OUR TEAM

Arlin Markowitz
National Chair

Arlin Markowitz is the Executive Vice President and founder of CBRE Commercial Real Estate’s Urban Retail Team in Toronto and has worked in the real estate brokerage industry for 18 years. He serves as the National Chair of the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem, a position he assumed in January 2026.

A grandchild of Holocaust survivors, Arlin has long been deeply connected to Jewish community life and to the work of Holocaust remembrance.

Arlin graduated from Concordia University in Montreal with a degree in Judaic Studies and spent a year and a half studying at Tel Aviv University’s Overseas Student Program, strengthening his lifelong connection to Israel. He and his wife, Shawna, are the proud parents of three children: Erez, Sadie, and Yael.

From a young age, the history of the Shoah has shaped Arlin’s sense of purpose. With dozens of his relatives murdered across Eastern Europe, their memory drives his commitment to Holocaust education, Jewish continuity, and steadfast support for Israel. He believes that the Jewish people rose from the ashes of destruction, and that the rebirth of the State of Israel is a profound testament to resilience, faith, and renewal. Their legacy guides him daily in his service to Am Yisrael.

Shael Rosenbaum is Managing Director of the Rosenbaum Family Office and a notable philanthropic leader. The Rosenbaum Family are Principals of the Great Gulf Group of Companies, one of the most prolific privately held real estate conglomerates in North America. Shael presides over his family interests, including diverse investments in several alternative sectors. 

Shael is a globally recognized figure in Holocaust Education and Remembrance and was instrumental in the founding of the Toronto Holocaust Museum. Shael served on the Council of the Shoah Foundation at the University of Southern California and was Chair of the Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre. He was Chair of the International Young Adult March of the Living, a Member of the Board of UJA of Greater Toronto and was a Trustee of the Jewish Foundation. Shael is the immediate past Chair of the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem and was a Board Member on the Baycrest Hospital Foundation. Currently, he is the Co-Chair of the Israel and Overseas Committee at UJA Federation and the Chair of the Advisory Council at UJA Federation.

Shael is a past recipient of the UJA Leadership Development Award and was the 2023 Tel Aviv University Co-Honouree together with his father Harry. He was the Associate Producer of the critically acclaimed documentary, “The Accountant of Auschwitz" and his commentaries have been published in an array of papers and journals. Shael is the descendant of four Holocaust survivors and his community work remains the most pivotal segment of his life.

Jonathan Allen has been employed in progressively responsible positions in the Jewish community for almost 20 years. Born in New Waterford, Nova Scotia on Cape Breton Island, Jonathan has a Commerce Degree in Marketing from Mount Allison University and a Law Degree from the University of New Brunswick. He was called to the Bar in Ontario in 1994.

Jonathan moved to Toronto in the spring of 1997 to help guide a tech company focusing on the private education sector. He began his Jewish communal professional career in 2002 when he joined the annual campaign team as Assistant Campaign Director at UJA Federation of Greater Toronto. In 2008, Jonathan became the National Executive Director of The Canadian Shaare Zedek Hospital Foundation and in 2011 joined the Canadian Associates of Ben Gurion University of the Negev as its Toronto Region Executive Director.

Alana Saxe has a wealth of professional and volunteer experience in the community at large. Alana has worked for a broad range of Jewish communal organizations in leadership roles including the University of Maryland Hillel, The Toronto March of the Living, the Prosserman JCC/Schwartz Reisman Centre and Camp Kadimah. Alana holds an MSW from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work and a certificate in Experiential Jewish Education from Yeshiva University. 

A grandchild of four Holocaust Survivors, Alana has committed much of her adult life to Holocaust education and awareness and is proud to work for the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem, an organization that supports the highest echelon of Holocaust education internationally.

 BOARD MEMBERS

Arlin Markowitz – Chair
Shael Rosenbaum – Immediate Past Chair
Miguel Singer – Treasurer
Alexa Feldberg
Joe Gottdenker
Lou Greenbaum
Israel Mida
Faye Minuk
Jeff Rubenstein
Fran Sonshine