Management Team

Anne Heyman, Esq., ASYV Founder

A native of South Africa, Anne Heyman graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1982 and from the George Washington School of Law in 1986. After two years in private practice Anne went to work for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, where she worked until the advent of her third child.

Since leaving the District Attorney’s office Anne has been actively engaged in philanthropic work both in and outside of the United States. Her roles as former President and Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of Dorot reflect her ongoing commitment to the many needs of the homebound and homeless elderly. Her dedication to and work with the Abraham Joshua Heschel School in New York, Young Judaea, Tufts University Hillel and the Jewish Community Centers of America show how important Jewish youth and continuity are to her and her family’s foundation, of which she is the Director. Perhaps, however, it is with respect to the notion of Tikkun Olam, the Jewish obligation to repair the world, that Anne is most passionate. From active engagement in the battle to raise awareness and to stop the genocide in Darfur, to programs in Israel, the Former Soviet Union, Uganda and most recently Rwanda, where she has spear-headed the creation of a Youth Village based on an Israeli model, Anne’s commitment to improving the lives of others is unwavering.

Anne is an avid equestrian and competes in the Amateur-Owner Jumper Division on the A Circuit when her schedule allows. She currently lives in Manhattan, New York, with her husband and their three children.

Sifa Nsengimana, ASYV Executive Director

Sifa Nsengimana was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where her family settled after fleeing the 1962 Tutsi Massacre in Rwanda. Following a childhood marked by poverty, separation, fear, discrimination, and tragedy, she lived an adolescence characterized by wars and more exile.

In November of 1993 Ms. Nsengimana immigrated to Canada, and began a new life, turning the page on the days where soldiers in Burundi had her dig holes to bury fallen rebels. Five months later, her entire extended family was killed in the 1994 Rwandan Tutsi genocide, which claimed nearly one million lives in 100 days. Ms. Nsengimana says she stopped counting her butchered loved ones when she reached 85 names.

Marked by the genocide and longing for peace and justice, she became an advocate for the voiceless, regularly speaking on behalf of women and children. “Children are easily dismissed by the system and forgotten by the world. They have no voice, yet will rule tomorrow. How can we not see a problem with that?”

Ms. Nsengimana co-chairs the Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur and is a spokesperson for the Genocide Intervention Network where she continues her advocacy for One Humanity. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in French and Spanish Literatures. She currently lives in Framingham, Massachusetts with her husband and two children.

Dr. William Recant, JDC Assistant Executive Vice-President

Will serves as the senior staff person regarding all of JDC’s non-sectarian and disaster relief programs. In this capacity, he coordinates projects relating to the Rescue, Relief, and Renewal of Jewish communities worldwide and develops non-sectarian programs.

Will is also the Desk Director for Latin America and Europe Community Development at JDC headquarters in New York. While serving as the Washington representative for JDC, he helped secure JDC’s license to work in Cuba. He has visited Cuba over thirty times and has helped establish JDC’s programs of community development and Jewish renewal.

He has worked with U.S. Government agencies and Congressional members to brief them on issues specific to rescue and relief, and with Private Voluntary Organizations (PVOs) in program coordination, partnership development and cooperation.

Will has acted as an intermediary to embassies and officials of countries in which JDC is active and has traveled overseas to coordinate and evaluate existing and potential JDC programs in Cuba, China, Somalia, Kenya, Kosovo, Ethiopia, Sudan, Israel, Turkey, the Gaza Strip, Egypt, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Eastern Europe.

Before joining JDC, Will was the Executive Director of the American Association for Ethiopian Jews in Washington, DC, and in that capacity he briefed President George Bush on the condition of Ethiopian Jews in Israel and those remaining in Ethiopia; he worked closely with the Special Israeli Envoy as liaison to the U.S. Government in the planning and implementation of Operation Solomon; he established the Congressional Caucus for Ethiopian Jews; advised State Department officials and members of Congress on Ethiopian Jewry, and spoke to groups nationwide on the plight of the Ethiopian community.

Will has a Master’s Degree and Ph.D. in Political Science.