Alexandra Schwartz
Corporate Manager
Please tell us a little about your career.
I am a corporate manager in the area of corporate governance – a team of specialists who direct the work of the company in order to achieve the goals and objectives of upper management. Managers must represent the company's strategy and work on the efficient allocation of its resources. I am a senior sales manager. My field of activity is extensive: I am engaged in marketing, accounting, keep track of finances, am responsible for personnel, and conduct training sessions with employees to improve their skills.
But it should be noted that I started as a social worker and worked in the well-known organization Bernard Bethel Center.
I graduated from Seneca College with a degree in Business Administration and Human Resources, as well as Humber College with a degree in Crisis Management, which is very relevant in our difficult time. Now I am deepening my education in economics, studying at the University of Toronto and taking a bachelor's degree in Sociology. I worked in large companies where I learned a lot. I want to express my gratitude to all the wonderful teachers, lawyers, managers who believed in me and passed on their knowledge and experience to me.
Where does your family come from?
I am an Ashkenazi Jew. My grandparents were from Ukraine - from the famous city of
Odessa. During the war, they were evacuated to Tashkent, where my parents met. I
was born in Tashkent, and when I was seven years old years old, my mother took me to
Odessa to show the city of her youth.
My great-grandfather on my mother's side was called Mendel. He was a deeply religious
person. During the evacuation in Tashkent, he secretly prayed every day in an underground
synagogue, located in a small residential building. His son, my grandfather Boruch, was
one of the first to open a garment factory in Tashkent. A cotton industry developed in
this southern city and a lot of textiles were produced there. When my mother was in
school, she and her friends were sent to the fields to pick cotton. An interesting fact is
that my grandfather accepted the hearing impaired into his factory, because they had no
other opportunity to earn a living. At home, out of habit, my grandfather spoke loudly,
as he was used to communicating with hearing-impaired people.
In our family, it was not customary to intermarry, and all boys were circumcised. My
grandmother's mother - her name was Sheva Slabitker - had five children. Her first
husband died in the war, and she married a second time. She was the first business
woman in our family. I was named Shura in her honor. I not only bear her name, but also
chose the same field of activity - business.
What are your priorities in life?
For my mother, the main thing was to instill in me Jewish moral values - honesty, decency,
devotion, humanity. Therefore, I grew up as a person for whom it is very important to
live in a society where the principles of freedom, security, loyalty, openness, friendship,
and creativity are respected. People who also care about these standards are a source
of inspiration for me, because thanks to them our world is getting better, and they know
exactly who they want to become and what they should strive for.
It is important for me to move in the right direction - to my spirituality and faith, to be
part of a friendly community. I am very grateful to the JRCC East Thornhill, where my
Jewish life takes place. In particular, Rebbetzin Chani Zaltzman, who, like a good friend,
is always there. Also Rabbi Mendel Zaltzman, Rabbi and Rebbetzin Yoseph and Chiena
Zaltzman for their warm and attentive attitude. Thanks also to Elena Kasimova and Faina
Garber, who treat people with deep understanding and friendliness. I am grateful to
my dear brother, who is an example of a real man to me, a true individual. I also want
to acknowledge my close friend, who literally saved me during a difficult time when I
lost my mother. And my dear grandmother taught me to be a good Jewish housewife
– thanks to her I really like to cook, put things in order, receive guests, and manage the
house.
If you had the opportunity to meet with any person in history, who would you
choose and why?
I would really like to talk with the mother of Moses, Yocheved. It is written in the Torah
“The king of Egypt turned to the Jewish midwives (midwives), one of whom was called
Shifra, and the other was Pua, and said: when taking birth from Jews, do not take your
eyes off the maternity chairs: if this is a son, kill him, and if it is a daughter - let him live.
But the midwives feared G‑d, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them,
but kept the boys alive.” Shifra was Moses’ mother, Yocheved, and Pua was his sevenyear-
old sister Miriam. Thanks to them, the Jewish people survived. My mother was also
a midwife and also brought many lives into our world.
