Boston-based Business Leader/ Children's Advocate Joins Friends of Yemin Orde National Board

Online, January 3, 2013 (Newswire.com) - Friends of Yemin Orde is pleased to announce that Dale Okonow has joined its Board of Directors, effective immediately. Okonow is a partner of The Watermill Group, a private equity investment and management firm based in Lexington, Mass. He was unanimously elected to serve a three-year term at the organization's November 2012 Board of Directors meeting in New York City.

Yemin Orde Youth Village, located in the Carmel Forest region of northern Israel, is the preeminent residential education program for at-risk youth in Israel, and serves as home, school and family to hundreds of children marred by neglect, abandonment, poverty and more. Yemin Orde Educational Initiatives (YOEI) extends the Village's successful methodology to other youth villages and schools in Israel by providing teacher training, sharing resources and helping to create a positive learning environment. Friends of Yemin Orde is the U.S.-based fundraising arm for the Yemin Orde Youth Village and YOEI. For more information on Yemin Orde and YOEI, visit http://www.yeminorde.org, email info@yeminorde.org or call 202-237-0286.

"We are excited to welcome Dale to our Board. Dale adds a unique depth of experience and we look forward to benefiting from his expertise and leadership as we shape new strategies for advancing our important mission in Israel," said Michael Frieze, Board Chair, Yemin Orde. "We have great admiration for Dale's passion and his deep understanding of nonprofit organizations. Friends of Yemin Orde is honored to include him to our already talented team."

At Watermill, Okonow is involved in the day-to-day operations of the firm, including oversight of financial and operational functions, the negotiation and financing of acquisitions, and oversight and divestitures of portfolio companies. He serves on the Boards of Advisors of several Watermill portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Watermill, Okonow served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Sawyer Realty Holdings, LLC, a leading privately-held, fully-integrated U.S. multifamily real estate investment and management firm based in Needham, MA and College Park, MD.

In the philanthropic and volunteer arenas, Okonow serves on the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Family & Children's Service of Greater Boston, where he founded the Parkinson's Family Support Program at that social services agency. Okonow also serves on the Hematology Oncology Visiting Committee of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, where he helped establish the Okonow/Lipton Family Lymphoma Research Fund. He serves on the Board of Directors of the iF Foundation, a New York-based charitable foundation which provides interest-free loans to impoverished people in Haiti and Ghana to give them the opportunity to start their own small businesses. Additionally, he is a member of the Board of Trustees and the Development Committee of Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston (CJP) and served as the co-chair of the 2012 CJP Annual Campaign, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Temple Beth Elohim (Wellesley, MA) Endowment and the Board of Trustees of The Rashi School in Dedham, MA, the Boston-area Reform Jewish Day School.

"Yemin Orde Youth Village is an extraordinarily special place. It is a place of learning, safety and stability for "at-risk" children who need it most. I am delighted to serve on the Board of Friends of Yemin Orde," Okonow said. "I have great respect for Chaim Peri, the dedicated professionals and staff at Yemin Orde and the accomplishments of its graduates. It is gratifying to be part of an organization that is truly changing the future paths of so many precious lives."

Okonow received a B.S. (with distinction) from Cornell University, and a J.D. (magna cum laude) and M.B.A. from Cornell University. An avid Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots fan, Mr. Okonow and his wife Marilyn live in Needham and have two children.