for outstanding performance as an employment specialist, including the placement of more applicants than any other specialist. Sandy also worked as an Admissions Representative for the Wheeler School, where she counseled students regarding their careers, financial aid and course selection, and gave effective presentations at college fairs. In addition, Sandy worked in Los Angeles, where she obtained government clearance for work involving highly confidential government contracts and proposals.
Sandy has a bachelor’s degree in business and communications from Carlow University, where she received a Community Service Award. She is a Certified Global Career Development Facilitator. In addition, working with Pittsburgh/Allegheny County Career Link System, Sandy has completed requirements for Core Knowledge, Job Seeker Services 1 and Employer Services 1 certified professional designations.
Joseph P. D'Anna
Career Consultant
Joe D'Anna is responsible for providing career counseling to
individuals and assisting area employers with recruiting efforts
and outplacement services, as well as conducting group workshops on
career planning. He has more than 25 years of experience in
management consulting, executive recruiting and corporate
outplacement for major corporations and non-profit
organizations.
Joe has served as Executive Director of the Redevelopment
Authority of Allegheny County and as Chief Administrative Assistant
to the County Commissioners where he recruited, trained and
supervised department heads and managers for positions in Allegheny
County government. He has also served as Vice Chairman of the
Allegheny Housing Authority and as Chief Deputy Clerk of Courts. He
has authored numerous articles, including manuals for successful
job searching and termination training for managers, and has taught
career planning courses for the University of Pittsburgh's Program
Improvement Plan.
Joe holds a bachelor's degree in business management from Loyola
University and is a Certified Career Development Facilitator.
Dorcas Evans-Miller
Information & Referral Specialist
Dorcas Evans-Miller is the Information & Referral Specialist for the Career Development Center. In this position, she welcomes clients to the CDC’s Resource Center and assists clients with their online job registration and searches. In addition, as an employment and career counselor, Dorcas provides clients with job search and career transition consultation.
Dorcas served as job developer from 1989 – 2006 at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in the Job and Career Education Center (JCEC) located in Oakland. At the JCEC, she served over 200 job seekers a year by building resumes and referring clients to job leads.
Dorcas earned a bachelor’s degree in Humanities from the University of Pittsburgh and is a certified Global Career Development Facilitator.
Patrick Ferraro
Employer Relations Consultant
Patrick Ferraro develops relationships with regional employers
to identify career opportunities for CDC clients and facilitate
their placement. One of his initiatives includes hosting employer
job fairs onsite at the CDC, where CDC-pre-screened job seekers
meet employers face-to-face for pre-interviews. Patrick also
pre-screens and coaches clients when referring them for specific
jobs.
Prior to working with the CDC, Patrick was principal owner of
Pinnacle Associates, a search firm specializing in placing middle
to upper management personnel in all disciplines. He also served as
vice president of client services consulting for Right Management
Consultants, an international career counseling and transition
firm. He has been involved in the planning and implementation of
career centers for numerous organizations in Western Pennsylvania
and West Virginia that were downsizing their workforce due to
restructuring or merger and acquisition activities.
Patrick earned his undergraduate degree in psychology at California
University of Pennsylvania and completed additional masters-level
coursework in human resources management at LaRoche College.
Estee Gelman
Program Assistant
Estee Gelman provides administrative support to the CDC staff,
ensures materials are prepared for workshops on a timely basis,
assists with workshops and performs a variety of other
administrative functions.
Prior to joining the CDC, Estee worked for Hebrew Academy of
Special Children (HASC) in New York, a non-profit organization that
deals with developmentally-disabled adults. She provided an array
of services, including working closely with the director of the
Health Center on updating manuals and ensuring all regulations were
being met. She also worked under the acting director of quality
assurance to ensure all staff members were properly certified and
that all clients were receiving the best possible care from the
staff.
Pamela A. Harris, NCC
Work-Able Career Counselor
Pamela Harris is a Work-Able counselor and career consultant in
the Career Development Center. Her responsibilities include
providing individual and group career assessment and development of
career goals, and job search strategies. She also coaches clients
in interview techniques, the job transition, and maintaining
employment. Pam insures that clients have high-quality professional
documents, such as resumes and cover letters. She also conducts
workshops on a variety of career development topics. Pam has
experience counseling clients of all ages and with a variety of
backgrounds and career interests through her work in both
university career counseling and in mental health counseling.
Most recently, Pam worked as a career consultant with the
University of Pittsburgh’s Career Development Office and the
College of General Studies. Pam began her career as a state auditor
and then progressed into the corporate tax arena as a public tax
consultant, tax specialist, strategic planner, and manager for
several global corporations. In addition, she has experience as a
fiscal specialist in the non-profit sector.
Pam is a National Certified Counselor. Her educational background includes a master's degree in community and agency counseling and a bachelor's in business administration and accounting from California University of Pennsylvania.
Justin Kelly
Career and Employment Counselor
Justin Kelly's responsibilities include providing assessment,
career counseling and job search skills training to a variety of
CDC clients.
Justin started his career as an assistant recruiter at FreeMarkets
Inc. (now Ariba Inc.) before deciding he wanted to utilize the
skills he learned and developed in human resource management to
help students at the university level and taking a position as a
career counselor at Duquesne University, serving students (and
alumni) in the A.J. Palumbo School of Business. After spending six
years at Duquesne University, Justin went to Chatham University to
serve as Associate Director of Career Services/Internships. In this
role, he developed internship opportunities with employers and
counseled students to help them obtain internships. Justin then
worked at the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public
Accountants as a Senior Chapter Administrator before coming to the
CDC.
Justin earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Arts
from Allegheny College in Meadville, PA.
Alayne Lowenberger, LSW, JD
Scholarship Program Director
Alayne Lowenberger is the scholarship program director of Central Scholarship & Loan Referral Service (CSLRS). CSLRS is a program of the United Jewish Federation, administered by the Career Development Center (CDC) of Jewish Family & Children's Service. CSLRS coordinates the efforts of a group of organizations, agencies and scholarship endowment funds which provide scholarships to local undergraduate and graduate Jewish students who have demonstrated financial need. Alayne interviews applicants, reviews and processes the applications, provides professional support to the lay allocations committee and markets the program.
Alayne worked in various capacities in the community prior to joining the CDC. She was the consumer benefits coordinator at Mercy Behavioral Health, the social worker/training and placement director at the Epilepsy Foundation of Western Pennsylvania and the administrative assistant to the executive director at Three Rivers Youth. She had previously worked at Jewish Family & Children's Service as the administrative assistant to the executive director.
Alayne holds a master's degree in social administration and a Juris Doctor from Case Western Reserve University and a bachelor's in Jewish studies from University of Pittsburgh. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and she is a PA licensed social worker.
George R. Ponticello
Career Consultant
George Ponticello’s responsibilities include providing
assessment, career counseling and job search skills training to a
variety of CDC clients.
George has worked for several organizations in the human resources
field where his primary focus has included corporate recruiting,
contingency search, outplacement and career counseling. George also
serves as an Adjunct Consultant with Right Management, an
international human resources consulting and outplacement firm and
spent four years working as a Contract Career Advisor for Verizon
Communications. In addition to his diverse experience in the human
resources area, George's previous business experience includes
positions in advertising, sales and information systems, working in
small, mid-sized and Fortune 50 corporations.
George's educational background includes a master’s degree in Human
Resources Management from LaRoche College, a master’s of Library
and Information Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh and a
bachelor’s in Journalism/Advertising from Penn State
University.
Wendy Solomon
Client Coordinator
Wendy Solomon is the first stop for individuals who are seeking
career counseling at the CDC. Wendy conducts an assessment
of client needs and background before each is referred to a
CDC career counselor for service. Additionally, she administers
contract programs for the state and foundations and teaches
several of the CDC client workshops.
Prior to her role as Client Coordinator, Wendy managed the
information system for the Central Scholarship & Loan Referral
Service (CSLRS) program for several years, designing reports and
maintaining data quality control. She also has coordinated
research projects at Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic and
Carnegie Mellon, and managed technical upgrades for UPMC
departments.
She holds a master's degree in management from The Heinz School of
Public Policy and Management, Carnegie Mellon University and a
bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of
Pittsburgh.
Jeanne Williams
Career and Employment Counselor
Jeanne Williams' responsibilities include providing assessment,
career counseling and job search skills training to CDC clients,
focusing on special populations including at-risk youth,
immigrants, refugees and dislocated workers.
Jeanne has more than 20 years of leadership experience building
internal and external relationships within financial institutions,
corporations and academia settings. Her most recent position as an
Admissions Coordinator for Pittsburgh Technical Institute provided
opportunities to work mainly with non-traditional students. Her
desire to bring hope to a population of people who are often
complacent and defeated about their careers became a reality as
many students met and surpassed their goals.
Prior to joining Pittsburgh Technical Institute, Jeanne was a
Senior Auditor with Mellon Financial Corporation's Audit & Risk
Review Department. The majority of her service with Mellon
Financial Corporation resided within the Global Trade Finance &
Services Department where she served as an Assistant Vice
President.
Jeanne holds a bachelor's degree in Professional Communication and
Organizational Behavior from Duquesne University. She is currently
a teaching assistant and has taught classes in Organizational
Behavior, Critical Thinking and Export Finance.
