Met Council announced this week that Melissa Perlin, formerly the Vice President of Finance at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, has joined Met Council as its first-ever female Chief Operating Officer (COO) in the organization’s 45-year history.

Perlin will oversee the day-to-day operations of Met Council’s ten different departments serving over 225,000 clients each year that makes Met Council the largest tzedakah in New York. Melissa will work to maximize the productivity of those programs and ensure that Met Council is providing top quality services to all of their clients. Perlin will also work in coordination with the finance department to manage spending and ensure resources are used in the most efficient and effective ways. Some of those Met Council programs include America’s largest free kosher food distribution system, New York’s largest Jewish provider of domestic violence services, support for thousands of Holocaust survivors and 21 affordable housing buildings across New York City with rents ranging from $200 to $800 per month.

“I’m thrilled that Melissa has joined Met Council as our Chief Operating Officer. She has great passion for our mission of feeding the hungry and serving the poor. As importantly, she has over twenty years of experience in non-profit organizational management and financial best practices,” said Met Council CEO David G. Greenfield. “I’ve asked Melissa to make our customer experience a top priority. Our mission is to continue serving each and every one of our clients for free but treat them as if they are paying customers. I’m also excited that Melissa is our first ever female COO. I think it’s important to have a diversity of people and opinions on our executive team. It makes us a more effective and agile organization.”

Perlin joins Met Council with two decades of experience in non-profit management in accounting, budgeting, and operational planning, most recently as Vice President of Finance at National MS Society. Her prior roles included overseeing financial and administrative operations and strategic planning for the organization’s forty chapters across the United States. Additionally, she developed and implemented a standard approach to functionalized expenses and consolidated the audit process of the nearly $200 million non-profit organization.

Perlin also has significant experience in the private sector, spending five years as a Manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC). There she managed a team focused on financial system selection, implementation, and training. Melissa’s clients included some of the country’s largest nonprofits including UJA-Federation, Salvation Army, and National Multiple Sclerosis Society, as well as public utilities including the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA).

“David has put together a great team at Met Council and I look forward to helping them improve and expand services to help the neediest New Yorkers.” Perlin said, “I’ve observed Met Council’s leadership in the non-profit sector for many years and have marveled at their ability to help over 225,000 people each year.”

The recent COO hire comes after a number of new staffing additions within Met Council since David Greenfield assumed the leadership of the organization in January. In July, Met Council hired Jessica Chait as its new Food Czar overseeing all of Met Council’s $10 million in free kosher food services. In August, Met Council hired Leah Schechter as their new Director of Volunteer Services and Donor Relations. In September, Met Council hired Julia Kessler-Hollar as their new Director of Crisis Services. “I’m proud that we are attracting the most talented leaders from the non-profit world and look forward to continue growing our critical programs to feed the hungry and serve the poor,” said Met Council CEO David G. Greenfield.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)