JANUARY 11 • 2024 | 43

G

esher Human Services’ 15th
annual Trade Secrets event
held on Nov. 16 raised nearly
$300,000 to support Gesher’s many
workforce initiatives for women.
More than 300 people attended the
event held at the Detroit Marriott, Troy.
The money raised will help support
many of the programs that Gesher runs
to improve the lives of women and their
families, including Women to Work,
financial education, computer training,
resume writing and homebuyers’ assis-
tance.
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.
Well over $2 million has been raised
since the Trade Secrets event first start-
ed.
This year, Gesher has supported
more than 10,000 women in Metro

Detroit with its many services. Keynote
speaker and honoree at the event was
Monni Must, a master photographer
who inspired attendees with her story of
resilience and her ability to channel her
grief into positivity after the loss of her
daughter.
Lia Threatt was presented with the
Gesher Triumph Award. She became an
effective saver for her family and learned
to manage her finances by joining finan-
cial education programs and reinvented
her working life after being laid off as an
IT professional by updating her resume
and taking part in a career coaching
program.
“We are so grateful for the support of
the community in making Trade Secrets
a success, and thankful that every day
we get to change the lives of women in
Metro Detroit for the better with our
robust employment and financial educa-
tion programs,” said Paul Blatt, CEO of
Gesher Human Services.

Gesher’s Trade Secrets Event

faces&places

PHOTOS BY JEFF AISEN

CEO of Gesher Human Services Paul Blatt and keynote
speaker and honoree Monni Must
David DeVine, James Rosenfeld and Daniel Soleimani

Trade Secrets event co-founders Elaine
Fieldman (left) and Hadas Bernard

Gail Katz with Gesher’s Chief Advancement Officer
Eric Adelman

Rabbi Joey Krakoff
and Susan Krakoff
Stanley and Shari Finsilver
Gesher Board Chair-Elect Dani Gillman, Emily
Korotkin and Lisa Rothberger