Jeannette Lofas founded the Stepfamily Foundation in 1975. It was the first organization in the world devoted solely to the problems and challenges encountered in step relationships. She has personally, or by telephone, counseled thousands, and has trained over 8,000 helping professionals.

Lofas is the co-author, with Ruth Roosevelt, of Living in Step, McGraw-Hill, 1976. Prior to Living In Step, no book existed which proclaimed that the step relationship is dynamically different from the traditional biologically related family. The Stepfamily Foundation has succeeded in generating significant public awareness about the complexities of step relationships. The Stepfamily Foundation estimates that one half of all Americans are now involved in step relationship, whether remarried or living together where children are involved from a previous relationship.

Lofas is a recognized media personality and public speaker. She has appeared on such shows as The Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Geraldo Rivera, Larry King, Sally Jesse Raphael, Prime Time Live and a number of network television specials. Lofas has been featured in such publications as: The New York Times, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Better Homes and Gardens, and New York Magazine.
She has lectured before numerous universities and organizations. Since 1990, Lofas has hosted a weekly cable television show, "Family Matters," which airs in Manhattan, Westchester, and Suffolk, N.Y.

Professional History:
Stepfamily Foundation, Inc.,-Founder and President, New York City, 1975-Present; "Family Matters." cable TV show-Host; Snowmass Arts Foundation - Executive Director, Aspen, Colorado; KWTV/CBS - Television Reporter, Film Critic, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, ABC TV, -on air Reporter, New York City; Metro Media TV-on air Reporter, New York City; Ivan Tors Films-Independent Producer; Whitney Museum-Co-Founder, New American Film Series, New York City; Radio Free Europe - Reporter, New York City; Atlas Magazine - Co-Founder and Associate Editor, New York City.

Publications:
Living In Step, with Ruth Roosevelt, McGraw-Hill, 1976; Stepparenting, with Dawn B. Sova, Kensington Books, 1985; How to Be a Stepparent, Nightingale-Conant Audio Book, 1986, He's Ok, She's OK: Honoring the Differences Between Men & Women, co-author, Joan MacMillan, Tzedakah Publications 1995, Stepparenting, (revised) Kensington Books, 1995.

Awards and Speeches:
President Clinton and U.S. Congress, National Parents' Day Award for 1995 to the Stepfamily Foundation for "your efforts in strengthening step relationships in families across America. "Southwest Film Award (TV Producer); "Woman of the Month Good Housekeeping Magazine; Keynote Speaker, U.S. Family Service Centers, Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD; Speaker, White House Conference On the Family; Keynote Speaker for: "The State of the Family," U.S. Armed Forces in Europe, Heidelberg, Germany; Family Court Judges Association, Chautauqua Institution, Amphitheater Lecture (6,000 attendees), "The New Family: Step Relationships," Seminar Leader, Center for Family Services, Palm Beach; Kansas Psychiatric, guest summer professor Long Island University, Summer Institute: "Counseling the Changing American Family." Keynote Speaker Women's Federation of World Peace, June, 1996

Corporate Consulting:
Topics include: Conflict Resolution, Working the Systems Model and Gender Diversity.

Degrees: Fordham University, M.S.W., C.S.W., University of Oklahoma, Honorary Ph.D., University of Michigan, B.A., University of Geneva, Interpreters' School, University of Vienna.

Fluent in German and French; ability to communicate in Spanish and Swedish

Contact: The Stepfamily Foundation, Inc.,
333 West End Avenue, New York, NY 10023
TEL:(212) 877-3244
FAX: (212) 362-7030
24 hour information line (212) 799-STEP