Now accepting Nominations for our 2026 Calendar Stars!
President & CEO - Jewish Healthcare Foundation
"It is not sufficient to only call out injustice, inequity or preventable harm. If you do not act, you squander your time on earth and your opportunity to leave the world a little better."
Karen Wolf Feinstein, PhD, is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation and its three supporting organizations, the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative, Health Careers Futures, and the Women's Health Activist Movement Global (WHAMglobal). Together, they perform a unique mix of grant-making, research, teaching, coaching, and project management in order to serve as a regional catalyst for progressive health care.
Dr. Feinstein is widely regarded as a leader in patient safety, healthcare quality improvement and workforce issues, and she frequently presents at national and international conferences. In 2-15, she was named Pittsburgher of the Year by Pittsburgh Magazine. She has served on the faculties of Boston College and Carnegie Mellon University, and taught at the University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Feinstein is a founder and executive committee member of the Network for Regional Health Initiative, a past Present of Grantmakers In Health and Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania, and current co-chair of the Pennsylvania Health Funders Collaborative. She serves on many boards, including the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, the Allegheny Park Foundation and National Board of Medical Examiners. She's appointed to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania aHealth Research Advisory Committee, Board of Visitors of the University of PIttsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health and University Center for International Studies Board of Visitors, UPMC Presbyterian/Shadyside Board of Directors, and the UPMC System-wide Patient Care Committee. She is a founding member of the national Women of Impact coalition and a member of the International Women's forum where she established their women in Health Care Special Interest Group.
Dr. Feinstein earned her bachelor's degree in American History at Brown University, her Masters of Social Planning at Boston College, and her doctorate at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. She has Honorary Doctorates from Chatham and Carlow Universities.
