Rachel Hodes
Chief Program Officer
(she, her, hers)

Rachel Hodes attended Rutgers University where she received a BA in Political Science and New York University where she received a Masters in Public Administration in Non-Profit Management and a Masters in Judaic and Hebraic Studies. Rachel previously worked at UJA-Federation of NY in a variety of capacities, was a founder of the Moishe House Murray Hill, is an Ariane de Rothschild Fellow, a member of the ROI Community, and a 21/64 Certified Advisor. Rachel also currently serves as Chair of the Democratic Party in Hoboken, New Jersey, where she lives with her husband Jason Freeman.

Sarah Strnad
Director of Community Development
(she, her, hers)

Sarah’s career spans both the corporate and non-profit sectors. She is a seasoned Jewish non-profit professional, beginning her career as a Hillel JCSC Fellow, and previously serving as Director of Operations and Community Engagement at Lab/Shul, Director of Operations at Kolot Chayeinu, an Event Planning Consultant at Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ), and Assistant Director of Partners for Progressive Israel (formerly Meretz USA). Sarah also worked at AXA Equitable for four years, was a community organizer on JFREJ’s Shalom Bayit campaign for domestic workers, and did a graduate internship with Rabbis for Human Rights in Jerusalem. She has a B.A. in Jewish Studies, Hebrew, and Political Science from Indiana University in Bloomington, and a M.A. in International Human Rights from the Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. Sarah lives in Brooklyn with her wife Rachel and their Mini Goldendoodle Charley.

Philip Silverman
Slingshot Board Member, Fellowship Chair
(he, him, his)

Philip Silverman joined Slingshot in 2013 and participated in one of the Slingshot Fund cohorts in an effort to meet like-minded individuals as he took a lead role in navigating the creation of his family's own foundation. After participating in two different Slingshot Funds, he joined the board and was also part of the Executive Committee. In addition, Philip manages and oversees his family's Family Office which focuses on the real estate and biotech sectors. He currently lives in New York City with his two year old daughter and wife, who he met at Slingshot. Philip attended the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and grew up outside of Chicago.

Fellowship Staff

Dr. Randy Chittum

Dr. Randy Chittum has more than thirty years experience in leadership and organizational development.  This includes coaching, facilitating teams, teaching workshops, delivering keynotes, and system-level organizational development such as culture alignment, and strategy development.

Areas of expertise include transformation, complexity, navigating polarities, leading during uncertainty, emotional intelligence, change & transition, and strategy.

Dr. Chittum enjoys being in the conversation with leaders and teams that they most need and want to have.  He brings transparency and lightness to his work that creates an environment conducive to doing the work.  His intention when working with leaders is to create sustainable change through mindful practice.  Randy believes that a leader’s ability to slow the action and reflect on one’s internal landscape is the key to leading in a world characterized by volatility, uncertainty, ambiguity, and rapidly increasing complexity.  The capacities for thriving in our evolving world require comfort with the paradox of “being still while in motion.”

 He has worked at all levels in most sectors and industries.  These organizations range in size from a dozen employees to multi-billion dollar publicly traded companies.  A sample of organizations include The Securities and Exchange Commission, The Federal Reserve Board, Credit Human of San Antonio, nThrive, Schusterman Foundation, US Army, US Navy, Mathematica, Gables Residential, American Forest & Paper Association, American Institute of Architects, and more.

 In addition to his consulting and coaching work, Randy has worked inside organizations.  These include serving as the Vice President, Leadership Development where he reported to the CEO and managed all aspects of leadership and succession planning.  After nine years this company was acquired, and his role shifted to supporting leaders as they engaged in the challenging work of integration and change.  It was this time that Randy became even more convinced of the power of intention, mindfulness, and emotional maturity.

 Dr. Chittum serves on the faculty in the Institute for Transformational Leadership at Georgetown University. He has taught in the Leadership Coaching program for twenty years.  He also created and co-directed the Transformational Leadership program, a nineteen-day leadership development program for senior leaders.  He has previously taught leadership and organizational development at the graduate and undergraduate level at Georgetown University, among others.

 He authored three chapters in On Becoming a Leadership Coach (2013).  Randy has also written many columns and articles for various trade magazines and websites.  Topics covered included vision, goal setting, complexity, safety, leading in chaos, navigating polarities, and more.

Tobin Belzer, PhD

Tobin is an applied sociologist who develops research and program evaluations to support the work of non-profit organizations and philanthropists. She is a Contributing Fellow at the Center for Religion and Civic Culture (CRCC) at the University of Southern California and a Research Affiliate at Stanford SPARQ.

Contact: tbelzer@gmail.com