ernie Wohl served as Executive Director of Goddard Riverside from 1972 until his retirement in 1998. Author of the philosophical framework that continues to guide Goddard Riverside’s services to this day, he was instrumental in the creation of many of the agency’s hallmark programs including the OPTIONS Center, a model in the college access field, and its homeless outreach and housing programs.

Bernie Wohl’s commitment to youth began in his undergraduate years at Syracuse University where he worked as a group leader in a multiracial community center serving children and families. After earning his master’s in social work from the University of Buffalo and serving briefly as a psychiatric social worker in the U.S. Army, Bernie’s professional settlement house work began at the United Community Centers in Brooklyn. From Brooklyn he moved to Columbus, Ohio where he ran the South Side Settlement, an action-oriented community center serving children, teens, families and the elderly, from 1961-1972.

In 1972, Bernie returned to his own childhood stomping ground on Manhattan’s West Side where he began shaping Goddard Riverside into one of the leading human service agencies in New York City.