The 14th annual Trade Secrets event, a fundraiser for Gesher Human Services’ Women to Work Program, will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, November 10 at the Detroit Marriott Troy, 200 W. Big Beaver Road.
Women to Work began in the 1980s to help women re-enter the workforce after significant life-changing events such as a financial need due to family job loss, divorce, death or disability of a spouse or partner.
Trade Secrets has raised over $2.25 million in the last 13 years and the program has benefitted over 2,000 metro Detroit women. After intensive assessment, testing, and job search training, participants emerge with renewed self-confidence, market-ready job skills, and an action plan.
This year’s event will feature honoree and speaker, Brenda Naomi Rosenberg, a Detroit fashion industry executive and style icon, who became a designer, globe-trotting photographer, and eventually an international peacebuilder after 9/11 when she worked to unite people of differing faiths against hate. Her memoir “Charmed” was published in June 2022, with all proceeds going to the Detroit Institute of Arts educational programs. For a biography and images click here; to purchase a sponsorship for Trade Secrets, click here.
Rosenberg was the first woman Vice President of Fashion for Hudson’s department stores, then first woman Senior Vice President of Fashion Marketing and Merchandising for Federated Allied Department Stores. An advocate for promoting diversity, Rosenberg hired the first female black executive in Detroit, and the first black models for Saks Fifth Avenue in Detroit. When 9/11 happened, Rosenberg says her heart spoke to her, and she became an activist for interfaith relationships, the first Jewish person to be honored by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. She then went on to create interfaith educational material for students all over the world; her “Reuniting the Children of Abraham: Tool Kit 4 Peace,” has been featured on CBS Television Network.
Gesher Human Services CEO Paul Blatt said, “Brenda has spent her adult life helping others overcome obstacles and supporting the community. We’re proud to have her as our honoree and keynote speaker at this year’s Trade Secrets.”
Rosenberg said she was honored to be named the keynote speaker at Trade Secrets. “Women to Work is about helping women find a different path and one of the most important ways is by empowering women to get back into the workforce and then be able to live the lives they choose.” She added one of her most important life lessons, “There is no such thing as failure, it’s just feedback. Try another way.”
This year’s Trade Secrets Award Recipient is Yolanda Lewis, a May 2022 graduate of Women to Work. Lewis, 50, of Southfield, was working at an agency which took care of seniors at home when the pandemic struck, and she lost her job while also dealing with her own health issues. “I stumbled across some information about Gesher Human Services when I was attending Michigan Rehabilitation Services and thought Women to Work might give me some direction for my working life,” said Lewis.
She says the program was enjoyable, informative, and helpful and gave her the tools to go back into the workforce with more confidence. “I learned so much, then after Women to Work, I took a financial literacy class, also at Gesher Human Services, and managed to get my credit score from 520 to 710,” says Lewis. “The organization has been a great support system for me.” Lewis is starting a paid internship with a human resources department in a local school and hopes it will lead to permanent work.
“Women to Work participants not only gain increased self-confidence and improved communication skills, but also a support system and action plan for the future. We are grateful to play a part in that,” said Blatt.
As in previous years, Trade Secrets will offer the opportunity to purchase raffle tickets with exciting prizes including a $2,500 Somerset Collection shopping spree: 10-12 raffle baskets with event tickets, gifts for the home, jewelry, spa treatments and more; a chance to be included in a virtual small group reading with renowned psychic medium Rebecca Rosen plus a signed copy of her book; and a My Flight Tours Helicopter Ride for four in Detroit over the Ambassador Bridge.
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