ROI is full of talented entrepreneurs and professionals, and we want to help each of them tap into the incredible power the collective has to offer and to contribute what they can.

It is striking to see the magnitude of impact mentorship and tutoring can have on student performance and young lives.

We will continue to make ROI as supportive, diverse and beneficial as possible and to meet the evolving needs of the members and communities we serve.

I am proud to state that every national Jewish organization we support enforces non-discrimination practices around sexual orientation and that more than 70 percent have written policies in place covering gender identity and expression.

During the holidays, I often see my sisters, who still, even after all these years, can't always seem to agree with me. They take silly, indefensible positions, such as denying that my parents loved me more because I was the better child.

I'm lucky that I have my family, I'm lucky that my parents are still together. Those are the things that I cherish.

I grew up in a strongly socialist family. While I was at school, I worked in party politics and with organizations like the Anti-Nazi League. Everywhere I saw it, I fought prejudice.

My mom Marina and I were poor and hungry. We could sometimes not afford to eat - seriously. We lived together in a small town, called Berdyansk, in Ukraine. I was an only child. I don't think we would have survived if there had been more kids.