PHRF Elects Jared Szychter as New Board Chair. Outgoing co-chairs Matthew Pestronk and Jacob Reiter step down from leadership positions after guiding the organization for three years.
November 1, 2023 — The Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation (PHRF) today announced that Jared Szychter has been named chairman of its board of directors. Matthew Pestronk and Jacob Reiter, who served as the organization’s co-chairs with distinction for three years, will remain key members of the organization’s emeritus board.
Pestronk and Reiter served on the PHRF executive board for eight years and were both instrumental in guiding the organization’s flagship project, the creation of the Horwitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza, which opened in 2018. As real estate executives, they were instrumental in conceptualizing the project and getting it off the ground, helping navigate the approvals and construction processes necessary to build the Memorial Plaza. In their three years as co-chairs, they led a variety of fundraising initiatives and envisioned innovative ways to activate the site, including a joint project with Mural Arts Philadelphia that will bring an over 2,000-square-foot mural to the Memorial Plaza in late 2024 and the ‘Hate Ends Now Cattle Car Exhibit’ which PHRF recently brought to the Memorial Plaza for a week-long program in honor of the organization’s fifth anniversary.
Formerly the organization’s treasurer, Szychter will be taking the helm of the PHRF shortly after the Memorial Plaza celebrated its five-year anniversary. Under his leadership, the organization will continue moving forward with several exciting initiatives, including the mural project and the launch of a $9 million endowment campaign to fund future operations and educational programs. In addition to his role at PHRF, Szychter also serves as President of a private family investment office, 1932 Capital Management, where he oversees investment, financial, tax and philanthropic matters. Szychter holds CIMA ® and CPA certifications and has a background in public accounting, where he advised ultra-high-net worth families and co-authored numerous articles on taxation for national publications. He is a member of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia’s Finance Committee and served on the board of the Wetherill School in Gladwyne, PA.