Our Team

Lawrence is an attorney in private practice and has been actively involved in the San Diego Jewish community for many years. He has served on the boards of directors of the Jewish Community Foundation, Jewish Community Center, Jewish Federation of San Diego, Seacrest Village Foundation, San Diego Hebrew Homes, JFS Foundation and Hillel. He also served as President or an executive officer of those organizations. 

Charlene is the Executive Vice President of the Leichtag Foundation, a private independent foundation which works to ignite and inspire vibrant Jewish life, advance self-sufficiency and stimulate social entrepreneurship in coastal North San Diego County and Jerusalem. She has served on the boards of the Jewish Funders Network,  San Diego Grantmakers and many committees and councils. Charlene earned her degree from UCSD, and spent 18 years working for the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego in increasingly responsible positions including serving as President and CEO of the organization. 

Selwyn is Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Oxford Investment Group, Inc., a private equity, real estate and venture investment firm. He is Founder and Chairman of Private Bancorp of America and CalPrivate Bank and previously founded several other commercial banks in Michigan. Selwyn holds an MBA from The Wharton School, is a qualified Chartered Accountant (SA), and has been a director of several NYSE and numerous private companies, various healthcare systems, and civic organizations. Selwyn founded several non-profit organizations in San Diego focused on alleviating poverty and Judaic education. He is past Chairman of the Board of City of Hope, a leading cancer care and research organization. He has received various civic and business honors and awards including E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year. 

Hilary brings a background in volunteering to our board. She was born in South Africa and came to the United States in 1976. Hilary is an Angel at the Kindness Initiative where she assists 3 clients.  For the past 11 years, Hilary has been a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) through Voices for Children, where she helps kids in the foster care system. Hilary has held many leadership positions on boards in Detroit, and sat on the Hebrew Free Loan board in Detroit for 5 years. She has 3 sons and 4 grandsons and is an enthusiastic grandmother, traveling to see her grandkids as much as possible.  

Tanya Hackel recently moved to San Diego with her family from New York City. Tanya is a non-profit professional with decades of experience in fundraising, communications, and marketing. Tanya most recently served as the Chief Development and Communications Officer at JCCA, a $110M child welfare agency in New York City. Prior to that, Tanya was the Director of Development at the Hebrew Free Loan Society in New York. Tanya and her family are loving their new San Diego community and are excited to find ways to get involved and give back. In addition to her time at HFL, Tanya and her family volunteer at Feeding San Diego.

Kay recently retired as Head of Recruitment at Gurtin Municipal Bond Management, a PIMCO company, where she actively recruited professionals for this growing financial services firm. Prior experience includes being the co-founder and president of Executive Options LTD, an executive search firm specializing in placing professionals in part-time and project consulting positions. Kay serves on the Executive Board and is a Trustee at the La Jolla Playhouse and is a long time volunteer and former Board Member of Words Alive. Kay graduated from Brown University with a bachelor’s degree in organizational behavior and management.  

Leonard has been a member of the San Diego Jewish Community for over thirty-five years.  In addition to raising a family here, he has been involved in Pro-Israel organizations and has worked with a number of Israeli businesses in the sale and distribution of their products in the western US.  He is committed to building vibrant and secure Jewish communities both here in San Diego and in Israel. 

Graeme is the Co-Chairman of the Board of ColRich, a residential real estate development and investment company based in San Diego. He is a current Board Member and Past President (2017-2019) of Congregation Beth El, and is a current Board Member and Chair-Elect of the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego. Graeme is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. Graeme and his wife, Dr. Simone Kanter, have three children. 

Leo has been in business for over forty years in the senior healthcare housing sector and support services. He is a current member of the Board of Directors of Seacrest Retirement Communities here in San Diego as well as serving on the board of the Holocaust Memorial Center in Michigan. He and his wife, Robin, split their time between San Diego and metropolitan Detroit. He is still active with the Jewish Community in Michigan where he is Past President of the Jewish Senior Life Board of Directors as well as having served on the Jewish Federation and Hillel Day School Board of Directors. He and Robin have three children.