Rebecca Sanin
President, CEO
Health and Welfare Council of Long Island
As president and CEO of the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island (HWCLI), Rebecca Sanin has helped to launch groundbreaking programs and recruit key opinion leaders from every sector of public engagement to advocate for underprivileged and marginalized populations. HWCLI, which champions the region’s underserved communities, is on a mission to advance social justice and equitable human services for all Long Islanders.
Ms. Sanin has extensive experience working collaboratively with stakeholders and policymakers in the nonprofit, government, education and business communities. Before taking the helm at HWCLI, she served for five years as Assistant Deputy to Suffolk County Executive Steven Bellone, working on critical issues that impact community development. She has a comprehensive background in education, having served as an adjunct professor at Dowling College and Suffolk Community College.
Her exemplary reputation has drawn leaders to HWCLI from throughout the region, including: Nassau, Eastern and Western Suffolk BOCES; the Nassau County Council of School Superintendents; the Suffolk County School Superintendents Association; the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association; the Nassau and Suffolk chapters of New York State United Teachers; and the Parent-Teacher Associations of Nassau and Suffolk counties.
Ms. Sanin spearheaded the HWCLI campaign for a “complete count” in the 2020 U.S. Census. Because federal education funding is determined largely by census data, an accurate count reflecting the true population of Long Island is crucial to the region receiving fair and adequate levels of aid. Children and minority communities in Nassau and Suffolk counties have historically been undercounted, resulting in more than a decade of lost funding. As a direct result of the Census 2020 “complete count” campaign, Long Island school districts’ share of federal COVID aid was more directly proportionate to the size and needs of current and anticipated student enrollment.
