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