Jews in the D
20 | NOVEMBER 7 • 2019
Headed to the Hall of Fame
Gilda Jacobs’
career has seen landmark wins for
Michigan youth, families and more.
ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY | SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
I
t was an accident that she entered the
field of politics.
Gilda Jacobs, who has now had an
honorable, 30-year career in public service,
had her eyes set on helping children who
have special needs.
A graduate of the University of Michigan
with a master’
s degree in behavioral sci-
ences in education, she worked as a special
education teacher in the Madison School
District until 1976, teaching one of the first
classes for children who have emotional
disabilities.
Fast-forward four decades and Jacobs’
career has included time served on the
Michigan House of Representatives, Senate
and on leadership for policy change orga-
nizations.
Born in Northwest Detroit, Jacobs,
70, will be inducted into the HERStory
Women’
s Hall of Fame (formerly the
Michigan Women’
s Hall of Fame) on Nov.
7 for the work she has done to benefit chil-
dren, economically vulnerable families and
more, all because of an unexpected chance
to become involved in campaigns.
A SURPRISE OPPORTUNITY
Her job as a special education teacher was
tough. It was a time when special edu-
cation services were changing for both
students and teachers. Jacobs was involved
in activism through a teachers’
union and
found an interest in issues and identifying
solutions.
“
After four years, I was feeling kind of
burned out,” Jacobs recalls.
While on maternity leave, she began to
volunteer for a citizens group launched
by education advocate Doug Ross. When
Ross ran for state Senate in the late 1970s
and asked Jacobs to help run his campaign,
she immediately said yes and left behind a
teaching job with benefits to earn $100 a
week managing its day-to-day operations.
Ross won his seat, and Jacobs stayed on
to co-manage his district office.
“It was through that job I started see-
ing how government could help people,”
Jacobs says. “It was a great opportunity
for me to see what was going on in other
communities. I looked at folks who were
elected officials and [realized] they were
like me; they were people who wanted
to improve the lives of their kids and the
community.
“I said, ‘
Boy, I could probably run for
office, too.’
”
FROM SPECIAL EDUCATION
TO POLITICS
A resident of Huntington Woods for
more than 45 years, Jacobs was the first
woman elected to Huntington Woods City
Commission in 1981. But it wasn’
t easy.
At a time where very few women were
running for office, some public offices
didn’
t even have bathrooms for women.
The year prior, in 1980, she ran as a
Democrat in a Republican district. It was
a Reagan landslide year, and Jacobs lost by
a couple hundred votes. She was elected a
year later.
Jacobs’
career continued to grow. She was
elected to Oakland County Commission in
1995, then served two terms in the House
of Representatives from 1999-2002, fol-
lowed by two terms in the Michigan Senate
from 2003-2010, where she was elected as
chair of the Democratic Senate Caucus.
She made history as the first woman
floor leader in either chamber of the legis-
lature. “I would say to other women, ‘
You
know, we’
re a great force,
’
” Jacobs recalls.
“We can do great things.
”
Following her terms, Jacobs joined the
Michigan League for Public Policy in 2011
as president and CEO. She calls it her
dream job. “It is an amazing organization
with an amazing reputation,
” she says.
The league promotes racial equity, eco-
nomic security, health and well-being for
Michigan residents and has operated since
1912. “I was able to build on that [history]
and create an even more expansive organi-
zation,” she says.
BIG WINS FOR MICHIGAN
Jacobs had two recent major policy wins:
a policy that raises the age when juveniles
are tried as adults in the criminal justice
system, and a policy that changes the asset
test on food and cash assistance in the state,
allowing more residents to be eligible for
help.
“These are huge wins for us,
” Jacobs says.
In addition to politics and public policy,
Jacobs never forgot her passion for helping
individuals with special needs. She also
served as development director for JARC,
an organization providing residential care
for people with developmental disabilities.
She belongs to Temple Emanu-El in
Oak Park and was a board member of the
Women’
s Division of Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit. Her husband, John
Jacobs, was formerly president of Jewish
Family Service. She enjoys attending
synagogue with her grandchildren and her
involvement in the Jewish community.
Jacobs has won numerous awards for
her work, including the Michigan Food
Bank Council’
s Hunger-Free Award in
2015 and being named one of the 100 Most
Influential Women in Michigan by Crain’
s
Detroit Business in 2016.
“It was news to me,” she says of her hall
of fame nomination. “I am very humbled
by this honor.”
MICHIGAN LEAGUE FOR PUBLIC POLICY
Gilda Jacobs