SEPTEMBER 21 • 2023 | 13
OUR COMMUNITY
f you talk to Mark Davidoff
about his accomplishments
— Federation leader for
many years, Michigan man-
aging partner at Deloitte
LLP
, Detroit Symphony
Orchestra Board chair,
champion for Israel, presi-
dent and CEO of The Fisher
Group, just to name a few
— he almost visibly cringes
and tries to deflect the praise
to “other, smarter” people
who helped him along the
way. He honestly believes
his successes have come as a
result of working with some
amazing people.
So, when he received a call from Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit
President Matt Lester informing him that
he’
d been chosen as this year’s winner of
the Fred M. Butzel Memorial Award for
Distinguished Community Service —
Federation’s highest honor — he was truly
shocked. “I was choked up and speechless.
It’s not a phone call I would ever have
imagined I would’ve received,
” he said.
But if you ask those who know Mark,
they say the recognition is overdue.
“This award is better deserved by him
than probably every other person who has
ever received it, present company includ-
ed,
” said philanthropist and community
leader Jane Sherman, who won the award
in 1998. “The Butzel Award is for those
who serve the Jewish community and the
general community,
” she said. “From his
work with the Michigan Israel Business
Accelerator to the DSO to the Chamber of
Commerce and taking non-Jewish leaders
to Israel and bringing Israeli business here
— he’s done more for the community than
anyone else I know. He is so well-deserving
of this.
”
Penny Blumenstein worked with
Mark during her tenure as president of
Federation and the two struck up a lasting
friendship. “When I heard Mark was going
to be the Butzel Award winner, I was so
thrilled,
” she said. “We’ve had wonderful
Butzel Award winners in the past, but no
one that fulfills the whole spectrum of
qualifications that Federation looks for. Not
everybody can check off every single thing
— but Mark can.
”
The Butzel Award will join a host
of other accolades Mark has received:
Outstanding Business Leaders Award
from Northwood University in 2019;
Outstanding Leadership Award from
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah in 2018; Impact
Award Honoree from the Michigan Israel
Business Bridge in 2017; Wade Hampton
McCree Award for the Advancement
of Social Justice in 2017; Distinguished
Alumni Award from the Mike llitch School
of Business at Wayne State University in
2016; and Michiganian of the Year from
the Detroit News in 2016.
As for Mark? He says, “I’m not big on
being honored, but the Butzel is the highest
honor that the Jewish Federation gives in
the community for a lifetime of work. It’s
touching, and I appreciate it. But it’s not
just for me. It’s for my family, too, as we
shared much of this journey together.
”
JACKIE HEADAPOHL EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
ON THE COVER
Federation names Mark Davidoff
as this year’s Butzel Award winner.
continued on page 14