2Life staff working in large glass offices
LEADERSHIP TEAM | 2LIFE COMMUNITIES | BRIGHTON, MA

Dedicated. Innovative. Mission-driven.

2Life Communities is led by a highly skilled group of thoughtful, seasoned professionals who make every decision with the well-being of Massachusetts' older adults in mind.

Front Row Leadership

Spring 2023

As a mission-driven organization, every member of the 2Life team has an opportunity to make a difference for those we serve. We are particularly proud of management practices that empower every person to be a leader -- whether by providing exceptional service to residents, contributing innovative ideas, or spreading the word about 2Life's mission. In this rotating segment, we highlight people from throughout our organization who lead by example and exemplify the mission of 2Life Communities. You can view all of our Front Row Leaders here.

Corporate Leadership

Amy Schectman

Amy Schectman

President & CEO
Amy is that rare leader who uses both sides of her brain to the fullest, combining an analytical approach to problem-solving with a creative spark that leads to breakthrough solutions. Undergirding it all is her deep commitment to social justice—a commitment that has guided Amy through decades of work in the public and nonprofit sectors to advance affordable housing, economic development, and...
Lizbeth Heyer

Lizbeth Heyer

Vice President
For Lizbeth, ensuring everyone has a safe, affordable home is her life’s work. She has more than 35 years of nonprofit and public sector experience in affordable housing development, planning, policy, and advocacy. Since joining us in 2014, Lizbeth has led our growth and innovation initiatives, developing and modernizing more than 1,000 subsidized apartments; launching Opus, our new middle-market...
Susan Appelbaum

Susan Appelbaum

Chief Development Officer
Susan is a well-known and well-respected figure in the regional non-profit world. With more than 30 years of non-profit fundraising, communications, and management experience both inside and outside the Jewish community, she has a wealth of knowledge and expertise in creating and running successful advancement departments. Key to her effectiveness are the many relationships she has forged with...
Sharon Adams Brooks

Sharon Adams Brooks

Opus Sales and Marketing
Telling the world about 2Life Communities’ unique approach to aging in community and our Opus prototype for middle-market older adults is what motivates Sharon every day. She is responsible for leading the Opus marketing and sales efforts and for implementing our sales protocols to help drive continued growth as we expand beyond affordable housing into market-rate communities serving middle-income...
Audrey Broner

Audrey Broner

Director of Evaluation
Audrey comes to 2Life with more than 30 years of program administration and evaluation experience. She believes that accurate data is essential to measure the impact of 2Life’s programs and services. Audrey led the acquisition, customization and implementation of 2Life’s resident database, which informs staff’s practices and program development. She is fully committed to supporting data informed...
Deborah Cutler, LICSW

Debbi Cutler, LICSW

Director of Health and Aging Programs
Debbi has more than 30 years of professional experience providing social work services and supervision to clinicians working with older adults, as well as experience in program management in affordable, supportive housing. Debbi came to 2Life from Brigham and Women’s Hospital where she was a social work manager. Prior to that, she was the director of behavioral health at Hearth, Inc., an...
Karen Edlund

Karen Edlund

Chief Financial Officer
Karen has more than 20 years of experience working at the intersection of finance, affordable housing, and real estate. This expertise is an invaluable resource in her role as chief financial officer for 2Life Communities. Karen has significant experience in tax credit housing and investment finance. She is a past president of the Boston chapter of Financial Executives International, a board...
Rabbi Giulia Fleishman

Rabbi Giulia Fleishman

Director of Spiritual Care
For Rabbi Giulia, discovering new and ancient ways to support the individual and communal spiritual lives of those she serves continually grounds and inspires her work. She is especially talented at facilitating life-giving and authentic encounters for people to tap into their personal sense of meaning and connection in the world. Amongst other programs, this is evidenced by the B’nei Mitzvah...
Sarah Glassman

Sarah Glassman

Chief of Property Management
Ensuring everyone has quality housing they can afford has been a personal mission for Sarah throughout her career. Prior to joining 2Life Communities, Sarah worked for Edgemere Consulting assisting housing authorities with programmatic and operational assessments, strategic planning, rental assistance demonstration (RAD) applications and other assistance leveraging her deep technical knowledge...
Benn Grover

Benn Grover

Chief Marketing Officer
For nearly two decades, Benn has led strategic marketing and communications efforts for some of the most influential mission-driven organizations in their respective fields. His past leadership experience includes Health Care Without Harm, one of the most storied organizations working at the intersection of climate change and health care; the National Forum for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention...
Allison Daskal Hausman

Allison Daskal Hausman

Director of Communications
Throughout her career, Allison has focused on communications strategy and storytelling as a means to initiate and support social change. Prior to joining 2Life Communities in 2021, Allison created and produced The Pledge Podcast to share inspiring stories of women's political engagement. She previously served as director of communications and engagement at Education Resource Strategies (ERS)...
Edgard Hunt

Edgard Hunt

Director of Dining Services
For Edgard, seeing people gather around food is an essential part of the joy of living in community. He brings to 2Life Communities more than a decade of culinary and hospitality experience working alongside some of New England's most celebrated chefs and restaurateurs. Edgard received his degree in hotel management and food & beverage management from Johnson & Wales University. Edgard combines...
Stacy Khalil

Stacy Khalil

Director of Fitness
Stacy Khalil’s goal is to keep seniors in her care active and engaged as she serves as the Director of Fitness at 2Life Communities. Before her work at 2Life, she was a Fitness therapist at Hebrew Senior Life. Stacy is a certified Senior Fitness Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), a certified Tai Chi instructor through Tai Chi for Arthritis Foundation, a FLEX...
Elijah Image

Elijah Lapson

Chief Technology Officer
While technology has changed considerably over the past quarter century, Elijah’s goal of tapping the power of information to help others has not. Over more than 25 years managing enterprise systems, he has provided expert leadership to information technology teams. At 2Life Communities, Elijah applied his expertise to help meet the challenge of the pandemic, including a mobile device lending...
Diane Leeming

Diane Leeming

Director of Accounting
Diane understands the crucial role finance plays in supporting our mission at 2Life Communities. With more than 30 years of experience in accounting and finance, including decades working in senior living and affordable housing, she helps ensure our financial strength. A member of the 2Life Communities team since 1996, Diane’s excellent communications and leadership skills have helped strengthen...
Emily Levine

Emily Levine

Chief of Staff
Emily brings an extensive background in legislative policy and advocacy to her position as chief of staff. She drives our broader strategic initiatives and external policy work, including overseeing 2Life’s Aging in Community Collaborative. Before joining 2Life, Emily served as the director of policy and advocacy at Horizons for Homeless Children. She developed legislation and advocated to secure...
Molly McKenna

Molly McKenna

Director of Program Development
Molly first began her work at 2Life as a Social Work intern and has used her collaborative and analytical skills to engage colleagues and residents in developing and sustaining resident-centric programs and services. She is a licensed Macro Social Worker with 10 years of experience in the field of aging. Beginning her career as a case manager and caregiver specialist at Springwell, one of Eastern...
Jim Montague

Jim Montague

Chief Human Resources Officer
Jim believes it is the diversity of his experience that helps him to bring innovative solutions to workforce challenges and that has enhanced his ability to understand the needs of multiple constituencies at the same time. He has held a broad range of Human Resources and Organizational Development roles in a variety of industries, companies, institutions, and organizations including MassGeneral...
Joseph O'Toolle III, CFM

Joseph O'Toole III, CFM

Director of Facilities
Making each of our residents feel at home is at the core of our mission and Joseph plays a key role in helping us keep our campuses at their best. He oversees every aspect of facilities maintenance and repair, from managing our maintenance supervisors to developing standards of operation to contributing his expertise to renovation and construction projects. With six campuses across the Boston area...
Gina Plata

Gina Plata

Chief of Community Life
Gina’s ability to collaborate with others to find innovative solutions to complex social problems is what makes her such an effective, cross-cultural leader. She brings to 2Life Communities more than 20 years of experience working with nonprofit organizations, social service agencies and linguistically, ethnically and culturally diverse communities. Her extensive skillset includes organizational...
Zoe Weinrobe

Zoe Weinrobe

Director of Real Estate
Zoe has devoted herself to the field of affordable housing finance and development for nearly two decades. Since joining 2Life Communities in 2016, she has overseen completed development projects totaling more than $100 million, projects in development totaling over $200 million, and a number of potential prospects to realize our long-term growth strategy. Prior to 2Life, Zoe served as vice...

Community Executive Directors

Veronica Baez

Veronica Baez

Executive Director, Shirley Meadows
As a Property Manager with over 10 years of experience working in Human Services, Veronica is inspired daily by the joy and enthusiasm residents bring to the community. She is a powerful force in the workplace and uses her positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to succeed. Veronica started her career in the field as a Resident Service Coordinator and remains passionate about...
Betsy Closs

Betsy Closs

Executive Director, Shillman House
Betsy has dedicated her professional career to helping people live their own lives in the manner that work bests for them. As executive director of Shillman House since 2017, she has actively pursued that mission every day. Prior to joining 2Life Communities, Betsy served in a variety of roles supporting people with disabilities. She directed the Disability Inclusion Initiative at Combined Jewish...
Denise Hamilton

Denise Hamilton

Executive Director, Brighton Campus
As executive director at our largest campus, Denise is a true “servant leader,” focusing on building relationships of mutual respect with staff and with residents and their families. A skilled multi-tasker and proven builder of high-performing teams, Denise has more than 25 years of experience as a licensed clinician, director, and executive team member in well-known non-profit human service...
Cindy Katzeff

Cindy Katzeff

Executive Director, Brown Family House
For Cindy, finding creative ways to meet our residents’ needs and desires is a joyous pursuit. She has a talent for overcoming formidable challenges, which she demonstrated by orchestrating the move-in at the Brown Family House when it opened in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. ARM Certified (Accredited Residential Manager), Cindy joined 2Life Communities in 2014, bringing experience in both...
Myra Marshall

Myra Marshall

Executive Director, Golda Meir House
For Myra, creating an inclusive culture that celebrates the diverse backgrounds of residents and staff is a priority. Her leadership in this area led to Golda Meir House receiving in 2014 an Exemplary Elderly Property Award from the New England Affordable Housing Management Association. Myra has a passion for working with older adults and a strong commitment to building a warm, engaging, and...
Robin Nasson

Robin Nasson

Executive Director, Coleman House
Robin has been an integral part of Coleman House since 1996, providing both leadership and companionship to the residents and staff. She has spent virtually her entire career at 2Life Communities, beginning with her graduate school internship. Before taking on the role of Executive Director, she served as group services coordinator at our Brighton Campus and as resident services coordinator at...

Board of Directors

Jeffrey Sacks
Board Chair

Jeff Sacks is a leading community development attorney. His clients include large community development corporations, senior housing providers and housing authorities as well as a variety of large institutional service providers. Jeff often represents nonprofit organizations that are embarking on major real estate projects that allow their organizations to deliver their services in new and innovative ways. He works with his clients in using federal low-income housing and historic tax credits to develop affordable housing and mixed-use developments. 
 
Jeff has also worked with a range of public housing authorities to transform of some of the most outdated public housing projects in the Commonwealth into new and vital communities that continue to serve their low-income residents. He served as a public housing authority commissioner for more than 20 years and, in 2013, worked on new legislation in Massachusetts to modernize and reform the Commonwealth’s public housing system. Much of Jeff’s nonprofit work involves advising nonprofit boards of directors about the most efficient and effective legal and financial approaches for fulfilling their corporate missions. 
 
Jeff served as the first chair of the Newton Community Preservation Committee and has worked with that program for more than ten years. This unique state and local partnership provides funding exclusively for community housing, open space preservation, historic preservation and recreation facilities in cities and towns across the Commonwealth.
 

President & CEO
Amy Schectman

Treasurer
Norman Posner

Clerk
David Zaltas

Policy Board
Donald Bloch
Laura Efron
Lynne Elfland
Howard Furman
Robert Gifford
Catharyn Gildesgame
Stacy Goodman
Merle Grandberg
Harvey Greenberg
Donna Kalikow
Bernard Kaplan
Wendy Kraft
Noah Maslan
Adam Scott
Bill Shaevel
Barry Shrage
Harold Stahler
Candace Steingisser
David Trietsch
Harold Tubman

Emeritus
Lenore Asher*
Mickey Cail*
Irwin Chafetz
Joan Cutler*
Ellen Feingold
Robert Helman
Clifton Helman*
Rudolph Kass*
Irma Schretter
Mildred Guberman Kravetz
Norman Leventhal*
Paul Rosenberg*
Melvin Scovell
Marc Slotnick*
Stephen P. Snyder
Alan Solomont
Peter Ulin*
Elaine Werby*
George Wolfe*
 

*of blessed memory