Our Executive Team
Enid Borden
Founder and CEO, Chief Dreamer
A not-so-promising career as a folk singer in Greenwich Village in the 60’s led to a series of not-so-fulfilling jobs in the 70’s and 80’s until a stint as a journalist took me to Colorado. Mountains and clean air replaced the streets of New York City. So, that didn’t last long. Back to the grind of the City I went looking for something meaningful.
Then on to Washington DC and I finally got it right. It took some time, but I found that ending senior hunger was the perfect calling. It’s been well over 20 years and I’m still at it. I still dream that one day the mission will be complete.
Matt Levine
President
I was 30 years old, having dinner at a nice Italian restaurant when my friend, a homicide detective who obviously has a difficult job said to me, “anyone who doesn’t love their job is a fool.” Dinner tasted horrible that night. I knew what I had to do.
The next day, I put my resume online. It must have been fate that my phone rang and it was my soon to be mentor calling. She lit a fire inside of me. Not just about ending senior hunger. More about using my talent to change the world. She was selling the notion of working to improve the lives of others. I was buying.
No one’s life has improved more than mine. The passion I have for ending senior hunger springs me out of bed every morning, and the love this NFESH team shares keeps us all going. Hunger is a serious disease. The fact that so many of our seniors are going hungry is totally unacceptable. We are going to do something about it. We have to.
Life isn’t all work and no play though. I have the best wife, two great dogs and house we enjoy together. I have parents who are my role models, teachers and friends. I have a brother, in-laws and fantastic nieces and nephews. I have close friends to laugh with (and at). I have baseball, Washington DC sports and I have Syracuse University. I am lucky…and thankful. So now I give back. I work more than to pay the bills. I choose to work to improve the lives of others. Join me!
Tom Marullo
Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
My early career choices were governed by job security, raising a family and all that goes with it. For example, when people asked me why I chose to major in Foodservice Management for an undergraduate degree, I would answer, “Everyone has to eat!”
Later, I got a graduate degree in Finance so that I could get a nice “safe” job. As I’ve gotten older, the need for job security has been replaced by the need to make an impact. Hunger has always been a cause that I’ve wanted to tackle. That is what my work at NFESH has been all about.
Maribeth Bersani
Vice President of Programs/ Staff Gerontologist
My love of working with seniors started as a young child when my favorite grandmother had her leg amputated due to diabetes and ended up in a skilled nursing home for rehab. Visiting her and seeing the frail seniors made me realize I wanted to make the world a better place for our aging family and friends. I was introduced to aging courses at my alma mater Alfred University and went on to get a master’s degree in gerontology at the University of Southern California. Being an east coast girl at heart, I returned to New York State and worked for many years in the NYS Legislature and State Office for the Aging. I was fortunate to be there at a time when we could develop significant programs and services for seniors. I then discovered the world of assisted living.
Learning about the importance of treating all seniors with dignity and respect, and the perils of ageism made me a better advocate for seniors. Wanting to make a slight career change during COVID prompted me to contact the president of my alma mater Alfred University to see if there were any alums in my area interested in the field of aging. He told me I had to contact Enid Borden. We met for coffee and as the saying goes the rest is history.
Matthew David Roe
Throughout the past 15 years of my career, I’ve worn many hats. I taught digital filmmaking and screen acting to grade school students for six years at Imagination Stage in Bethesda, MD. I’ve written analytical columns, indie movie and DVD/Blu-ray reviews, and features articles for numerous publications. I’ve produced many documentary projects for political, corporate, news, and non-profit organizations – with some of my work being seen on national television networks such as CNN and Fox. I helped create the award-winning, socially-conscious indie films, Chemicals, Like God (2017) and The Forgiving (2020), as well as helming the 2021 showbiz documentary, Hideaki Anno: A Career Retrospective, for the Anime News Network – writing, directing, editing, and narrating the film – while serving as editor on the award-winning 2022 documentary on the American foster care system, Where’s Foster?
In addition to my role with NFESH, I continue to work as an essayist, author, script editor, and digital video editor.
Barbara Rabovsky
My career working with seniors began in 1983, and it was a match made in heaven. Senior nutrition programs play a vital role in enabling people to remain healthy at home and out of hospitals or other care facilities.
Forty years later, my passion continues to be finding effective and cost-efficient ways to keep senior centers and home delivered meal providers operating at peak performance levels. This translates into more meals for more people. With the senior population growing at record levels, survival depends on training, fundraising, and cost-effective operations.
My free time includes taking care of an amazing husband, two dogs and four cats. Occasionally, I have the privilege of entertaining grandchildren. They are part of life’s greatest gifts.