Successful business leaders generally share a handful of key characteristics: ambition, innovative spirit, drive. But for Rita Mabli — president and CEO of United Hebrew of New Rochelle — one particular trait trumps all others: compassion.
“We pride ourselves on being kind people who care for you like family,” says Mabli, who has been at the helm of United Hebrew for more than 35 years. For Mabli, building a team of world-class caregivers is a top priority. “My mission is to inspire staff and bring out the best in them,” she explains.
United Hebrew’s sprawling seven-acre campus is devoted to caring for others, from its affordable housing for the aged to its skilled nursing-care facilities. Its staff of 700 care for some 1,000 residents and clients daily.
Mabli’s focus on compassion isn’t at the expense of ambition and innovation, however. Her appointment as CEO in 1994 was historic: Mabli was the first female CEO at United Hebrew. She’s made an outsized impact ever since. Mabli has been instrumental in opening an award-winning assisted-living program on campus and developing United Hebrew’s certified homecare agency.
Mabli’s most recent project is Willow Gardens Memory Care, the United Hebrew assisted-living facility dedicated to Alzheimer’s patients, which opened in June. “It’s the only nonprofit, free-standing memory-care pavilion in Westchester,” Mabli says. “We’re proud to be able to offer that.”