Board of Directors

Our Leadership

The Tikvah Board of Directors is comprised of a talented group of individuals who bring many strengths to the organization. They are stewards of the organization’s strategic plan and insure its implementation. They are committed to moving the mission forward and serving its members in the Greater Delaware Valley.

Neen Davis

President

Neen Davis is passionate about helping those with a serious mental illness and their loved ones. She has dedicated her time and talents to this cause for the past twenty years when her son, Ben, first became diagnosed with Schizophrenia. Ben is Neen’s hero.

As past President of NAMI Montgomery County PA (National Alliance on Mental Illness), a current board member of NAMI Montgomery County PA (for the past 20 years), and a current board member of NAMI Keystone PA, Neen is not only familiar with the needs of the mental health community, but has a keen understanding of the importance to advocate, educate and support those with the lived experience and their loved ones.

Neen believes in Tikvah’s mission to empower adults living with a mental illness so that they may feel accomplished, independent and fulfilled. Neen graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Science and received her Masters in Education from Tufts University.

Neen is a member of Congregation Beth Or in Maple Glen, PA.

Michael Solomon

Secretary

Michael Solomon is a graduate of Villanova University with a BA in Liberal Arts. He has been involved with Tikvah since its beginning.

Michael enjoys serving on the board of directors and is currently on the Outreach Committee. He has been happily married to his wife Judy Weinberger for more than ten years.

In addition to being a proud member of Tikvah and its board, Michael is also a member of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness).

“Don’t walk behind me I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of me I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.” – Camus

Ross Shuster

Treasurer

Ross is a graduate of Stony Brook University with a BA in Sociology, and of Temple University’s Fox School of Business with a Master’s degree in Healthcare Management. Ross has worked in the healthcare field for 10 years in both the health system and management consulting settings. In his current role, Ross works with hospital and health system leadership teams on a wide-range of strategic, financial, and business planning matters.

Mental health advocacy is something that Ross and his family have always believed strongly in, with his late mother serving in both social work and executive director roles at mental health organizations throughout her career, and with his family dedicating their time and support to organizations serving those with mental illness.

Ross is thrilled to serve in the role of Treasurer, and looks forward to seeing the organization support our members while continuing to grow and prosper.

Rabbi Ephraim Levin

Religious Adviser

Rabbi Ephraim Levin is the Director of the Lubavitch House at Penn since 1990 and Assistant Director of Jewish Heritage Programs. Ephraim is associated with the Office of the Chaplain at Penn and advises the student active listening club, Cogwell. Ephraim has been the rabbinical advisor and a board member of Tikvah since 1992. He is also a chaplain at the VA Community Living Center in University City.

Ephraim received a BA in Religious Studies from the Rabbinical College of America, a rabbinical degree from Lubavitch Yeshiva in Brooklyn, in 1989 and a B.S. in Psychology from Georgetown in 1981. Ephraim and his wife, Flora, have five children and currently live in Wynnewood.

Paul Bucco, Esq.

Paul is a founding partner of Davis Bucco and Makara. With more than 35 years of experience as a civil lawyer, Paul has focused his work on construction, labor law, zoning and general commercial litigation. He has represented all construction industry participants, including owners, general contractors, subcontractors, material and equipment suppliers, architects, engineers and sureties. Paul has also represented real estate developers and builders in complicated zoning matters and has substantial experience in the construction and commercial arbitration process as an attorney, arbitrator and mediator. During his 35 years of practice, Paul has extensive labor relations experience representing management in both non-union and union workplace environments. He has been a Master in the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County for municipal construction industry matters.

Rabbi Sandra Berliner

Rabbi Sandra Rosenthal Berliner presently serves as the Rabbi of Congregations Shaare Shamayim in Elkins Park, PA.

She is a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College where she received her Rabbinical Ordination and Masters of Hebrew Letters degree as well as an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity. Rabbi Berliner received a Masters degree in Social Work from Case Western Reserve University and her Bachelor degree in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University. Rabbi Berliner is certified as a Jewish Chaplain by the National Association of Jewish Chaplains and is an active founding member, and past president, of that organization.

Rabbi Berliner directed Yedid Nefesh, the Jewish Hospice Program of Philadelphia for 12 years, and Congregation Temple Menorah Kenesseth Chai. She is part of the Spiritual Care Coalition of the Philadelphia Corporation on Aging.

Rabbi Berliner loves singing and has participated in many Jewish Choral programs. She is married to Roy Berliner and has 3 sons.

Eileen Joseph

Eileen got her B.A. in Psychology & Sociology from Widener University in 1975, and her M.S. in Mental Health Program Evaluation from Drexel University in 1978. She is a certified psychiatric rehabilitation practitioner and served as the President and CEO for CareLink Community Support Services until her retirement in 2020.

Eileen has won several awards and honors, including the Dincin Fellow in Psychiatric Rehabilitation for Standards of Excellence in Psychiatric Rehabilitation (2010), the Schizophrenia Reintegration Award in Social Services, Lilly Foundation (2001), and the Irvin Rutman Award for Leadership and Exemplary Contributions to the Field of Psychiatric Rehabilitation (2001).

Robert Singer

Robert has been a Tikvah member since 1992. He has served on the board of directors and the outreach committee for several years. Robert is a a NAMI member and trained to do In Our Own Voice. He also facilitates a NAMI Connections group. Robert earned a degree in Biology from Temple University.

“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?” – Robert Browning

Robert E. Wenger, MD

After a satisfying career as a Penn-trained psychiatrist, I often reflect on the privilege it has been working with individuals who entrusted me with their confidences and life stories. My professional life has been rooted in the public sector where I have served in a variety of roles. I spent a decade, for example, as a psychiatric hospitalist and director of inpatient services while pursuing psychoanalytic education. I also served as Associate Director at the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Student Health and Counseling Services.

In more recent years, I have split my time between private office practice and running, first, an adolescent program for youth with serious behavioral issues and, then, leading a residential rehabilitation program for adults with serious mental illness. In the mid-2000’s, I was part of a team helping to establish a residential rehab program at the Veterans Administration for psychosocially impaired, often addicted, homeless Vets. Since that time, I have worked in a variety of psychiatric programs treating addictions and community-based comprehensive health concerns.

But, perhaps, the most instructive element of my professional life arose from personal experience. My wife and I, like so many others, encountered, in our own family, the challenges of coping with the serious developmental and emotional disequilibrium of a child. Despite our combined professional training, we were still unprepared for the hurdles of identifying and securing appropriate care. Learning about medical insurance contingencies and the legal entanglements of securing care was daunting. In addition, awkward societal silences around our circumstances and the stigma of sharing openly led us, finally and thankfully, to NAMI. In this organization, we finally found, through the Family-to-Family training, a support group that, 15 years later, still meet quarterly for support and encouragement.

Through my experience I would like to raise awareness and encourage discussion within the Jewish community of what can be done to afford those with mental health challenges a greater opportunity to live a fuller, more meaningful life.