A big transition is taking place this summer in the leadership of the Lower East Side’s oldest settlement house.
After 28 years, Michael Zisser is stepping down as head of University Settlement and The Door. Recently the board of directors announced the appointment of Eric Weingartner as chief executive officer.
Weingartner has spent the past seven years as managing director of the Robin Hood Foundation. In the past two decades, he’s also held senior positions in city government as well as the non-profit sector. He was a policy advisor to Michael Bloomberg and Rudy Giuliani, specializing in welfare reform, neighborhood economic development, public education, youth development, higher education, and workforce programming.
“In my years of work on poverty and related issues,” Weingartner said in a statement, “I have appreciated the intelligence and fortitude that University Settlement and The Door have brought to some of our toughest challenges as a City. The culmination of my work in philanthropy, government and the non-profit sector, I hope leaves me well positioned to lead these effective organizations.”
University Settlement is a nearly 130-year-old social services organization with programs on the Lower East Side and throughout New York City. The Door, founded in 1972, provides youth development services.
University Settlement will continue to be led by Executive Director Melissa Aase, while Julie Shapiro is staying on as executive director of The Door.
We sat down recently to talk with Michael Zisser about his years on the Lower East Side. We’ll have that story in the next several days.
