Gayle Slossberg

CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven

Public policy expert, skilled strategist and passionate advocate, Gayle Slossberg is a catalyst for transformative change. 

Gayle’s fierce determination and devotion to serving others has been her North star, from her early career as an attorney at the Wall Street firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen and Hamilton, to community activist, to local elected official, throughout seven successful terms as a Connecticut State Senator, during her role as Chief Compliance and Integrity Officer at Yale New Haven Health, and as the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven. Gayle’s community relationships and respected leadership positioned her uniquely for the post October 7 world.  With just a month at the helm of the Federation, Gayle expertly utilized her advocacy and organizing skills to bring interfaith clergy and elected leaders together to condemn antisemitic vandalism of the city’s Hanukkiah.  In collaboration with the Hillels at the local universities in the New Haven area, including Yale University, Federation worked with university administrators, law enforcement and the broader community to help administrators to understand the pain, fear and frustration of their Jewish students and faculty.  Those interventions successfully led to many schools reconsidering their speaker programs and the manner in which they were responding to anti-Jewish protest and propaganda.  By the spring of 2024, Gayle had galvanized the community to defeat biased ceasefire resolutions raised in two legislative councils in the region.  

Prior to becoming the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven, Senator Slossberg’s legislative career was marked by the successful passage of landmark legislation including the state’s enactment of Holocaust education, comprehensive ethics reform and the repeal of the Death Penalty.  She was one of the chief architects of the historic budget of 2017 that enacted fiscal guardrails that turned Connecticut’s finances from deficit to surplus.  Gayle’s tenure as the Chief Compliance and Integrity Officer for Yale New Haven Health system was marked by her leadership through the Covid 19 pandemic where she guided the 26,000 employees at the largest health system in Connecticut to not only follow the rules, but also to do the “right thing”.   Gayle has been honored by numerous organizations for her public service, including Legislator of the Year, Distinguished Service Awards from the Connecticut Veterans of Foreign Wars, Association of Nonprofits, Association of Boards of Education, Committee for People with Disabilities and the State Medical Society to name a few.  Gayle earned her BS from Cornell University and her Juris Doctorate from NYU Law.