January 14th, 2026
Dear WESPAC Community,
We are writing with very good news and deep gratitude as we share several important leadership updates from the WESPAC Foundation Board of Directors.
First, we are delighted to welcome Harriet Lowell and Patrick Schelle as new members of the WESPAC Board of Directors. Both Harriet and Patrick were invited to join the Board to fill two open seats, and we are thrilled that they have accepted.
Harriet Lowell brings a lifelong commitment to justice, solidarity, and disability rights. Her activism dates back to the late 1970s, when she helped found the Committee Against Investment in South Africa at Columbia University and worked to unionize clerical workers there. Since moving to Westchester in 2008, Harriet has been deeply engaged in local advocacy. She currently chairs the White Plains Mayor’s Advisory Committee for People with Disabilities, serves on Assemblymember Chris Burdick’s Advisory Committee for People with Disabilities, and recently joined the County’s committee as well. Harriet also served on the White Plains Reimagining Police Task Force after raising critical concerns about the intersections of race, mental health, and policing in the wake of the killing of Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr. As Harriet so powerfully reminds us: “Solidarity is the only safety net left in America. We must come together to protect each other and to resist fascism.”
Patrick Schelle is a social worker, educator, and organizer with more than 15 years of experience working across Westchester County and the greater New York metro area. His work focuses especially on transforming youth systems, including youth mental health and youth justice. Patrick has been active in advocacy efforts in both the U.S. and Haiti, and his professional background includes adaptive leadership and nonprofit program development. He is a founding member of the Alternatives to Incarceration Coalition, regularly participates with the AntiRacist Alliance and the Westchester Coalition for Police Reform, and served on the 2021 White Plains Police Reform Task Force. Patrick currently teaches Forensic Social Work at the CUNY Silberman School of Social Work and is a PhD candidate in Social Welfare at the CUNY Graduate Center. His dissertation is in collaboration with Comic Books for Justice, and he founded Justice Brews LLC in 2023. Patrick shared: “I am delighted to join the Board of Directors of one of Westchester’s leading social justice organizations. WESPAC brings our movements together with integrity and principled leadership.”
Howard Horowitz is stepping down as Board Chair, a position he has held since 2019. The Board is pleased to announce that Steve Rabinowitz has been unanimously approved as the new Chair of the WESPAC Board of Directors, following his nomination by Howard Horowitz.
Steve brings decades of experience as a political, labor, and community activist. His organizing began in high school during the anti–Vietnam War movement and has included leadership in labor unions, the anti-nuclear movement, and solidarity work with political prisoners and opposition movements in Latin America and Eastern Europe. Steve has long-standing ties to WESPAC, first connecting with the organization in 1981. He is currently on the Steering Committee of the Lower Hudson Valley Chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, where he co-chairs the Healthcare Working Group focused on single-payer healthcare. Steve says:
“I am very honored to be asked to take on the role of Board chair for WESPAC and to play a role in an organization that has served the cause of social justice with such integrity and commitment for the last 52 years. Many thanks are due to our previous Board chair Howard Howrowitz for his many years of service to the organization as well, and I am glad to know that he will continue on our Board. I look forward to working with our Executive Director, Board and members to advance WESPAC’s social justice mission through building participation in our work, developing alliances with like-minded groups in Westchester, and ensuring that our messaging is clear and strong in everything that we do.”
Steve retired in 2016 after 30 years with the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports, where he spent his final 12 years as Director of Downstate Field Operations, overseeing addiction prevention, treatment, and recovery services in NYC and Long Island. Since retiring, he has continued to work as a consultant and a leading advocate for harm reduction, public health approaches to addiction, and the decriminalization of drug use. Steve also serves on the executive boards of Stop Stigma Now, Greater Mental Health of New York, and Our Jewish Recovery, and remains deeply involved in civic life in White Plains, serving on the Executive Committee of the White Plains Democratic City Committee.
At the same time, we want to express our profound gratitude to Howard Horowitz for his steady, principled, and compassionate leadership as Board Chair. Howard has consistently shepherded WESPAC through very challenging times with care, wisdom, and commitment. We are deeply thankful for his service and leadership, and we are grateful that he will continue to be part of WESPAC’s ongoing work.
Please join us in warmly welcoming Harriet Lowell, Patrick Schelle, and Steve Rabinowitz as Chair. We look forward to working together—with all of you—to continue building power, community, and hope as we work for progressive social change.
With appreciation and solidarity,
Nada
