Our Foundation Leadership

who we are

Executive Leadership Team

Francine A. LeFrak

president & founder

Francine A. LeFrak is the President of the Francine A. LeFrak Foundation and the Same Sky Foundation Fund. A successful social entrepreneur, women’s rights advocate and philanthropist, Francine founded a trade initiative, Same Sky, to help women who were invisible become visible through the dignity of work.
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Rick Friedberg

vice president

As President of Liberty Connections, Ltd, Rick provides consulting and strategic advice for businesses and non-profit organizations. He is also a real estate agent with Douglas Elliman specializing in high-end residential properties in New York City.

He was appointed by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, as Director of Advance and as Deputy Commissioner to the NYC Commission for the United Nations, Consular Corps and Protocol. Mr. Friedberg also served as Confidential Assistant to Governor Hugh L. Carey of New York.
 
Rick Friedberg serves on many prestigious boards including, The American Friends of Versailles, American Hospital in Paris Foundation, and NYC & Company. His previous board roles include serving as the Chairman of the NYC Police Museum and as a board member of the New York Pops and the Lighthouse Guild for the Blind. In 2010 Rick received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. 

Jill Wierbicki Abrahams

Executive Director and Secretary

Jill Wierbicki Abrahams brings an expansive background and over three decades of working in philanthropy to the Francine A. LeFrak Foundation. Most recently, she was Vice President for Advancement of Mount Ida College. Prior to her role at Mount Ida, Jill served as Director of Major Gifts and Gift Planning at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

As Executive Director and Secretary for the Foundation, Jill works with the Founder to clarify the Foundation’s vision and strategy while building a team of staff and partners to fulfill our belief that talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. Our goal is to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to use their talents and to be successful. Jill is responsible for ensuring that the Francine A. LeFrak Foundation’s fiscal, operations and grant management are effectively implemented throughout the organization.

Jill has an MBA from UMASS – Dartmouth and a BS in Business Administration from Stonehill College.

Blair Feldman

Treasurer

Blair Feldman is the Director of Family Office at Prager Metis CPAs, a member of Prager Metis International Group. Blair has over 12 years of experience serving high-net-worth individuals.

Blair’s expertise is in helping both high-net-worth individuals and families protect, preserve, and grow there wealth. She specializes in reviewing the current processes of both single and multi-family offices. This provides her the insight that is required to implement the best processes when it comes to the individuals and/or families assets.

Blair is a big proponent of streamlining and aggregating information using the preeminent technology to create a clear picture of her client’s wealth. She acts as a liaison in helping with financial planning and asset preservation. The most critical part of Blair’s job is understanding security and confidentiality. She believes in the importance of a team approach and cultivating personal relationships with her clients. As a trusted advisor and a member of their core team, she prioritizes, creating an atmosphere of mutual trust and confidence.

Blair is active in the community and is currently the treasurer and trustee on the board of a private foundation that supports women’s empowerment.

Jay Goldberg

Jay Goldberg is a Partner in the Tax and Advisory Departments of Prager Metis CPAs, a member of Prager Metis International Group. He has over 30 years’ experience in the profession.

Jay has expertise in advising individuals and companies in the entertainment, legal, medical and real estate industries, in addition to working closely with high-net-worth individuals and family offices. Jay takes a proactive approach with his clients. He collaborates thoroughly with them to understand their unique circumstances and tailors plans to help meet their financial goals.

As Partner-in-Charge of High-Net-Worth Individuals and Family Office Tax Services, Jay maintains the firm’s management and operations pertaining to high-net-worth individuals and family offices.

Sheila Klehm

Sheila has earned a reputation as a philanthropist, dedicated advocate for women’s financial independence and education, and talented Private Wealth Advisor. In her career, she serves prominent individuals, families, family offices, trusts and foundations around the world. Sheila draws on her 30+ years of experience to deliver personalized and creative wealth management solutions tailored to her clients’ needs.

Sheila understands the concerns, dynamics and possibilities that significant wealth presents. Her goal is to help clients solve their most complex issues across investment portfolio construction, wealth transfer planning, and meeting long-term trust, estate and philanthropic goals.

She began her career at JP Morgan, where, over the course of 22 years, she worked with and led teams that advised ultra high net worth clients about their personal and business finances. She worked with Morgan Stanley Private Wealth from 2007 to 2014, and has been with UBS since 2014.

As a regular speaker on personal finance topics for women’s groups and events, Sheila has presented at Maria Shriver’s Move for Minds—Women’s Health Summit, the Villanova University Women’s Leadership Summit, and as a panelist and presenter for Morph Mom conferences.

Professionally, Sheila earned a place on the List of Top 100 Female Advisors by Barron’s, and the Best 50 Women in Business by NJBIZ, New Jersey’s leading business journal. In 2012, the Villanova Business School awarded her its highest honor, the Rev. Joseph C. Bartley, OSA Alumni Medallion, for her distinguished career and extraordinary service to her community and the school.

Sheila is a member of Women Moving Millions, The Harvard Kennedy School, Women's Leadership Board, The Villanova University Board of Trustees and is a Director of The Francine A. LeFrak Foundation.