Mary Arpe

President, Founder and Chairman
marpe@communitycompact.org

Mary Arpe founded Community Compact in 2008, bringing with her a wealth of experience from private, public and non-profit arenas.

Mary began her professional experience in the Student Affairs Office of Florida Atlantic University, where she served as Assistant Director of Financial Aid. In 1982 she was hired by IBM where she drafted and negotiated contracts between IBM and software developers, including Microsoft Corporation, taking on the position as the United Kingdom Laboratory Liaison with IBM Boca Raton, Florida Laboratory. In the beginning of the 1990s, Mary and her husband Michael Gelfand founded the law firm Gelfand and Arpe, P. A. where Mary practiced law full-time for several years and remains a shareholder.

Mary has a distinguished record of leadership in the nonprofit sector, devoting much of her personal time and energy to working with nonprofits to accomplish their missions. As a board member for the United Way of Palm Beach County, she served as Chair of Agency Relations and member of the Executive Committee for nine years. More recently she was chair of one of United Way’s Impact Committees. Mary also served for many years on the board of the Palm Beach County Literacy Coalition. In addition, she was an active Board Member of the Nelle Smith Residence for Girls where she held the position of both Vice President and President. Mary is currently serving as secretary on the board of Toward a More Perfect Union. She is a 2007 graduate of Leadership Palm Beach County.

Together with her husband, Mary was presented with the 1996 Children’s Advocacy Award given by the Legal Society of Palm Beach County, Inc. and the Palm Beach County Bar Association. She was also a 1999 Nominee for the Wachovia/Jr. League Woman Volunteer of the Year Award.

Mary received her BA degree from Vassar College and her JD degree from the University of Florida. She is an active member of the Florida Bar and Palm beach County Association. She lives with her husband, Michael Gelfand in West Palm Beach, Florida. Michael and Mary are parents of a daughter who is attending college outside of Philadelphia.