40 | MARCH 14 • 2024 

are no longer relevant.”
Zerkel says she’s gained 
customers and sourced from 
other people within the net-
work. Recently, she was at an 
event trying to network for a 
new hire, and the first person 
she walked up to knew a good 
fit for the role. Even during 
COVID, when she was serving 
as co-chair of the JWWN, they 
kept building connections with a 
weekly online Friday lunch and 
shmooze, she says. 
Women have shared with the 
group important lessons about 
how to prepare a business for a 
crisis, and they’ve heard from 
C-suite women, taking tips from 
the likes of healthcare exec Sheri 
Shapiro, who not only makes 
sure she has a seat at the table, 
but at 5 foot 2, boosts her seat 
up high. “It’s a lesson I haven’t 
forgotten,” says Zerkel, “that how 
you come to the table matters, 
and it’s not a lesson you’d neces-
sarily learn if you were interact-
ing with men.”
Dana Cooper, an associ-
ate broker with Cooper Glass 
Homes and co-chair 
of the group, got 
involved a few 
years ago to meet 
and support other 
women. Being part 
of the network is a 
great way to let peo-
ple know what she does and also 
to make friends, says Cooper, 
who is currently co-chair of 
the Jewish Working Women’s 
Network Committee. 
Participants in the JWWN 
come together to build each 
other up, she adds. “There’s a 
sense of community and helpful-
ness and togetherness, of giving 
back and putting out a hand to 
help a fellow Jewish woman,” she 
says, noting that the events draw 
women of all ages and from dif-

ferent points in their careers. “In 
today’s environment, the amount 
of antisemitism and what’s 
happened since Oct 7, it’s more 
important than ever to embrace 
your community and be a part 
of it and help each other out.” 
She says she hopes to see the 
group continue to grow as young 
women get out of college and 
start to enter the job market. 
 “Those are new and young 
future leaders starting out, 
coming into the organization,” 
she says. “We’re developing 
future leaders so that the 
networking group continues to 
grow and flourish — so more 
and more women get to know 
about the group and want to be 
a part of it.” 

Dana 
Cooper

WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP

continued from page 39

CLOCKWISE FROM RIGHT: 
Lynn Feinberg of Huntington 
Woods (right) talks with 
women at the event. Albina 
Brayman of Birmingham 
and Lori Rashty of West 
Bloomfield. Lindsay Sikora 
of Birmingham, Leigh Moss 
of Bloomfield Hills and 
Jody Lipton of Huntington 
Woods. Shelly Rubenfire and 
Meredith Kay Rubenfire, both 
of West Bloomfield. 

