Award-winning producer, accomplished entrepreneur, and respected philanthropist, Francine LeFrak is an unusual blend of creativity, smarts, and soul. Where most of Hollywood’s elite will lend their name or face, Ms. LeFrak applies a “hands-on” approach to all of her business and charitable endeavors, offering her time and expertise.
After a decade-long career in show business as a Producer, she dove into film, focusing on social issues and taboo topics. “My aim is to shed light and put a human face on important social issues,” she says. “I want to explore ways to connect people so together we can find solutions to global problems.” Her work has illuminated sensitive issues including AIDS, racial intolerance, war, the injustices of our prison system, substance abuse, the peril of neo-Nazism, and the quest for identity and self-knowledge. A familiar face on the New York social scene, Ms. LeFrak and her husband Rick Freidberg inspire real change through their infectious energy and highly regarded expertise. She has served as a board member for the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, for which she has raised millions of dollars, and has often hosted their annual Gala.
SAME SKY: In 2008, Francine founded SAME SKY, a fair-trade company whose mission is to empower women worldwide and inspire a movement of women empowering women. During the 1994 Rwandan genocide, women in Rwanda were subjected to sexual violence on a massive scale. According to the International Criminal Tribunal, more than 250,000 women were raped and, of the survivors, approximately 70% were infected with HIV/AIDS. In addition, they were left impoverished after their husbands, fathers, and brothers were murdered. SAME SKY was born with the goal of empowering these women to rebuild their lives and communities by giving them the tools to become entrepreneurs and lead self-sustaining lives.
How do they do it? SAME SKY’s trade-not-aid initiative uses jewelry to effect change in Rwanda – one woman at a time. SAME SKY works with Gahaya Links a company that employs HIV+ women, all of whom are survivors of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. These women artisans have been trained to crochet and make bracelets using our unique hand-blown glass beads. They are given a marketable skill and consistent employment, the two essential factors needed to rebuild their lives and those of their families.
These fabulous glass-beaded bracelets are ALL over Hollywood! Halle Berry, Donna Karen, Alicia Keys, and Jessica Alba (just to name a few) love Same Sky’s bracelets, and support Ms. LeFrak in her mission to help Genocide survivors.
YOU can own your own! Adorn your wrist and feel GOOD about it! So many gorgeous colors to choose from, find them all at DIGS.com