Yoseph Horowitz grew up in a Chasidic home in Boro Park, Brooklyn. In 2008, he turned 18 and decided to leave his predestined life behind and backpack the world. He joined Footsteps a few years later, seeking community and an education. He received his GED in 2011, and graduated with honors from Hunter College in 2015 with a degree in Art History. He is now a Fine Art Appraiser and has been fortunate to work with distinguished collectors, museums, institutions, auction houses, and artists. Based in New York City, his areas of expertise are in Postwar, Contemporary, and Emerging Art, and he has a passion for the world of Judaica. He is an Accredited member of the Appraisers Association of America (AAA). Over the past decade, Yoseph has been an active participant at Footsteps and the community at large. He was an inaugural member of the Footsteps Membership Advisory Council (MAC), serving for 3 years. He is grateful, hopeful, and excited for the opportunity to work with the Footsteps board and staff.
Miriam Moster is a doctoral student in sociology at The Graduate Center (CUNY), a Mellon Humanities Public Fellow, and a Wexner Graduate Fellow. She was raised in a Litvish community in New York and has been a member of Footsteps for nearly a decade, during which time she has been engaged in causes and research that have the promise to benefit those in the Footsteps community. Her book chapter on the relationship between educational attainment and disaffiliation from Orthodox Judaism appeared in Off the Derech: Post-Orthodox Jewish Writing (SUNY Press). Some of her other writings have appeared in JTA, the Forward, and Zeek. She has also presented at several academic conferences on her research related to the ultra-Orthodox and formerly-Orthodox community, including on the economic repercussions of deficient education in Hasidic communities and on the way role expectations adversely impact (ex-)Hasidic mothers seeking to leave their marriages. She recently formed an organization, Right to Parent, aimed at advocating for parents who leave strict religious marriages and communities, and is currently conducting an oral history project around this issue. She received her MFA in poetry from Hunter (CUNY) and her BA in philosophy from Baruch (CUNY).
Nitza Rubin is a clinical social worker who received a BA in psychology from Brooklyn College and a Master’s in Social Work from Fordham University. Originally from an Orthodox community in Brooklyn, Nitza joined Footsteps as a member in 2007. After ten years of clinical work with immigrant NYC populations across the city — from juvenile detention in Brooklyn to South Bronx housing projects — Nitza was honored to join the staff of Footsteps in 2017. Although it was daunting at first, Nitza grew to love the particular challenges of working with people who shared her journey. Though she left her role at Footsteps in 2019 to continue her education at FIT in pursuit of a fashion design degree, she brings to the Board the experience and insight from her intensive work with Footsteps members. Nitza lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two little boys.
