Leslie Glaze, Ph.D., furthers the critical work of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona in both traditional and novel ways. That’s why the selection committee tapped her as the recipient of the JFSA’s 2018 Special Recognition Award. She will be honored next week at the 2018 Jewish Community Awards Celebration.
Even before she moved to Tucson, Glaze traveled to Israel with Stuart Mellan, Fran Katz, and other JFSA supporters. That trip led to her working remotely from Minnesota to interview and write profiles on JFSA volunteers for a “Community in Action” online series. Glaze arrived in Tucson with her husband, Richard, in 2010 following an academic career as speech-language pathologist at the University of Minnesota.
Since then, she has participated in a variety of behind the scene roles, including writing grants to fund the Jewish Latino Teen Coalition, Homer Davis Project, Jewish Community Concierge, Local Emergency Allocation Fund, and Sister Jose Women’s Center. As part of the Federation’s Strategic Planning Task Force, she helped create a community-wide online survey, participated in the concierge committee and JewishTucson website development.
For the Federation’s campaign, Glaze has worked on Super Sunday, co-chaired the annual Together Campaign Kickoff event in 2015 and 2016, served as Lion of Judah co-chair, and corporate sponsor chair. Last year, she joined the JFSA board and next year, she will become Women’s Philanthropy campaign chair.
“It’s all been very satisfying,” she says, noting the breadth of opportunity for involvement. “I’ve been able to participate in many different projects and each is meaningful to me. I love working with so many different volunteers and staff members.” She is most impressed by the Federation’s magnitude of caring and competence in supporting Southern Arizona and its beneficiary agencies. “The Federation works very hard to make the right decisions, the best choice for everyone. It is a privilege to work with a group of people with that kind of community resolve and commitment.”
“Leslie is an incredible campaigner, making every contact a positive interaction for the benefit of the mission of JFSA, says Mellan. “Her humility and grace is evident in every interaction and contact she makes on behalf of JFSA, bringing tremendous credibility to, and support for, the work of JFSA.”
The 2018 Jewish Community Awards Celebration and Jewish Federation Annual Meeting will be held on Thursday, May 10 at 7 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center.
