About Parents Who Rock

Parents Who Rock is a non-profit association of musicians and others based in Montclair, NJ, who volunteer their time and talents onstage and behind the scenes to raise money for non-for-profit organizations throughout the community. Over the past four years, fundraising events featuring PWR artists and other volunteers, working with the Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence (MFEE), have netted more then $200,000 for such organizations and causes as the All-Children’s Playground, Mountainside Hospital Breast Cancer Education Center, the Montclair Rape Crisis Center, the Montclair Public Schools Developmental Learning Center, Volunteer Lawyers for Justice, Family Service League and many more.

Board of Directors:

• Alma Schneider, Founder and Director
  
  
• Brian Saltzman, Secretary
  
  
• Ellen Paretti, Treasurer
  
  
• Leslie Kunkin, Director of Volunteers

If you would like to participate in, sponsor or attend Parents Who Rock activities, please contact Alma Schneider, alma@parentswhorock.com.

Proceeds from the sale of the new Parents Who Rock CD, “Let 'Em Play,” will go to benefit Little Kids Rock, a national nonprofit organization, in its effort to raise $50,000 to help increase music education in the Montclair Public Schools.

A special thank you to O'Melveny and Meyers Law Firm for helping us become an LLC and an official Non-Profit Organization.

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Alma Schneider

In 2005 Alma combined her love of music and background in community organizing to found Parents Who Rock, in order to help parents re-connect with their musical past through organized performances for charity.

Prior to that, Alma worked as a Social Worker in a New York City settlement house, and in private practice as a therapist. Alma holds a Bachelors Degree in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin, and a Masters Degree in Social Work from Hunter College.

Alma is also Founder and CEO of Take Back the Kitchen LLC (www.takebackthekitchen.com), where she combines her background in counseling with her other passion, cooking, to help women overcome the common and individual obstacles to achieving their goals in the kitchen.

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Brian Saltzman

Brian works in private wealth management as a financial advisor to individuals, families and non-profits. He holds a Bachelors Degree in International Politics from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and an MBA in Marketing and Finance from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

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Ellen Paretti

Ellen has been the bookkeeper and administrative assistant for Montclair non-profit, Life Management, Inc. since 2001. In that same year, she began her volunteer tenure as treasurer for Goals for Life, Inc., an organization that raises money to help fight breast cancer by holding a women's soccer tournament.

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Leslie Kunkin

Leslie moved to Montclair from Brooklyn in 2000. She received her Law Degree from Brooklyn Law School and practiced for nearly ten years before taking time off after the birth of her daughter. In 2008, she started a new career in real estate. In 2017, still happily living in Montclair and the mother of a son as well, she co-founded West of Hudson Realty Group, a boutique real estate brokerage also happily located in Montclair! 

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James Feinberg

James Feinberg was born on November 12, 1997 in New York City. He now lives in Montclair, New Jersey, with his parents and little sister, Lily, and goes to Hillside School.

He is currently the President of the Kids' Division of Parents Who Rock, a Montclair musical organization, and the writer and creator of the column Grandkid's Eye View in 50+ Senior News. He enjoys reading, writing, the Internet, cooking and skiing.

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Behind the Scenes

There are numerous other people who contribute their time and talents, though not musical, to Parents Who Rock.

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Zoë Lou

Zoë Lou was thrilled to design the logo for "Parents Who Rock!"

Zoë Lou's playful designs for babies and kids are handmade by native New York City gal, Zoë Louise Schneider. A lover of historic New York, Zoë Lou incorporates bygone NYC into many of her garments, adding fascinating lore to the tags to create pieces of wearable history. Zoë Lou's items can be found at the Whitney Museum of American Art's gift shop and online store , as well as her own online store: zoelou.com . She has been featured in Time Out New York Kids and AM New York.

Zoë Lou's goodies are printed and stitched on comfy, superior quality American made cotton garments, and packaged in a beautiful and reusable organza bag. She also uses vintage and recycled fabrics in many designs. She believes strongly in supporting the local economy and making her carbon footprint really tiny.

And here's some other stuff about her:
Zoë is (and has been) a travel writer and New York City historian, Alaskan archaeologist, television writer, and Central Park ranger. She lives in NYC with her husband (jazz bassist Danton Boller) and two children.

Zoë Lou is dedicated to NYC and education. A portion of the proceeds from Zoë Lou's sales go towards arts education programs in NYC public schools.

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Lauren Kaiser

Art Director/Graphic Designer
As one of those people who is lucky enough to love their work, Lauren has established herself as a freelance designer in the New Jersey/New York area, with seventeen years of award-winning experience in the design industry. Lucky also to have a fabulous and funny husband, she hit the freelance road when her first child was born, and has picked up the pace since her second one started school. Portfolio includes marketing and promotional print design, corporate identity, brochures, newsletters, packaging, direct mail, advertising and invitations.

She is the designer of the Parents Who Rock "Go Play Outside" cd. Lauren can be contacted at laurenmkaiser@aol.com.

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Glen Schuster

Producer/Director
Glenn is an award-winning filmmaker based in Montclair. After spending most of his 20s and 30s living in downtown Brooklyn, he & his wife cashed in their chips for the burbs once their second daughter was born. He now shoots, edits, produces and directs for a variety of clients. Recent projects include producing & directing internationally broadcast public service announcements for organizations like Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon Family Groups. Past credits include a number of first-place awards as well as a film that was selected from over 1,500 entries to screen at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

Glenn is a lover of all things music and he's saved almost every concert ticket stub in a wooden box since his first show (Boston @ the Nassau Coliseum) back in the 7th grade. He has 'big ears' when it comes to music, with tastes ranging from African to Blues, Rock to Jazz, Reggae to Soul and everything in between. Buy him a beer and he'll chat passionately for hours about any of the above. Check out his production company, Industrial Strength Productions at: http://IndustrialStrengthNYC.com.

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Lee Haberman

By day, husband, father, son and ad agency president.

At night, Lee works on new material while secretly hoping that someone other than himself realizes that only Robert Plant can wail the last stanza's lyrics to'Stairway to Heaven' better than him.

Lee is a regular performer in his living room despite the fact that his own family retreats to the den to watch, ironically, The Biggest Loser.

Lee is the Parents Who Rock official emcee.

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