Our Staff and Board
Who We Are
There are two arms of CeaseFirePA, the educational arm CeaseFire Pennsylvania Education Fund (organized under the nonprofit laws of the Commonwealth of PA and recognized as exempt from income tax under 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service Code), and the advocacy arm CeaseFire Pennsylvania, (organized under the nonprofit laws of the Commonwealth of PA and recognized as exempt from income tax under 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Service Code).
Our Board of Directors
Officers
Shawn Kraemer, President
Alicia Chatkin, Vice President
Jill Zipin, Esq., Vice President
Howard Levin, Treasurer
Board Of Ceasefire Pennsylvania Education Fund
Alicia Chatkin MPA, MSW (President)
Jill Zipin (Vice President)
Howard Levin (Treasurer)
Mayor J. Richard Gray (Secretary)
Karen C. Buck
David Ellowitch, CFP
Kathy Ochroch
Harriet Weiss
Laura Morris
Todd Underwood
Board of Ceasefire Pennsylvania
Ellen Brookstein
Dr. Andrea Kesack
Mayor J. Richard Gray
Adam Kessler
Lila Roomberg
David Scholnick
Helen Tai
Hon. Timothy K. Lewis
Our Staff
Adam Garber
Adam Garber is CeaseFirePA’s executive director. Before joining CeaseFire PA, he worked to protect everyone from dangers in the marketplace at U.S. PIRG where his independent investigations into toxic toys, dangerous cars, contaminated food and other threats received national coverage on CBS This Morning, the New York Times and elsewhere. Prior to that, he spent more than a decade advocating for clean air and water in Pennsylvania at the local, state and national level. Adam lives in South Philadelphia with his wife and young son, Elon, where he enjoys studying history, exploring the city and cooking.
Christian Soltysiak
Christian serves as CeaseFirePA’s Managing Director. Christian brings her experience as a former small business owner as well as her commitment to civic engagement through her work on Jenkintown Borough Council. She is also a proud AmeriCorps NCCC alum.
Rob Conroy
Rob Conroy is CeaseFirePA’s Director of Organizing. He is an attorney and former prosecutor, an activist who has served on the boards of several Pittsburgh nonprofits/is currently serving as board President at Pittsburgh’s Thomas Merton Center, and a journalist who has published in numerous Pennsylvania publications.
Rhona Gerber
Rhona Gerber is CeaseFirePA’s Development Director. Rhona has over twenty-five years of development experience with non-profit and political organizations both as a staff member and as a consultant during her tenure as a partner at Fleischman Gerber and Associates. She is active in many civic organizations, including her local board of elections, Wintershelter and the steering committee for the Center City Kehillah.
Max Milkman
Max Milkman serves as our Lead Organizer. His role entails empowering Pennsylvanians to join the gun violence prevention movement and inspiring them to use their voice to advocate for safer communities. He is a Perlman Jewish Day School alum and attended Temple University. Mr. Milkman has worked on several political campaigns in the Commonwealth including Josh Shapiro’s Campaign for Attorney General. He also serves as the Pennsylvania Co-Director of March For Our Lives, the youth-led gun violence prevention organization founded by the survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida.