16th Annual Trade Secrets Event Benefitting Metro Detroit Women and Families, Nov. 14

16^th Annual Trade Secrets, a Fun and Inspiring Event Supporting Gesher Human Services’ Programs Benefitting Women and Families, to be Held on Nov. 14.

Honoree and keynote speaker is entertainment industry producer and co-founder of the nonprofit L!FE Leaders Inc. Amy Nederlander; Trade Secrets event supported by metro Detroit women-owned businesses.

The 16th annual Trade Secrets event, a fundraiser for Gesher Human Services’

many workforce initiatives for metro Detroit women, such as the flagship Women to Work program and financial education and computer training classes, will be held at the Detroit Marriott Troy (200 W. Big Beaver Rd, Troy, MI 48084) on Thursday Nov. 14 at 6 p.m. More than 15,000 women in metro Detroit last year were assisted by Gesher Human Services programs, offering important opportunities for women to learn new skills and improves the lives of their families. The honoree and keynote speaker will be Amy Nederlander whose family has been synonymous with Detroit and the theater world since 1912, when her grandfather David T.

Nederlander purchased a 99-year lease on the Detroit Opera House

and her family went on to build one of the largest privately held live entertainment companies in the world. Amy Nederlander is herself an entertainment industry producer and an expert in strategic business development and continues her family’s commitment to a thriving Detroit, co-founding a nonprofit called L!FE Leaders Inc, which builds and amplifies youth skills and voices, networks of relationships, and their direct involvement in the city’s prosperity. For images click here. To purchase tickets, go to geshermi.org/events.

It is hoped Trade Secrets 2024 will raise $275,000; over $2 million dollars has been raised for women’s programming since the annual event started. A significant number of metro Detroit women-owned businesses, including skinnytees, Bra-vo Intimates, Greene & Co., Winning Imprints, Art & Frame, FAIRCLOTH Boutique, Fascination Factory, My House of Style and Franklin Cider Mill are supporting Trade Secrets this year as sponsors or silent auction donors.

“It is truly inspiring that so many women-owned businesses have come together to ensure that this year’s event will be a success,” said event chair Linda Schlesinger-Wagner, who is also the founder of skinnytees. “Women are empowering women in the community who need a helping hand to get where they want to be, and they are doing it with love.”

Gesher Human Services CEO Paul Blatt said he was excited to welcome Amy Nederlander back to Detroit for the event. “Amy embodies everything that is great about Detroit – hard work, an entrepreneurial spirit and, with her many philanthropic efforts, empowering and strengthening young people in the community she loves,” he said. “We are excited that Amy believes strongly in Gesher’s mission and our programs, like Women to Work, that help participants find ways to strengthen themselves, even reinvent themselves, opening up pathways to new opportunities.”

Women to Work helps 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. Women are provided with assessment, testing, and job search training, emerging from the program with renewed self-confidence, market-ready job skills, and an action plan.

As in previous years, raffle tickets and a silent auction with exciting prizes will be available.

The silent auction will be accessible to everyone, not just those in attendance at the event, and will go live the week of Nov. 3, ending on Thurs. Nov. 14 at 7:30 PM. Some prize highlights include a Grey Ghost dining experience, a reading with medium Rebecca Rosen, skinnytees shopping spree (20 items) at skinnytees warehouse; Casa Pernoi dining experience (dinner for 4 with wine pairing); 2 VIP tickets to Eat Detroit event; Broadway in Detroit – Opening Night of ‘Book of Mormon’ at the Fisher theatre; Saks Fifth Ave – $2000 gift card, personal shopping experience, and party with friends at Saks with a light dinner; and an Eames wire desk chair donated by Millerknoll.

Premier sponsors for Trade Secrets 2024 include: Presenting Sponsor – Artichoke Garlic Foundation; Sapphire Sponsor – Elaine Feldman; Emerald Sponsors – Kenwal, Lisa Keramedjian Meer and Brian Meer, Cyril Moscow and the Stone Foundation of Michigan; Ruby Sponsors – Greenleaf Trust, Faye and Paul J. Blatt, Katie and Even Leibhan, Erin and Jon Modiano and Bea and Paul Schwarzbaum.

For more information or sponsorship opportunities contact Linsey Fox on 248.233.4343 or email lfox@geshermi.org

About Gesher Human Services

Gesher Human Services is a non-profit organization providing a bridge to hope and opportunity for people at work, at home and in the community. It is dedicated to helping people across metro Detroit lead more stable and fulfilling lives through workforce development, career mobility, behavioral health, inclusion programming and residential services that serve all metro Detroiters while meeting the needs of the Jewish community.

The organization works with job seekers, people with disabilities, older adults, and the community at large to provide skills, support, and equitable opportunities for people to succeed. Uniting two of metro Detroit’s most influential Jewish human services agencies, JVS Human Services and Kadima, Gesher brings over 110 years of combined experience facilitating equitable employment opportunities and better mental health outcomes for residents.

With a network of more than 400 employees and volunteers across 25 locations in southeast Michigan, Gesher delivers a continuum of services and support that directly impacts the lives of over 26,000 individuals and families annually. More information at www.geshermi.org.