Beacon Street Girls’ Addie Swartz to Receive Jewish Women International’s 2008 Award

Washington, D.C. – July 15, 2008 -- Women International (JWI) has selected Addie Swartz, founder and CEO of Massachusetts-based B*tween Productions, Inc, as a 2008 Women to Watch honoree for her work creating the Beacon Street Girls brand, award-winning book series and website for preteen girls. 

Swartz created the Beacon Street Girls to provide healthy media and strong role models for tween girls. She previously founded the educational software company BrightIdeas and held senior positions at The Walt Disney Company, Lotus Development, and Reebok. Featured in numerous business and family publications; Swartz delivered keynote addresses at Harvard Business School’s Dynamic Women in Business Conference and the Annual Women’s Leadership Conference at Babson College.  She was honored by the Girl Scouts as a “Leading Woman” and by Girls Inc. with their “Strong, Smart and Bold” award.

The Beacon Street Girls provides positive entertainment that empowers preteen girls during an otherwise vulnerable time in their lives.  Swartz uses story-telling to address the many complex issues girls face everyday.  “This is how I’m practicing tikkun olam, making the world a better place,” she says.

Swartz is one of ten exceptional Jewish women from across the United States who will receive the 2008 Women to Watch award. In addition to appearing in the fall issue of Jewish Woman, the women will be honored at an annual celebration that includes a gala luncheon, awards ceremony and dynamic honorees’ discussion panel. This year’s event will take place December 8, 2008 at the Hilton Washington.

“Women to Watch honors extraordinary leaders,” says Loribeth Weinstein, executive director of JWI. “Jewish women make crucial contributions in their professions, their communities and in society at large, and this award truly accentuates their impact.”

Selected for their unique contributions across a wide array of professions, the other honorees are:

Stephanie S. Abrutyn, New York, NY, vice president and senior counsel, litigation at Home Box Office, Inc.; serves as counselor to senior management and programmers, and as acting as advocate in adversarial matters; is on the board of directors of the Media Law Resource Center Institute.

Linda Cohn, Bristol, CT, anchor on ESPN's SportsCenter; authored Cohn-Head. A No-Holds-Barred-Account of Breaking Into the Boy's Club; was the first full-time U.S. female sports anchor on a national radio network.

Karen J. Kessler, Scotch Plains, NJ, president and co-founder of Evergreen Partners, Inc.; was the first woman commissioner of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority; served as vice president of corporate communications for the American Stock Exchange; presently vice chair of Atlantic Health.

Susan G. Kornstein, M.D., Richmond, VA, professor of psychiatry and obstetrics/gynecology at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU); co-founder and executive director of the VCU Institute for Women’s Health; editor-in-chief of the Journal of Women's Health; president of the International Association for Women's Mental Health.

Rabbi Naomi Levy, Venice, CA, founder and spiritual leader of Nashuva; bestselling author of two books; listed by the Forward as one of the most 50 influential Jewish leaders in the nation.

Amanda Lipitz, New York, NY, Tony Award-nominated Broadway producer; executive producer of MTV’s series, Legally Blonde the Musical: The Search for the next Elle Woods; responsible for innovative Broadway sponsorships, such as Tiffany & Co., Maybelline, and Apple; recently formed a development company, Brillstein-Lipitz.

Jaime Berman Matyas, Reston, VA, executive vice president and CEO at National Wildlife Federation; outspoken advocate for outdoor play time for kids and families; was one of 1,000 people trained by Vice President Al Gore as part of The Climate Project; one of the Washington Business Journal’s 25 “Women Who Mean Business” In 2006.

Lisa Rudes Sandel, New York, NY, president and creator of the global denim company, Not Your Daughter’s Jeans® the makers of Tummy Tuck™ Jeans, the most innovative product to hit the fashion and beauty industry since control-top panty hose thanks to its “crisscross” technology.

Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, Los Angeles, CA, executive vice president & artistic director of OPI Products Inc., the world leader in professional nail care; known as the First Lady of Nails;  has made nail color an integral part of the fashion story; one of the most influential people in the beauty industry.

Community Leadership Award recipient Sharon Einbinder Friedman is executive director of Mental Health Association of Montgomery County and is widely recognized as a community leader and advocate for mental health. Her honors include the Bank of America Neighborhood Excellence Local Hero Award, the WETA Hometown Hero Award, and the Athena Award.

JWI’s Jewish Woman magazine offers a blend of in-depth articles, book reviews, short features, recipes and much more – content of interest to women from every Jewish denomination and every walk of life. Read by more than 250,000 people each year in print and online, the popular and award-winning lifestyle magazine inspires a wide range of readers to weave a Jewish context into their lives in uniquely creative, personal and spiritually fulfilling ways. Visit www.jwmag.org  to learn more.

JWI is deeply committed to initiatives that help women and children build more safe and independent lives. Our Women’s Economic Security initiatives bolster financial literacy and security of women and girls across the economic spectrum; the National Library Initiative is working to establish 100 new children’s libraries in battered women’s shelters nationwide; and our grant-making fund supports programs that guide women and families out of violent households and into safe homes.

For more information about Women to Watch and JWI, or to purchase tickets to the gala luncheon, call 800.343.2823 or visit www.jwi.org.

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