Gift of Life is proud to welcome Stephen Siegel, Chairman of CBRE, the world’s largest real estate company, to the board of directors. Stephen and his wife Wendy have been actively involved in supporting Gift of Life and promoting bone marrow donation since 2013, when Wendy received a bone marrow transplant to cure leukemia. Wendy’s donor was found in the Gift of Life registry.
“It is a major honor for me to be elected to the board of Gift of Life,” said Stephen. “Having four years to-date of direct involvement in the lifesaving work of the organization, I am looking forward to contributing in any way I can.”
Stephen and Wendy’s efforts on behalf of Gift of Life have resulted to date in 21,753 sponsored donors, 283 matches, and 33 lifesaving bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) transplants for people suffering from blood cancer, hereditary immune disorders and other conditions. Wendy was recently honored for her contributions at Gift of Life’s annual gala in June.
Stephen is a notable force in the real estate industry and is widely recognized for an unmatched record of philanthropy and community service. He has been profiled in The Wall St. Journal and other leading publications, and was cited by Crain’s as one of the 100 Most Influential Business Leaders in New York City.
“We are thrilled to welcome Steve to our board,” said Gift of Life CEO and Founder Jay Feinberg. “For the past four years he has put tremendous energy and time into our organization, and we are now incredibly fortunate to welcome his expertise and business acumen to our team.”
“We are appreciative of Steve’s assistance in making our 2016 Gala a success,” said Gift of Life Chairman of the Board William Begal. “The organization is excited to benefit from his experience and guidance as we start another quarter century of serving, saving lives and making the world a better place.”
Stephen has a long history of serving on nonprofit boards, at one point sitting on 16 of them, and has been called by The Wall St. Journal, “the most generous person in the industry.” Among numerous awards for philanthropy, in 2015, he was honored for his contributions to the Young Women’s Leadership Network’s CollegeBound Initiative, a program that creates opportunities for low-income students to attend college, serving 13,000 students per academic year. In addition, he established the Stephen and Wendy Siegel Rabin Fellow at the American Friends of Rabin Medical Center, and the Charles and Ann Siegel Scholarship Fund at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.