Miriam Seidenfeld, the chief executive officer of Jewish Family Services, resigned on Tuesday after seven years at the social services agency.
While at JFS, Seidenfeld guided the organization through the COVID pandemic, doubled their endowment and expanded several programs for older adults and survivors of child abuse.
“Miriam has made many meaningful contributions to JFS and to the community we serve,” said Megan T. Wilson, president of the JFS Board of Directors in a statement to the Jewish Light, “She strengthened the agency’s reputation as a trusted partner in mental health services, addressing food insecurity and supporting a range of social services.”
In 2024, JFS served more than 60,000 people across the St. Louis region. Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food pantry served more than 19 thousand food insecure individuals and JFS’s child abuse prevention programs reached 45 thousand students in St. Louis area schools.
Wilson thanked Seidenfeld and said JFS would continue to serve the community with the “the same professionalism and heart that have always defined our work.”
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Seidenfeld’s last day will be Dec. 5. On Dec. 8, Matt Schindler, who previously served as CEO of Seed St. Louis, will take over in an interim role.
Seidenfeld resignation comes amidst a 17-month long negotiation for an initial union contract between JFS executives and Jewish Family Services Workers United. Additionally, in early October, roughly 15 current and former JFS employees sent letters to the JFS board alleging a work environment where they were micromanaged and felt afraid of Seidenfeld and other executives.
The Light spoke to 13 current and former JFS staff members and supervisors, each of whom described a dynamic where they loved their jobs and providing social services to their community but found the work environment extremely difficult. One current supervisor who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, echoed this sentiment. She said JFS does “incredible work,” but that “some of it has been thwarted by toxic management.”
The supervisor said employees at JFS are “in fear” of management. She started keeping empty boxes in her car so that she could quickly pack her office if she was fired.
“When I leave the office, I look around and think, ‘is this the way that I need to leave it if I don’t come back here tomorrow?’” she said.
Current and former workers described feeling confused and undervalued. They said policies were infrequently written down and changed on a whim, which impacted their ability to serve the community and caused them to feel even more disposable.
“You feel like you can never do enough, and everything you do is wrong,” said a current JFS staff member who also asked to remain anonymous because she is afraid of retaliation. “People don’t quit jobs, they quit bad employers.”
Both Seidenfeld and Wilson did not respond to multiple requests for further comment.
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