Our 2023 WJCS Gala will take place Tuesday, March 28th, from 6:30-9 pm at the Brae Burn Country Club in Purchase, NY.
We are thrilled to honor WJCS Board Members Michele Brettschneider and William Shirley, two remarkable individuals whose commitment to improving the lives of people struggling in Westchester is exemplary. Our 2023 Gala will feature our renowned Give for Good Auction and celebrate WJCS’s 80th Anniversary! It is because of our generous donors, supportive government officials, and dedicated staff and volunteers that WJCS has grown from a tiny agency in 1943 to a human service organization that serves 20,000 Westchester residents each year.
Please mark your calendars now and CLICK HERE to sign up our 2023 WJCS Gala!
MEET OUR HONOREES
Michele Brettschneider
Michele Brettschneider has lived in and been an active member of the Westchester community for 16 years. She serves on the WJCS Executive Committee, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, Children and Youth Services Committee, and the Gala Committee. Michele is on the Parent Advisory Board of J-Teen Leadership, a program of the UJA-Federation of NY.
Michele spent her professional career as a lawyer. She worked in the corporate department at Wolf, Block Schorr and Solis-Cohen in Philadelphia before moving to the law firm of Golenbock Eiseman Assor Bell & Peskoe in New York City. Michele spent the last few years of her legal career in-house as Assistant General Counsel at Kenneth Cole.
Michele is a graduate of Lehigh University (B.A. Journalism, ‘90) and received a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania (J.D. ’93). She is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for the College of Arts and Sciences at Lehigh University. From 2019-2021, she served as the College’s representative to the Campaign Cabinet. Michele recently joined the Board of Advisors of the Penn Carey Law School. She was formerly on the board of the Women’s Division of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Michele and her husband Fred are proud parents of their daughters Morgan and Haley.
William Shirley
Bill Shirley lived in Westchester County for 28 years, where he and his wife Kitty raised their three children. Their eldest, Alexander, has lived at WJCS’s Harrison House since 2015. After Bill first learned about WJCS, as a grateful and amazed parent, he joined the WJCS board in 2019. He now serves as board secretary. In addition to focusing on WJCS’s group homes, Bill has played a leading role as the board has pursued a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Bill spent his professional career as a lawyer. When he retired in 2022, Bill had served as Counsel at Sidley Austin LLP for eight years. For many years before that, he worked at AIG Financial Products Corp., a subsidiary of American International Group, Inc., where his last position was Executive Vice President and the General Counsel, with responsibility for AIGFP’s legal department, including lawyers in five offices worldwide. As a young lawyer, Bill worked at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, where his practice areas ranged from corporate finance to capital markets to mergers and acquisitions. During his time there, Bill worked for three years in the firm’s Paris office and two years in its London office.
Bill graduated with a degree in English from Stanford University in 1981. In 1986, he graduated from Columbia Law School, where he was Managing Editor of the Columbia Law Review. During the two years between Stanford and Columbia, Bill was a teacher at Rhodes School in New York City.
Bill is a proud parent of Alexander, Teddy, and Oliver. He owes more than words can say to his wife, Kitty.
If you have questions about the WJCS 2023 Gala, please contact Robyn Schlesinger at 914.848.8156; [email protected].
