Leadership & Governance

President & CEO

Najja R. Orr assumed the role of PCA’s President & CEO in 2020 as services to Philadelphia’s older adults had to quickly adapt during the COVID-19 pandemic. This included delivering more than 3 million meals to older Philadelphians through home-delivered and community-based meal programs. Prior to coming to PCA, Orr worked for the Bucks County Area Agency on Aging since 2002 and served as that agency’s director until 2011. In 2017, he joined PCA as the chief strategy officer, leading the agency’s planning department.

Orr has served on several boards during his tenure in the aging field and held a number of positions, including chair of the Pennsylvania Department of Aging Cultural Diversity Advisory Council and board secretary and southeast regional representative for the Pennsylvania Association of Area Agencies on Aging. Orr has also served as a member of the Bucks County Area Agency on Aging Cultural Diversity Committee and the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey Vision Council.

Orr received his doctorate from Temple University in 2022. He also holds a master’s degree in business administration from Drexel University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Morehouse College. Orr was recently selected as one the 2022 nonprofit power 100 honorees by City & State Pennsylvania.  In addition to being a dedicated advocate for older adults, Orr is also a dedicated husband and father of four.

Chief Operating Officer

In January 2023, Philadelphia Corporation for Aging (PCA) announced that Laura I. Weinbaum, MBA, MGA, had been selected as its new Chief Operating Officer. As an executive leader with 25 years of experience in operations, organizational development, data and quality assurance, training, fiscal management, and advocacy, Laura comes to PCA from Project HOME, another Philadelphia nonprofit, where she spent more than 20 years. There, Laura helped lead the organization to empower adults and children to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty through housing, opportunities for employment, medical care, and education.

With a strong leadership legacy in non-profit, Weinbaum also spent a few years in technology consulting in New York and redevelopment in the City of Philadelphia.

As incoming COO, Weinbaum will work closely with President and CEO Najja R. Orr, MBA, DBA and CFO Joel TeBeest to take the 50-year-old PCA to the next level of accomplishment as an Area Agency on Aging, identifying new funding streams and developing pivotal strategic partnerships — guiding PCA into new arenas that will bring about long-term growth and opportunities.

During her extensive career, Laura has received numerous accolades including being featured in Philadelphia Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” and chosen as one of “101 Next Generation Connectors” by LEADERSHIP Philadelphia.

Weinbaum also has several publications to her credit including “Estimating the Local Economic and Fiscal Impact of Project HOME” and “Saving Lives, Saving Money: Cost-Effective Solutions to Homelessness in Philadelphia.”

She holds several leadership positions in the Philadelphia community: Board Chair, Commonwealth Housing Development Corporation; Leading for Change Fellow, Drexel University LeBow College of Business; and Adjunct Fellow, University of Pennsylvania Center for Public Health Initiatives.

Weinbaum has an MBA from Quantic School of Business, Washington, DC; an MGA from University of Pennsylvania; and a BA from Columbia University in New York City.

Chief Financial Officer

With more than 30 years of experience in finance and operations management and over 25 years working in social services, Joel TeBeest joined PCA as chief financial officer (CFO) in 2021.

TeBeest previously served as CFO for A-1 Limousine, Inc. since 2014. Prior to that time, TeBeest served as the finance director for New Jersey’s Department of Human Services, beginning in 2010. During his tenure, TeBeest is credited with automating the billing system for residents of state and county psychiatric hospitals, which invokes a cost sharing arrangement between the State of New Jersey and its 21 county governments.

TeBeest’s earlier positions included assistant finance director for New Jersey’s Department of Human Services and revenue systems manager for the New Jersey Division of Developmental Disabilities, where he also served as information systems business analyst and contract administration supervisor.

A Pennsylvania resident, TeBeest is a certified public accountant (CPA) in the Commonwealth. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business and accounting from The College of New Jersey.