The second annual combined Jewish Community Awards Celebration and Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Annual Meeting will be held Thursday, May 9 at the Tucson Jewish Community Center.
The event will include special recognition awards honoring lay or professional leaders from each of the Federation’s beneficiary and affiliated agencies. The Federation will install its 2019-20 officers and directors and honor outgoing board chair Shelly Silverman. The evening, which will begin at 7 p.m., will conclude with an ice cream social.
The Federation’s Man and Woman of the Year, Phil Bregman and Leslie Glaze, will be among the evening’s honorees.
“Phil Bregman has been a man for all seasons,” says Stuart Mellan, JFSA president and CEO, citing Bregman’s numerous Jewish community leadership roles over several decades. Currently Bregman is board chair of both Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging and the Hebrew Free Loan Association, serves on the Federation board and co-chairs the Jewish Community Roundtable. Past roles include chair of the Congregation Anshei Israel board and the Synagogue-Federation Dialogue.
“In giving leadership, Phil considers not only what is most expedient, but also the most principled way forward. He listens with an open heart and truly embodies what it is to be devoted to our community,” says Mellan.
“Leslie Glaze, a relative newcomer to Tucson, is a gifted leader who lends her talents in numerous ways,” says Mellan. “A Federation board member, she is completing her second year as Women’s Philanthropy campaign chair. Leslie expanded Federation corporate sponsorship efforts and obtained grants from institutions outside the Jewish community, raising Federation’s profile in the Jewish and greater communities. In these efforts, she promotes each of the Federation’s beneficiary agencies and partners, securing new supporters for their work and strengthening our community. In all of her roles, Leslie goes ‘above and beyond,’ bringing excellence to everything she undertakes.”
Ben Pozez and Gabby Erbst will receive the JFSA Gary I. Sarver Young Man and Young Woman of the Year awards.
Fran Katz, JFSA senior vice president, will be honored as the Ben & Betty Brook Community Professional of the Year.
The Rabbi Arthur R. Oleisky Teen Recognition Award will go to Katya Cohen.
The special recognition awards are as follows: Russ Krone, Handmaker; Neil Markowitz, Jewish Community Foundation; Susan Garber, Jewish Family & Children’s Services; Andy Kunsberg, JFSA; Ellen Saltonstall, Jewish History Museum; Helen Rib, Tucson Hebrew Academy; Mary Cochran Wolk, Tucson J; and Dana Narter, University of Arizona Hillel Foundation.
The event is free but RSVP is required at www.jfsa.org/awardsregistration or admin@jfsa.org. For more information, call 577-9393.
