JEWISH MUSEUM OF FLORIDA
PRESENTED THE ANNUAL "BREAKING THE GLASS CEILING AWARDS" MARCH 24, 2011

The Jewish Museum of Florida presented the winners of the annual "Breaking the Glass Ceiling Awards" for six inspiring women who have been successful in fields generally dominated by men. The Award Reception and Ceremony featured presentations made by the honorees describing the obstacles and inspirations they encountered on their individual journeys to success.

2011 Glass Ceiling Honorees

Judy Genshaft was appointed President and CEO of the University of South Florida System in July 2000, a position achieved by few women, and even fewer Jewish women in Florida. With a $1.6 billion budget, the USF System has campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota-Manatee and Lakeland, serving more than 47,000 students in more than 232 degree programs on the undergraduate, master's, specialist and doctoral levels, including the doctor of medicine. Dr. Genshaft has created a synergy of academia, business and community which strengthens Tampa Bay.
During Dr. Genshaft's presidency, the USF System has been nationally recognized as a top-tier national research university. From 2000 - 2007, no university in the country grew its research funding as fast as USF. It has established signature programs in diabetes, neuroscience and sustainable communities.
President Genshaft has also established herself as a leader for economic development, especially related to high-technology and bioscience. She has focused on partnering university research with corporate and entrepreneurial partners. Last October, Dr. Genshaft was the only university president from the U.S. to speak at the prestigious Global University Presidents Summit in Seoul, South Korea. Her presence there was an important step in the ongoing globalization of the USF System.
In addition, the board of the National Collegiate Athletic Association has recently elected Dr Genshaft to serve as its Chair, making her the first woman to hold this position.

 
Jacqueline Hodes is among the few female attorneys in prominent ranks in
the private equity and mergers and acquisitions arena. She is currently a partner at the firm of McDermott Will & Emery, and she was the youngest associate promoted to partner within her firm. On average, women represent only15% of the partners at the largest law firms in the country, but the number of women who are merger and acquisitions attorneys is only 7%, and those who run private equity transactions are almost non-existent. This is largely due to the challenges women face when they choose to practice in this space, which often leads to them opting out of this type of law, or sometimes even opting out of practicing law at all. Anecdotally, less than 2% of the decision makers at private equity firms are women. She has been recognized and featured in Chambers USA as one of the leading lawyers in her field. In addition, she was honored for her unwavering efforts in assisting Holocaust survivors seeking reparations from the German government, both locally and nationally. Jackie serves as a mentor to summer interns and new associates and she is active in numerous Jewish, professional and community organizations. She continues to strive to achieve more, accomplish more and pave the way for other young Jewish women to join her in succeeding.


Dr. Fleur Sack's entire career has been a template for "breaking the glass ceiling," and she has ignored arbitrary, gender-defined limitations all along the way. She was the first female chair of a Baptist Hospital medical department, the first female physician appointed to the hospital's medical board, and, she was only the fourth female to serve as president of the Florida Academy of Family Physicians in its 55-year history. At the start of the AIDS epidemic, Dr. Sack was one of the first Miami physicians to treat HIV/AIDS patients, and recognizing the risk for females, she authored one of the first texts addressing HIV prevention for women. In 2001 she was the recipient of the prestigious Florida Family Physician of the Year Award. In 2003, Governor Jeb Bush appointed her to the Governor's Task Force on Access to Affordable Health Care. Dr. Sack is currently one of the few physicians at Miami Veteran's Association Healthcare System who offers female veterans a comprehensive women's health program. She is a lead physician in a nationwide pilot project developing a Patient-Aligned Care Team. Dr. Sack serves as a role model and mentor for female medical students and she also devotes time to the Jewish community, including serving as a board member of the Israeli Medical Association and a volunteer physician on March of the Living trips.


Samantha Steinberg left a lucrative career in advertising to serve her community as a Forensic Artist for the Miami Dade County Police Department. Samantha co-founded the Miami-Dade Police Department's Forensic Art Unit, and in 1999 she became the first person in the county to hold the title of "forensic artist." She is highly respected as one of the top forensic artists in the country, running one of the busiest units. She is often called upon by police departments and federal agencies nationwide and internationally to assist in identifications. Samantha has created a book, the Steinberg Facial Identification Catalog, which makes it easier for other forensic artists to accurately transform a victim's memory into a drawing. This book is used by police agencies around the country. She has been featured on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, The Today Show and America's Most Wanted and in numerous magazines. She also produced a series of drawings for the hit television show "CSI." Samantha's work has impacted countless lives, not just by helping identify a criminal to give closure to a victim or their families, but also by helping place criminals behind bars so they cannot prey on others. She also helped form a foundation to provide resources and support for families of missing persons.


Anita Stiles earned her degree in Mortuary Science at New England Institute of Applied Arts and Science in Boston, MA. When she was young, her father worked in a Jewish Funeral Home in Detroit to earn his social security credits, and she used to go with him to work at night. When she was in high school she wanted to be a coroner, but her grades were not high enough, so her counselor suggested she become a funeral director. As a woman, she faced challenges all along the way, since her family did not own a funeral home. She began her career at a non-Jewish funeral home in Michigan, where the owner's mother was the first female licensed in the state of Michigan. She moved to Florida to work for Riverside-Gordon Memorial Chapel, where she worked her way up the ladder at their various locations in Delray Beach, Miami Beach and West Palm Beach. She has been the funeral director of Beth Israel Memorial Chapel in Boca Raton since 2001. There are few Jewish women who are licensed funeral directors, and even fewer who are not married to the owners. Anita finds that most men are doubtful that women can handle the hours or the tasks of heavy lifting and cleaning.

 
LIFETIME ACHIEVING AWARD
Marcia Jo Zerivitz, Founding Executive Director and Chief Curator, Jewish Museum of Florida has been "breaking the glass ceiling" in the Florida Jewish community for nearly 50 years. When the first National UJA Young Women's Leadership Cabinet was formed in 1974, Marcia was selected. In 1978, she was one of the earliest female presidents of a Jewish Federation (Greater Orlando).
Marcia traveled alone around Florida for eight years in the 1980s to retrieve the unknown Jewish History of Florida. She then led the evolution of the MOSAIC traveling exhibit project into the Jewish Museum of Florida in 1995, the first museum to document a state's ethnic history. Marcia Jo's primary goal has been to help ensure Jewish continuity by strengthening Jewish memories and Jewish identity. All of her energies have resulted in bringing pride to the entire Jewish community of Florida from the history that she discovered, documented, compiled and interprets.
In 2003, she led the effort to create Florida Jewish History Month, passed by the Florida Legislature and proclaimed for each January. This is a first in the nation. Marcia presents a lecture on the "History & Triumphs of Florida Jewish Women," which is the first compilation of this information, and is used as a curriculum for Florida Jewish History Month. In 2005, Marcia initiated the effort to create Jewish American Heritage Month, passed by the U.S. Congress and proclaimed for each May- another first. Marcia has served as a role model for other women in the Jewish communal and museum fields, where she continues to conduct workshops, write, lecture and mentor others: "Women in leadership positions - a daunting and achievable goal. Yes! You can!"
Sponsored by Isabel Bernfeld Anderson, Carolyn J. Kurtz, Joyce Pinn Fox and Cantor Rachelle Faith Nelson