When Paul Freedman takes the reins as executive director at the Jewish Family & Children’s Service on Jan. 29, he will bring 30 years of experience in the operation of not-for-profit agencies on community- and county-based levels.

Freedman’s appointment as the new executive director was announced at the Dec. 7 annual meeting of the JF&CS. The Lawrenceville resident will succeed Mel Cohen, who has been the agency’s executive director since its inception in 1976.

Freedman has been executive director of the Burlington County chapter of the American Red Cross for the past seven years.

His latest appointment, however, returns him to a world with which he is familiar: From 1994 to 1996, Freedman ran Family and Children’s Services of Central New Jersey, a behavioral healthcare organization located in Princeton. He helped engineer the merger of the facility with the Middlesex County Family and Children’s Services.

Freedman grew up in East Brunswick and Highland Park. Since the age of 16, he said, he knew he wanted to be a social worker. He attended Adelphi University in Garden City, NY, where he received undergraduate and graduate degrees in social work.

“My mother was socially active, and I think it’s in my blood too,” Freedman said. “It also helped that I grew up during the 1960s and 1970s, when many people developed social awareness, a social conscience, and a desire to effect change.”

Even before he entered college, he began to understand the alliances between Jews and people of color. In the summer of 1970, while he was a high school junior, he became a member of New Jersey’s first Mitzvah Corps, which was sponsored by the NJ Federation of Temple Youth. He lived on the campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick and began to learn the impact of advocacy.

“I stepped into the real world and it was quite an experience for a teenage boy,” he recalled. “A group of us approached those who governed New Brunswick and advocated for the restoration of several public playgrounds that were in a state of disrepair. It worked. The playgrounds were fixed up for the children who relied on them for a source of recreation.”

During that same summer, he attended a weeklong conference of the National Conference of Christians and Jews at Monmouth College (now Monmouth University) in West Long Branch.

“I met many young people of color from the inner cities — I was in the minority and that had a great impact on my thought process,” he said. “But there was a lot of interaction, and I listened to the challenges they faced in their daily lives. I began to realize that when I began my formal career, I couldn’t work on something that didn’t have redeeming value.”

From 1996 to 1999, Freedman was a consultant for a not-for-profit organization in New York; he helped review their outcome funding process in order to help funders and grant recipients achieve better results. Freedman was also a management consultant for an arts and education organization in Montreal and worked with the UJA chapter in that city.

As Freedman prepares for a career transition, he counts the support of his wife, Laurie Patell, who is also a social worker. The couple has two children, Jesse, 18, a classical guitarist who attends Gilford College in North Carolina, and Emma, 13, a seventh-grader who plays soccer and who has a while to explore her career options, Freedman said.

“This is a good time to make this career transition,” Freedman said. “I’ve had a lot of experience working in family service agencies, and I’m excited about getting back to the family service world. The JF&CS stresses program development and service delivery, an effective combination that I have always supported throughout my career.”

Although his new job doesn’t begin until the end of next month, Freedman has already begun to review the agency’s internal documentation and has met with members of the senior staff. He also hopes to meet with board members before he settles into his new position as executive director.

“That’s my style,” Freedman said. “I like to hit the ground running. For 30 years, I’ve been involved in a very competitive environment. The sooner I assimilate into the community and begin partnering with the board and staff of JF&CS, the better off the organization will be.

“I have a real foundation of work experience under my belt,” he continued. “I’m looking forward to coming into Monmouth County.”

And Freedman said Cohen has established a “tremendous legacy” during his 30-year tenure.

“He did a magnificent job during his career with JF&CS,” said Freedman. “Everything is running smoothly and that will make my start-up easier, and it will also make it easier for everyone else at the agency. I already feel a connection with the staff — there is a sense of mutual excitement.”