About Matthew…
Image by Nancy Borowick for The New York Times
I have spent my career helping institutions navigate change while remaining true to their purpose.
As a diplomat, management consultant, school founder, nonprofit executive, and writer, I have worked with governments, corporations, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations confronting complex strategic, operational, and governance challenges. Across those roles, one question has remained constant: What is worth preserving, and how do institutions prepare the next generation to carry it forward?
Today I serve as Chief Financial & Administrative Officer of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, where I work with the CEO and Board of Trustees to strengthen governance, modernize operations, develop long-term strategy, and steward one of the world's foremost centers for Jewish scholarship and history. Previously, I founded and served as Chief Executive Officer of the International Charter School of New York, leading the school from concept through charter approval, growth, and ultimately a successful merger that secured its long-term future. Earlier in my career, I advised senior executives and boards as a Managing Director at Kroll, served as an Associate at McKinsey & Company, and was a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State.
This website is a place to explore ideas rather than report news. My essays draw upon experience in education, leadership, history, and public policy to examine how institutions shape culture, why knowledge matters, and what responsibilities we owe to one another and to future generations. I write not as an academic, but as a practitioner who has spent a career helping organizations make consequential decisions.
Many of these essays began as conversations with parents, colleagues, trustees, or friends. Others grew out of speeches, articles, or questions that emerged while leading schools and nonprofit organizations. They are an invitation to think together about education, civic life, institutional leadership, and the ideas that deserve to endure.
Thank you for reading.