
ZOA PEOPLE
ZOA PEOPLE
MARK LEVENSON, ESQ.
Chairman of the Board, Zionist Organization of America
Mark Levenson, the new chairman of the ZOA’s
national board of directors, is a busy real estate
lawyer who handles a wide range of transactions
for clients around the world. Yet he has also
devoted his life to philanthropic and community activities.
Levenson is a member of Sills Cummis & Gross,
his time
He is co-chair of the Real Estate Department and also
attended the
Maimonides School, an Orthodox day school, from
kindergarten through high school. From a young age,
Levenson said, he “tried to participate in acts of chesed,”
visiting nursing homes, saying prayers at the cemetery and
selling chocolates at the local supermarket to raise money
for me and my three siblings. All my life, my parents were
– in our synagogue, in Maimonides, in ensuring housing
and in kosher ‘Meals on Wheels’
for Russian immigrants,” Levenson said proudly. “My
parents
from the 1979 Khomeini revolution in our fairly small
home for a year, until their family arrived and they
found a place to live.”
-
-
litical science, he was involved in the university’s radio
Levenson’s communal involvement began during
his freshman year, when he worked as an intern at
Daniel Mariaschin, who is currently CEO and Ex-
remains a friend to this day.
himself in American politics. He actively participated
presidency in 1976. Levenson also worked for Con-
priest ever elected to Congress, in Drinan’s Waltham
PROFILE:
intern/research
tremendous time for a young college kid,” Levenson
recalled. “You can’t imagine anyone more humble,
-
pression on me of how politics could be.”
graduating in 1978. With Senator Ted Kennedy’s assistance,
he obtained a research assistant’s position
on the energy sub
Economic Committee, chaired by Senator Kennedy,
where Levenson worked for three months. He next
accepted a position in the health policy group at the
DC, where he worked for a year.
law school, thinking that he would remain in the DC
York.
as Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler, which
had a “top-notch real estate practice.” Levenson worked
on matters for leading real estate developers such
as Olympia & York, the international property de-
Express Company as a senior real estate lawyer, where
-
allowed me to see more of the business side of being
a lawyer.”
Lieb Weiner & Hellman invited Levenson to
partner in the real estate department. Levenson practiced
there until the beginning of
17 17