The Weinberg Foundation is pleased to announce the selection of a new trustee, as well as the assignment of new leadership roles in its Hawaii office.
On November 30, 2018, Alvin Awaya, Trustee and Vice President/Chief Executive Officer of the Hawaii office, will conclude 44 years of service with the Foundation. Awaya’s tenure included leadership and direction of the Hawaii office, which manages the Foundation’s real estate holdings and grantmaking in the Hawaiian Islands. He worked for a national CPA firm before starting his career with Harry Weinberg in 1974 and has served in a dual role as both trustee and employee of the Foundation since 1990.
Looking to the future, the Weinberg Foundation’s Board has unanimously selected Gordon Berlin to succeed Awaya as trustee. Berlin will begin his term on December 1, 2018. “The Foundation expresses its sincere gratitude to Alvin for his extraordinary accomplishments, as well as the legacy he leaves—the spirit and values of Aloha,” said Board Chair Robert T. Kelly, Jr. “The Foundation will greatly benefit from Gordon’s breadth and depth of experience, especially in the areas of tactical grantmaking and impact assessment. His voice will be a welcome addition to discussions ranging from investment management, finance and audit matters, to strategic grantmaking, grant evaluation, and community engagement.”
In 2004, Berlin was appointed President of MDRC, a New York-based nonprofit, nonpartisan education and social policy research organization dedicated to learning the most effective ways of improving programs and policies that affect the poor. Before joining MDRC in 1990, he served as Executive Deputy Administrator for Management, Budget, and Policy at the $6-billion, 33,000-person New York City Human Resources Administration. Berlin worked for six years as a program officer and Deputy Director of the Ford Foundation’s Urban Poverty program, where he gained a reputation as a creative and effective grantmaker and respected leader in the philanthropic community. Throughout his career, he has developed and managed programs to address problems of persistent poverty affecting vulnerable populations, including welfare dependency, homelessness, and unemployment. Berlin has worked to improve the nation’s public and nonprofit workforce, education (from early childhood through college), and social welfare programs and systems. He and his wife Kathryn are both long-standing members of Temple Beth Emeth v’Orr Progressive Shaari Zedek in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.
“I am humbled to be entrusted with the responsibility of serving on The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation Board of Trustees,” said Berlin. “I was born and raised in Baltimore and have lifelong ties to the Baltimore community. Now living and working in New York City, I am pleased to see the results of the Foundation’s substantial investments in both communities. This is not a surprise,” he added. “In my previous work with the Foundation, I have seen firsthand the Board and staff’s dedication, passion, and commitment to fulfilling its mission to improve the life chances of those living on the margins of society, enhancing the quality of Jewish life, and building the social and physical capital of the communities in which it works. Serving as a trustee will provide a welcome opportunity to draw on my experiences in philanthropy, public service, and nonprofit leadership to advance the Foundation’s objectives and give back to the communities I have been a part of.”
Over the past decade, the Foundation has had the privilege of working with MDRC, and directly with Gordon Berlin, to complete several significant grant evaluations involving US education, workforce development, and housing. Berlin has also led the evaluation of programs for older adults and job training in Israel, administered by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC).
“With Gordon on board, the Foundation will undoubtedly benefit from the depth of his knowledge regarding best practices for foundation operations,” said President and CEO Rachel Garbow Monroe. “In particular, his grantmaking expertise will elevate and inform our work, which will include approximately $120 million in grants next year.”
The Foundation has also appointed Corbett Kalama to succeed Alvin Awaya as leader of the Hawaii office. Kalama will be promoted to the position of Executive Vice President, Hawaii Office, effective December 1, 2018. Kalama was hired in 2013 as Vice President of Real Estate Investments and Community Affairs. His new role will include management of all Hawaii office operations, including the annual distribution of $12 million in grants in Hawaii. He will also serve as liaison to the Foundation’s leadership and staff in Baltimore. In addition to his management responsibilities, Kalama will continue to be a visible and key public representative of the Foundation in the business, philanthropic, nonprofit, and government sectors of Hawaii.
The Foundation is also pleased to announce the hiring of Giorgio Caldarone as Managing Director, Hawaii Real Estate. In this newly created position, Caldarone will be responsible for overseeing the Foundation’s real estate portfolio and will lead the management of more than 250 properties held by the Foundation in Hawaii. He will begin his role on September 4, 2018. Caldarone will work closely with the Foundation’s Baltimore-based investment team as he formulates and executes a strategy to optimize returns and cash flow, with a particular focus on property operations, dispositions, redevelopment/repositioning, recapitalization (including ground leases and master leases), and joint-venture options.
Most recently, Caldarone served as Senior Director of Planning and Development, as well as Director of Real Estate Planning and Regional Asset Manager for Kamehameha Schools in Honolulu. He supervised a team of eight professionals responsible for planning and development activities for a $3.5 billion commercial real estate portfolio. Prior positions included consulting roles both as an independent consultant, as well as with KPMG Consulting, Inc. (currently BearingPoint, Inc.). He is a graduate of West Point and was direct commissioned into the United States Marine Corps where he served for six years. Caldarone received his MBA from the University of Hawaii.
The Weinberg Foundation operates as one organization with two offices: its headquarters location of Baltimore, Maryland (37 employees) and Honolulu, Hawaii (15 employees).
Effective December 1, 2018, the Foundation’s trustees will be Robert T. Kelly, Jr., Board Chair; Donn Weinberg; Ambassador Fay Hartog-Levin (Ret.); Paula B. Pretlow; and Gordon Berlin. Rachel Garbow Monroe continues to serve as President and CEO.
