Women came together for support and inspiration at a recent event.

BY JENNIFER COHEN
Special to The Miami Herald

Poet Maya Angelou would have been proud. Her quote on the importance of celebrating "our she-roes" captured the feeling at the recent Inspirations: Women Helping Women program at the David Posnack Jewish Community Center in Davie.

The luncheon and seminar was hosted by the center, Mommy Mentors and Gilda's Club, a nonprofit group that provides social, emotional and educational support for anyone touched by cancer.

"I founded these groups with one goal in mind: women helping women," said event co-chairwoman Barbara Theodosiou, head of Mommy Mentors and the Women's Business Mastermind Group.

Guest speaker state Rep. Elaine Schwartz, D-Hollywood, began with a quote from Yogi Berra: "If you don't know where you are going, chances are you will end up somewhere else."

Schwartz shared snippets of her life, from when she was growing up in New York in the 1960s, working in her father's law office. She enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the big city and said to her father, "Maybe I'll become a legal secretary," a job that was attainable for women during that time.

To that, her father replied, "Why not be a lawyer?" The all-women audience responded with applause.

While pursuing a law degree, Schwartz said, it was difficult to find successful women role models. One was her professor, now Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Schwartz said her experience with other women was competitive and it wasn't until she arrived in South Florida that she found camaraderie. "There should be some message where we see other women and are not jealous of them or compare ourselves to them or criticize them. The key is to revel in someone else's success," Schwartz said.

National Public Radio personality and writer Marion Winik also talked about how she also had a hard time finding role models.

The Women's Business Mastermind Group will host another event on March 10 at the Signature Grand in Davie. The Opportunities for Women luncheon will feature speaker Susan Levan, publisher of Balance magazine, who will talk about leveraging opportunities for women. There will also be sessions on financial planning, home-based businesses, ways to generate sales leads, and how to promote businesses

For information, call 954-309-0992 or visit www.mommymentors.com.