Spouse(s) Stephen Rosenthal Name Sandy Rosenthal | Children 3 | |
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Known for Founding and leading the nonprofit grassroots group Levees.Org in aftermath of Hurricane Katrina Education | ||
Interview of sandy rosenthal
Sandy Rosenthal is an American civic activist and founder of Levees.Org, an organization created in October 2005 to educate the American public about the cause of the levee failures in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
Contents
Sandy Rosenthal interviewed by Tom Bagwill
Life pre-Katrina
Rosenthal's dedication to public service started early. After graduating from Mount Holyoke she continued to be one of the school's most dedicated volunteers and in 2005 helped fellow alumnae who had been displaced by Hurricane Katrina, even though she was in the same position herself. During this time she also continued her regular volunteer positions with the school.
Before Katrina, Sandy worked for ten years was a volunteer teacher in New Orleans' public schools where she taught fitness and nutrition. From 2005 to 2010 she volunteered at Touro Hospital's oncology unit where she provided more than 100 hours of visitation to ill patients.
Prior to October 2005, Rosenthal worked as a marketing executive and part-time fitness instructor. For two decades she pursued her passion for teaching physical fitness, first at her alma mater, Tulane University and then at the Jewish Community Center. During this time she was also pursuing her marketing career. From 1982 to 1987, she worked in advertising for Vision Plaza and then went on to work in marketing for the New Orleans Orthopaedic Clinic from 1987 to 1994. In October of 2000 she became the Advertising Director of Strategic Comp Insurance with a specialty in copywriting; a position she held for seven years.
She previously considered going into police detective work and compares her work in seeking out little known facts about the levee failures to work conducted by police detectives in investigating a crime. Both require reasoning and analytical skills according to Rosenthal.
Levees.Org
Levees.Org recruited actors Harry Shearer and John Goodman (both longtime residents of New Orleans), to assist with outreach for the group’s message. Using video, social media, letter-writing teams and numerous other means, Levees.Org has educated tens of thousands of citizens nationwide on the facts surrounding the 2005 flooding.
Accolades
In 2015, Sandy Rosenthal will be awarded the Diana Lewis Citizen Participation Award by the Community for a Better New Orleans and she was also recognized as a "Partner in Justice" by AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps. In 2012, she was recognized as a “Most Influential Woman” by Mount Holyoke College,and was named “Outstanding Citizen Diplomat” by the New Orleans Citizen Diplomacy Council. That same year she was also named as a “Role Model” by the Young Leadership Council and was honored as a “First Responder, Post Katrina” by the Southern Dominican Province. She has received the "Award of Merit" from the Citizens and Victims against Crime, Inc. (2009), the "Service Above Self" by The Rotary Club of New Orleans (2009), and the "Alumnae Loyalty Award" from Mount Holyoke College (2009). In 2008, she was inducted, along with real estate broker Kitty DeGree of West Monroe, into the Hall of Fame of the Louisiana Center for Women and Government at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux. That same year she was selected as a Woman of Fashion by "Prix d’Elegance" which honors those in community service who also have a sense of style. In 2006 she was one of the "Women of the Year" honored by City Business.
Sandy has been a guest blogger with the Huffington Post since 2009. She has also a long-time oped contributor and invited blogger to the New Orleans Times Picayune.