Tikva Housing Society

Our People

Volunteers are a highly valued resource and the Board is actively seeking participants with a passion for finding innovative housing solutions in our community and a strong desire to contribute to a fast growing organization.

Please contact Tikva staff at 778-998-4582 or info@tikvahousing.org to learn more about how you can help Tikva Housing.

2024-2025 Board of Directors:

Co-Chair

Co-Chair

Vice-Chair

Treasurer

Director

Director

Director

Director

Director

Director

Director

Staff

Anat Gogo

Nick Miles

Joe Anderson

May Stefanov 

Edwina Haboosheh

Ethan Stoppi

Danielle Gvili

Executive Director

Director of Operations

Property Manager

Tenant Relations Coordinator

Finance Coordinator

Property Services Assistant

Administrative Assistant

Community Liaisons

Viktoriia Bernard – Jewish Family Services

Board Bios

Penny Gurstein


Board Member Since 2022

Penny is originally from Saskatchewan, and has called Vancouver home for many years. She is a Professor Emeritus and immediate past Director of the School of Community and Regional Planning, and current Director of the Housing Research Collaborative at UBC. Penny has a BA in Sociology from York University, a BA in Architecture from UBC, and a Masters and PhD in Architecture from University of California, Berkeley. Among the Boards she has served on are Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, where she was board liaison to Tikva Housing, and BC Housing. She has an adult daughter, and enjoys hiking, and doing art. She has a wealth of knowledge pertaining to non-profit housing, and is very pleased to be able to serve on the board to further Tikva’s goals.

Andrew Charney

Board Member Since 2022

Andrew was born and raised in Toronto but has been in Vancouver for over four years now, after having lived and worked across Canada, the Netherlands and Spain. He completed his undergrad at the University of Guelph where he studied International Business and Spanish, and recently completed his MSc in Cities at the London School of Economics. He has worked for the past 11 years at CAPREIT, one of Canada’s largest housing providers, and recently moved on from CAPREIT as Associate Director of Operations, overseeing their BC residential portfolio, to Director of Asset Management, Residential, at Peterson Group. He volunteers for JFS Vancouver and loves the great outdoors.

Jeremy Berger

Board Member Since 2019

Jeremy has been involved in the real estate industry since 2012, and is currently working as a commercial property manager. He moved to Vancouver from France at a young age, and went on to complete his B.Comm from UBC, followed by the Diploma of Urban Land Economics. He has also received the RI designation from the Real Estate Institute of BC.  Jeremy has some previous board experience and is keen to apply his knowledge and passion for real estate to help provide affordable housing opportunities for the community thanks to Tikva Housing Society.

Oriana Gertsman

Board Member Since 2023

Oriana is a lifelong Vancouverite with a passion for commercial real estate. She has a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a Real Estate specialization from the University of British Columbia and has since developed real estate development and finance expertise. She is part of the debt financing team at Grosvenor, an international property company active in North America for over 70 years. Oriana also volunteers on the Education Outreach Committee of CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) Vancouver. She enjoys walking her city’s beautiful seawall and exploring Vancouver’s diverse food scene.

Rhonda Sacks

Board Member Since 2019

Rhonda Sacks was born and raised in Winnipeg. She lived in Toronto for 10  years and has called Vancouver home for almost 30 years. She began her professional career in fashion importing, fostering relationships across the country & around the world. Her passion for executive management led to various leadership positions in the for-profit and not-for-profit arenas. Most recently, Rhonda spent 10 years as a residential Realtor with a passion for building meaningful relationships and providing exceptional service. Rhonda recognizes that safe, secure and affordable housing is an extremely important priority in our community. Rhonda is proud of Tikva’s diverse, affordable housing solutions and is grateful to be a part of Tikva’s pursuit of Tikkun Olam.

Rory Richards

Board Member Since 2019

Rory Richards has been a dynamic force in business and public relations in Canada for nearly 20 years. With a strong background in project management and government relations, Rory has worked with a myriad of high-profile clients from project conceptualization to development to project sales and marketing.  Rory attended the Real Estate Division of the Sauder School of Business at UBC, and studied property development at Langara College and Urban Design at SFU. She is currently Vice President of Stakeholder Relations at Meridian Modular, an international company specializing in steel-frame modular construction.

Rory is a longstanding member and committed volunteer within the Jewish Community, she is an alum of the Jewish Federation Leadership program and has worked with a number of community agencies and organizations, including JFSA and Canadian Jewish Congress.

Sheila Sontz

Board Member Since 2020

Sheila brings both commercial and residential real estate expertise and a genuine interest in helping to resolve housing issues within the Jewish Community.  Educated at York University, BCIT and UBC’s Sauder School of Business.

Haley Crooks

Board Member Since 2021

Haley has an M.Ed in School Psychology from the University of British Columbia and is passionate about giving back to the community. Her keen interest in affordable housing was inspired by her passion to help the homeless. Haley is particularly interested in Tikva’s efforts to prevent homelessness.

Robyn Cooper

Board Member Since 2024

Robyn was born and raised in Vancouver. She obtained a BA in Psychology from the University of Victoria and has a Doctor of Law from Thompson Rivers University. Robyn has practiced commercial real estate for the past seven years, initially as an associate with a national law firm and currently, as Director, Legal at Peterson Group. She looks forward to using her experience to support Tikva’s mission of providing affordable housing to the community.

Alexander Ray

Board Member Since 2024

Partner at Frame Properties. Alex has extensive experience in acquisitions, deal-making, construction, development, marketing, and sales, Alex covers the full spectrum of development. “I’m proud to be a part of a team dedicated to building homes that will stand the test of time and contribute to the fabric of the community they’re built in. At Frame, we believe in building homes that are timeless and thoughtfully designed to maximize every inch of our homebuyers’ experience.” 

Barbara Gordon

Board Member Since 2024

Barbara Gordon was born and raised in Vancouver. After completing a bachelor’s degree at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Barb returned to Vancouver to study architecture at UBC, and then moved on to Toronto to start her architectural career, working on non-profit housing, theatres, and commercial renovations. Wooing her husband back to Vancouver with strategic visits during cherry-blossom season, Barb worked part-time for a few years while her kids were very young, and then had the great fortune of working in UBC Infrastructure Development for 20 years, as a facilities planner, project manager, and finally as the Director of Capital Planning. 

Barb has spent her first year of retirement having fun travelling and making pottery, and is now at the point of wanting to be involved in something meaningful which will draw on her 35+ years of experience in architecture and facilities. She is increasingly dismayed at how her beloved “overgrown beach town” is becoming a big globally focused city that is indifferent to providing for the needs of its residents, and in particular in ensuring that housing is affordable for those who make the city function. At the same time, after enjoying a so-far mostly anti-Semitic-free lifetime, it has become abundantly clear to her over the past year that we need to take care of our own. Tikva seems like the perfect match for these concerns, and Barb looks forward to turning her still-abundant energy to the work of the organization.

Committee Members

 Acquisitions Committee

Penny Gurstein
Chair
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jeremy Berger
Member
Dan Granirer
Member
Michael Grudman
Member
Adi Bunim
Member
Kasimir Kish
Member 
 Michael Lipton                                         Member
 
 
Asset Management Committee
 
Barb Gordon
Chair
 
Andrew Charney
Member
Jeremy Berger
Member
Sean Reisman
Member
Geoffery Rosen
Member
 

 

Finance Committee

Oriana Gertsman
Chair
 
 
Jeremy Berger
Member
 
 
Brent Davis
Member
 
 
Yahel Jarus-Hakak
Member
 
 
Jordan Margulius
Member