Nikki Goldstein is retiring after 23 years as executive director of the Gladys and Henry Crown Center for Senior Living, a non-profit affordable housing resource and community center in University City for older adults.

Over the course of her tenure, Goldstein has:

• Expanded Crown’s impact as a neighborhood hub, community center and resource for older adults,
• Led a $7.5-million capital campaign that will replace an outdated building with new community space and offices, in addition to 120 new affordable apartments for seniors.
• Created strategic partnerships with Washington University, Aging Ahead, Oasis and AW Healthcare that helped a vulnerable population of older adults meet the challenges of aging.

“Crown Center is a community led by Jewish values that aims to serve a diverse group of people of various ethnicities, religions and cultures,” said Crown’s board chair Sally J. Altman, “and it took someone like Nikki with her passion, skill, and integrity to bring that to fruition. We are grateful to Nikki for her leadership. We congratulate her on retirement from Crown and look forward to working with her on ensuring a smooth transition and finding a new leader that will meet the high standards she set.”

In recognition of her achievements, Goldstein was selected in 2018 to receive Washington University’s Harvey A. and Dorismae Hacker Friedman Award for Excellence in Service to Older Adults.

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Goldstein hasn’t entirely mapped out what she will take on in her next chapter, but she says she will spend some part of it giving thanks to the people she worked with over nearly a quarter of a century.

“I am so grateful for having the opportunity to help grown and sustain a welcoming, inclusive community for older people of all backgrounds, and to also meet the particular needs of Jewish older adults,” she said. “I am particularly proud of how our team has been able to raise Crown’s visibility and credibility at the local, regional, and national levels. In a world that is often topsy turvy, we have maintained a stable, fiscally sound agency and deployed our financial resources effectively.”

Goldstein expects to be at Crown Center through the end of the calendar year while the board engages a firm to aid in the search for her successor.