Marcy Syms honored by Women's eNews 21 Leaders for the 21st Century

NEW YORK, May 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Marcy Syms, President of the Sy Syms Foundation and founding trustee since 1985 was honored at the 21 Leaders for the 21st Century 2015 award dinner at the JW Marriott Essex House in New York City on May 5, 2015.  Syms and 20 other leaders were chosen for their local, national, and global impact on the lives of women and girls.

As a founder and trustee of the Sy Syms Foundation since 1995, Syms has repeatedly demonstrated her commitment to a wide range of issues affecting women and girls, from health research parity to the need for the Equal Rights Amendment.

Heart disease is a cause that is "so personal" to Syms because she lost a sister, 37, and a brother, 45, to heart attacks, while two of her other brothers are heart attack survivors. The American Heart Association named her a co-chair of the 2015 fundraising campaign for its "Go Red for Women" New York campaign. Syms is pushing for medical research on how statins, the cholesterol-lowering drugs, affect the bodies of post-menopausal women.

Syms was also an early co-chair of Take Our Daughters to Work Day, created in 1992 by the Ms. Foundation for Women and was an early supporter of the Women's Campaign Fund, N.O.W. Legal Defense Fund, Empower and other startup not-for profits. She recently joined the board of VFA, Veteran Feminists of America.

"To me, the most important thing to happen during my lifetime is Roe v. Wade. It made it law that women had a choice in reproduction," she said of the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 abortion decision. "Now we need gender neutrality in our constitution."

To that end, Syms helped finance the publication of Jessica Newirth's book "Equal Means Equal ERA Now," and is confident it will be our No. 1 issue by 2020 – just 100 years after women in the U.S. got the right to vote.

For the full biography of Marcy Syms, please go to:

http://womensenews.org/21leaders

All 21 honorees and their categories:

Seven Who Give Life to Movements

Marcy Syms: New York's Instigator for Taking Our Rights
Jyothi Gaddam-Pulla: Portland's Nurturer of Girls and STEM
Sally Roesch Wagner: South Dakota's Reincarnator of Suffragists
Dr. Rochelle G. Saidel: New York's Detector of Jewish Women's History
Susan Scanlan: Washington's Motherer of 300 Activists
Debbie Walsh: New Jersey's Documenter of Our Access to Political Power
Lizz Winstead: Minnesota's Nationwide Mocker of Anti-Choice Politicians

Seven Who Interrupt Legacy Narratives

Brenda E. Stevenson: Los Angeles' Challenger of the Accepted History
Dr. Nina Ansary: Los Angeles' Unearther of Unexpected Consequence
Dana Bolger: D.C.'s Campus Rape Survivor Turned Title IX Activist
Sharon D'Agostino: New Jersey's Texter-in-chief For Saving Lives of Pregnant Women
Dorothy Davis: Transcontinental Developer of African Economic Justice
Dianne Dillon-Ridgley: Iowa's Ceaseless Traveler for Mother Earth
Karen Elizaga: Hawaii's Welcomer of New Arrivals

Seven Who Transform Cultures

Dr. Julie R. Enszer: Michigan's Circulator of Lesbian Poetry
Mary Fisher: Michigan's Uniter of Women with HIV/AIDS
Preston McMurry, Jr.: Arizona's Online Promoter of Women's Safety
Geeta Mehta: India's Distributor of New Forms of Wealth
Kathy Miller: Texas Campaigner for Women's Reproductive Health
Graciela De Oto: Argentina's Broadcaster of Equality
Ai-jen Poo: Taiwan's Strength Trainer for the Lowest Paid

The Sy Syms Foundation was established in 1985 by retail entrepreneur and humanitarian Sy Syms, the late father of Marcy Syms, President and founding trustee. The foundation has been instrumental in the growth of non profit organizations that support advancement in education, scientific research  and artistic expression for a better life for all.  Most sigificant grantees are Sy Syms School of Business, PBS, WNET, WNYC, American Heart Association, NY Rescue Mission, Wiezman Institute, Boston University, Inner City Scholarship Fund and Lincoln Center Corporate Fund among others.

Visit the Foundation website at http://www.sysymsfoundation.org

SOURCE Sy Syms Foundation

Related Links

http://www.sysymsfoundation.org