As a longtime member of the St. Louis community, Matt Schindler was always aware of Jewish Family Services. Before he was appointed interim CEO in December 2025, he didn’t know the full extent of the impact the organization makes.

“JFS plays a lot of roles,” said Schindler, 53. “I think we need to do a better job of sharing all of those roles in both the Jewish community and in the broader community.”

Schindler joined JFS after Miriam Seidenfeld left on Dec. 3 after serving in the position for seven years. He sat down with the Jewish Light recently to reflect on leading JFS through a period of transition, his goals for the future and how his team is working to meet the needs of a wide range of clients.

Stabilizing And Planning Ahead

“Right now, for JFS, a lot of it is stabilizing and then evaluating,” Schindler said. “We’ve had a number of previous employees apply to come back to JFS. We ended up hiring three of them already, and we have a new energy in the office, both here and at the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry. We’re excited about the future because we’re starting the process of strategic planning. It’s exciting to think beyond just right now.”

Schindler came to JFS from Seed St. Louis (formerly Gateway Greening) where he served as CEO for 10 years. Before that, he was director of community development at Downtown STL, Inc. He earned a B.A. degree in business administration and German from Drury University and an M.A. degree in international relations from Webster University. The opportunity to lead JFS meant working on initiatives that meshed well with his personal values.

“I was very drawn to the mission and understood that basic belief we all have in trying to improve the world around us,” he said. “JFS has done that for 150 years now, so how can we continue to do that going forward? That’s how it speaks to me. There is a challenge right now in nonprofits in general, and the St. Louis community and in the U.S., to meet the demand for all the services and challenges, whether it be federal funding, state funding, and local funding.”

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Meeting Growing Demand

Schindler said he was confident in the organization’s ability to meet its objectives. He said JFS has a strong support system including a committed board of directors and dedicated staff.

“We’re working on getting things in order, but it’s kind of fun to think about current programming, where it’s headed, and where the demand is because in all the core programs we have, the demand is greater than our ability to serve everybody, then finding out what our sweet spot is to meet the demand the best we can, and providing extra resources,” he said. “We need to be a good partner in the community to connect them to other resources beyond just JFS.

“Coming in during this time, the staff have been wonderful,” he said. “They truly welcomed me. The board has been very supportive. All of our financial supporters have been great, too. I’ve tried to do the best I can to meet with all the staff, met with all the board, learning more about people’s connection to JFS, ways they support it, and ways they think we need to go forward in the future.”

Working Through Change

In addition to managing the professional staff, working with volunteers and strategic planning, Schindler has also been negotiating with Workers at Jewish Family Services, the employee group that voted in March 2024 to join Communications Workers of America Local 6400. Negotiations between JFS management and the union began at that time and are ongoing to form the organization’s first contract.

The road from the group’s organizing to the present hasn’t always been smooth, but Schindler said he is optimistic about the relationship between the union and management.

“We are in a good place right now,” he said. “We are working with them on a regular basis. We have moved to in-person meetings. I think we all have the same mission, and we just need to work together to figure out, from differences that were in the past, how we want to work together going forward.”

Looking Toward The Future

Schindler spends his rare free time in a volunteer capacity, as a member of the Parkway School Board, a position he has held for eight years. He has two daughters, Mia, who teaches at Ritenour High School, and Heidi, a sophomore at the College of Charleston. His wife Christine works for Easter Seals. The Schindlers also are hosting a foreign exchange student from Jordan.

Although his position is technically interim, Schindler said he would welcome the opportunity to make it permanent when the board completes its search process.

“This is a great place to be, and the future is very bright for JFS,” he said. “I’d love to be part of that process going forward.”