MY MISSION IS TO DREAM OF, AND CREATE A CONTEXT OF JUSTICE AND TOLERANCE, AND INSPIRE EVERYONE WITH A SPIRIT OF SPIRITUALITY AND EXCELLENCE.
As you review my biographical sketch, please keep in mind this Mission Statement that I drew up for myself probably fifteen years ago. I mention it, as it has meaning for me as to the success of carrying out my value for me in living my life, for really my life is a legacy instrument, one that will provide lessons for others, I point this out, particularly for those who are young. Being true to oneself in one’s life is first prize, as I see it.
-HT
Howard Teich has a wide ranging background in business, civic, cultural and social interests, and has participated actively in both the New York and National arena.
Mr. Teich is president of The Howard Teich Network, as well as a practicing attorney in New York City (1981 date). Previously, he served as Associate Publisher of Firehouse Magazine (1975-1980), Law Secretary to New York State Supreme Court Justice Martin Evans (1973-1975), and Legislative Counsel to State Senator Emanuel Gold (1971-1972).
Among his current activities, Mr. Teich is a Board of Directors’ member of American Friends of Ariel University in Judea and Samaria, Israel. He is the Founding Chair of the Brooklyn Jewish Historical Initiative, the Manhattan Jewish Historical Initiative and The Bronx Jewish Historical Initiative, as well as their respective Jewish Halls of Fame. He serves on the Advisory Board of the New York Board of Rabbis, and also chairs the NYC Jewish History and Heritage Map Project.
He is a Board member of the George Gustave Heye Center of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, chairs the National Advisory Board of the Association on American Indian Affairs, having previously been a member of its Board of Directors, and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Soldiers’, Sailors’, Coast Guard and Airmen’s Club of NYC. He serves as an Advisory Board member of Ecominga, an Ecuadorian organization concerned with sustaining the environmental diversity in Ecuador, having previously served as a Board member. He continues his involvement with the All Stars Project, where he helped launch their Together and Give Back Initiative, as well as chairing the 3I Council on Human Rights.
Mr. Teich is a former Board member, and past Vice President of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, and former Co Chair of Jewish Heritage NY. He served as President of the New York Met Region of American Jewish Congress, and as a past National Vice President and past member of its National Governing Council. He served on the Board of the Salute to Israel Parade Committee, the Board of the Brooklyn Jewish Film Festival, and was Chairman of New York’s New Leadership of Israel Bonds.
He was past Chairman of Arts Horizons Leroy Neiman Arts Center in Harlem, past Founding Chairman of the National Task Force on Life Safety and the Handicapped, former member of the Board of Directors of the Boys Choir of Harlem, former Board member of Project Interchange, and former Board member of the Manhattan Playhouse. He chaired the Crosswalks Cable TV’s NYC Public School Board Elections Forum ’93, and served as Alt. Delegate to the National Fire Protection Association’s Safety to Life Committee. He has been a member of the American Bar Association, the NYS Bar Association, and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, having served as an appointed member of its Committee on International Arms Control and Security Affairs
He was an appointed member of the National Advisory Council (NAC) of the U.S. Small Business Administration, was the appoint- ed representative for two consecutive New York City Comptrollers to the Board of Trustees of the Wildlife Conservation Society, an appointed member of the NYS Matrimonial Commission, and member of the Coalition on Judicial Justice, and he was appointed twice by Mayor David Dinkins to serve as a member of his selec- tion panels for his representatives to the Board of Education, and as a member of the Mayor’s Commission on Protocol.
Mr. Teich is an activist, and has taken a pragmatic view of the importance of involvement in the civic and political process to better our American society. He led Citizens Committee efforts in Presidential and Gubernatorial campaigns, served as a Trustee of the New York State Democratic Committee, and as a member of the Democratic National Committee’s National Finance Council. He continues as Founder and Co Chair of New Democratic Dimensions, a civic and political organization of independent thinking Democrats now in its 35th Year, and fundraises for local and national candidates. He has appeared on radio and cable TV shows, serving as host of a weekly civic issues show in NYC for two years.
He has supported a variety of women’s, environmental, inter- group and voter participation causes, including his efforts initiating legislation in the 1990s to create Democracy Day in America which he had introduced in the House of Representatives by 100 sponsors in 1991, and in the US Senate. He received the Robert Briscoe Award” from the Emerald Isle Immigration Society, 999 Rev. Martin Luther King “Living the Dream” Award from Governor George Pataki, 2000 “Spirit of New York” Award from Councilwoman Una Clarke, 2001 “Jewish Heritage Award” from Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden, 2008 “Bridge Building Award” from the All Stars Project, and 2009 NYC City Council Jewish Heritage Award
He lives in Manhattan, New York City. He graduated from Boston University School of Law ( J.D.1970), the University of Pennsylvania (B.A.1967), and Huntington High School. He is three time NYC marathon runner and finisher, and has been listed in the 999 2008 editions of Who’s Who in the East, Who’s Who in America, and Who’s Who in the World