58 | SEPTEMBER 19 • 2019 THEJEWISHNEWS.COM

business SPOTlight

both the Detroit Symphony 
Orchestra and the Michigan 
Israel Business Accelerator, as 
well as on the boards of the 
United Way for Southeastern 
Michigan, Business Leaders 
for Michigan and the Detroit 
Economic Club.
“His unique experience 
brings a strong pedigree and 
personal values to his new 
position that will preserve and 

accelerate the legacy established 
by our founders,” said Jane F
. 
Sherman, board member of the 
Fisher Group. 
Fellow board member Phillip 
Wm. Fisher added, “It has been 
my privilege serving with Mark 
on a variety of boards over the 
past three decades, and I look 
forward to partnering with him 
to evolve solutions addressing 
the family’
s needs.” 

“Davidoff” from page 57

“Training Entrepreneurs” from page 57

within the businesses we run, 
but also in the communities 
we touch. In my current job, I 
work to not only build a busi-
ness for self-driving cars, but to 
make sure we solve transporta-
tion problems for the elderly, 
for single parents and for the 
broader community.”
Abbie Spector, project 
manager at Rocket Fiber, a 
technology start-up providing 
internet services to 
Detroit residents 
and businesses, is 
a 2017 fellow who 
learned about VFA 
from a classmate 
at Middlebury 
College in 
Vermont.
“VFA’
s social and profes-
sional network afforded me the 
opportunity to move to a city 
I otherwise would have over-
looked, and provided the perfect 
avenue to combine my passion 
for urban geography and com-
munity development with my 
desire to work in a fast-paced, 
entrepreneurial setting,” Spector 
said. “VFA is at once a training 
program, a social network and 
a career jump starter. Through 
VFA, I’
ve been fortunate to 
learn from experienced entre-
preneurs, grow into my project 
management role, connect with 
talented leaders in and around 
Detroit, and build lasting 
friendships.”
Lauren Hoffman, who works 
at Rock Ventures in Detroit, 
the holding company for Dan 

Gilbert’
s portfolio of compa-
nies, investments and real estate 
holdings, agreed. “VFA has a 
transformative impact on its 
fellows. It’
s almost 
a surrogate for 
business school, in 
the level of training 
and excellence of 
the network one 
builds through 
the experience. 
It makes starting 
companies feel accessible. Some 
of the most valuable business 
competencies I’
ve learned are 
to expect it will be hard, and to 
grind through uncertainty and 
deeply unsexy grunt work to do 
anything interesting and execute 
your best ideas, and to ask ques-
tions of the brilliant people who 
have built similar products, ser-
vices or companies because they 
can and will generously want to 
share valuable advice.”
VFA has become her passion, 
Rubin said. “I get such joy from 
helping these fellows and their 
ventures.
“I want nothing more than 
to see these young people suc-
ceed. When I take friends or 
business associates to training 
camp challenges, they are blown 
away by the talent. You can’
t 
revitalize New York, but you can 
help reinvent Detroit. This is a 
huge pull for these young entre-
preneurs. They want to create 
products and services that create 
change, and that’
s what Detroit 
is all about!” 

Abbie Spector

Lauren
Hoffman

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