85th Annual Meeting Award Winners

STANLEY C. MYERS PRESIDENTS’ LEADERSHIP AWARD

Leslie Gelrubin Benitah

LESLIE GELRUBIN BENITAH was invited by a friend to attend a Greater Miami Jewish Federation Women’s Philanthropy meeting and came away deeply moved. Twelve years later, she maintains her connection to the Jewish people through her leadership in Federation and other Jewish causes.

A current Federation Board member, Leslie also served as a Women’s Philanthropy Executive Board member and most recently was installed as the incoming Vice President of Campaign Development, previously was WP Miami Beach Area Board Chair and Chair of this year’s The Women’s Event. She has also co-chaired The Pacesetter Event and Super Sunday. In addition, she is a Governor of Tel Aviv University and a Board member and Communications Chair of American Friends of Tel Aviv University. 

Born and raised in Paris, Leslie is a third-generation Holocaust Survivor and received her PhD in journalism from Sorbonne Université. She was a successful television producer in France and later became a French-language magazine editor in Miami. She currently devotes her time to producing “The Last Ones,” a series of short documentaries profiling the remaining Holocaust Survivors with more than 150 episodes freely available on different online platforms. The series is aimed at sharing their stories with younger generations in classrooms, on Facebook, Instagram and even on TikTok.

Leslie also speaks about the Holocaust in classrooms throughout South Florida as an active member of 3GMiami. Leslie lives in the Bay Point community of Miami with her husband, Harry, and their three children, Salome, Isaac and Micah.

Jason Haim

JASON HAIM was inspired to begin his Jewish journey at the age of 14 when his grandparents took him on a UJA Mission to Israel. Today, he expresses that same sense of pride in the Jewish people and belief in tikkun olam (repairing the world) through his role as a leader of the Miami Jewish community.

Jason has served as a Board member of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and as its South Dade Campaign Chair. He has been actively involved in Federation’s Real Estate Division, hosted the annual Sunset Over Miami event and participated in a UJA Mission to Cuba. Serving as Treasurer, former Vice President of Marketing and Communications and a member of the Executive Board of Temple Beth Am, he is on the Advisory Board of the Georgetown University Program for Jewish Civilization and has served as Southeast Region Vice President of the Columbia Law School Alumni Association.

Jason is the founder and President of Breakers Capital Partners, a diversified residential and commercial real estate company with a portfolio of properties in Florida, New Jersey, South Carolina and North Carolina. He graduated cum laude from Georgetown University and received a Juris Doctor degree from the Columbia University School of Law. He lives in Pinecrest with his wife, Laura, and their three sons, Oliver, Charlie and Henry.

SANDRA C. GOLDSTEIN YOUNG LEADERSHIP AWARD

Michelle Kahan

For MICHELLE KAHAN, Jewish community involvement is a family legacy she cherishes. Her mother was the Women’s Division Director at the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston and later Executive Director of Jewish Senior Housing in Orlando, while her father, an immigrant, was an early recipient of generous Jewish benefactors and donors.

A graduate of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation’s Leadership Development Institute, Michelle has served our Federation as Co-Chair of the Young Leadership Division’s Newish and Jewish program, Chair of the Jewish Incubator Grants Committee and a member of the Planning and Distribution Committee.

She also is a member of the Jewish Federations of North America’s Young Leadership Cabinet (Cabinet). Earlier this year, Michelle participated in a Cabinet Mission to the Jewish communities in Latvia, Estonia and Hungary, where she witnessed the role Federation support plays in providing human services, including rescuing Jews who were trapped in war-torn Ukraine. Before moving to Miami, Michelle was President of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando’s Or Hadash program for young professionals.

Michelle works in commercial real estate and is currently the Senior Vice President of CMBS Portfolio Management at Starwood Property Trust. A Miami Beach resident, she enjoys training service dogs for people with disabilities through her volunteer work with Topaz Assistance Dogs.

Isaac Mizrahi

ISAAC MIZRAHI is deeply appreciative of the role that the Miami Jewish community has played in shaping his life and expresses his gratitude through his active involvement in Federation and other major Jewish institutions. Born and raised in Aventura, he made a commitment to giving back immediately after returning to Miami from law school.

Isaac graduated from Federation’s Leadership Development Institute (LDI) and serves as the Young Leadership Division’s Co-Chair. He previously was its Outreach and Education Co-Chair and LDI Co-Chair. In addition to serving on Federation’s Executive Committee and Board of Directors, he was a member of Federation’s Elevate Leadership Committee and recently participated in Federation’s Israel 75 Miami Mega Mission, accompanied by his wife, Eliana, and mother, Mimi.

In his early years, Isaac benefited from a number of Federation-funded institutions, including attending Scheck Hillel Community Day School from kindergarten through 12th grade, and participating in a wide variety of afterschool and weekend programs at the Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center. He also was active in Hillel at Duke University and participated in Taglit-Birthright Israel. Isaac subsequently co-founded a new chapter of the Jewish Law Students Association while studying at the University of Florida College of Law.

Isaac is the Chief Executive Officer of Sunshine Tape Products, a Hallandale-based beauty and industrial tape manufacturer. He and his wife live in Aventura where his Jewish journey began.

ROBERT RUSSELL FELLOWSHIP AWARD

Lisa Goldstein

LISA GOLDSTEIN is proudly following in the footsteps of her grandparents’ involvement with UJA and her grandmother’s longtime presidency of her Hadassah chapter.

Lisa first traveled to Israel in 2006 on UJC’s National Young Leadership Summer Mission and subsequently joined Federation’s Young Leadership Division (YLD) Board. Since then, she has been five times, most recently on the Israel 75 Miami Mega Mission, accompanied by her mother

Lisa is Chair of the Elevate Leadership Committee, serves on Federation’s Board of Directors, is a Member-at-Large on the Women’s Philanthropy Board, is on the Agency Support Committee and served on the National Agencies Committee.

A graduate of Leadership Development Institute (LDI), Lisa was a YLD Executive Board member, co-chaired a Ben-Gurion Society event and received the Sandra C. Goldstein Young Leadership Award in 2012.

As a member of JFNA’s National Young Leadership Cabinet, Lisa traveled to communities across the world, including Azerbaijan and India to see Federation dollars at work. She was a Co-Chair of JFNA’s 2013 National Young Leadership Summer Mission to Israel and co-chaired an Advocacy Day in Washington, DC.

Lisa earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Business Administration from the University of Florida. She is a Miami-based Executive Specialty Sales Representative for AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals and received the company’s Circle of Excellence Award, presented to the top 5 percent of sales representatives in the country. Lisa resides in Aventura and is a Peloton enthusiast.