Jamie deRoy and Tara Smith Swibel to Be Honored at Spirit of Achievement Luncheon

Albert Einstein College of Medicine's Women's Division will hold its 65thSpirit of Achievement Luncheon on Wednesday, May 15, 2019 at The Rainbow Room in New York City to recognize notable achievements in theatre, writing, philanthropy and medicine. This year's luncheon will raise funds for comprehensive health care for women through cutting-edge research, discovery and teaching, as well as providing specialty care for all women.

Jamie deRoy, Honoree. Jamie deRoy is a show business tour de force - an award winning producer, cabaret, stage film & TV performer, recording artist/producer, and humanitarian. She has co-produced over 100 Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, including the recently Tony nominated: Ain't Too Proud, Beetlejuice, Gary, The Ferryman, The Waverly Gallery and Tootsie. In addition to six Tony Awards®, Jamie has won eight MAC Awards, four Drama Desk Awards, two Audience Choice Awards, five Drama League Awards, four Back Stage Bistro Awards, 11 Telly Awards, and CaB Magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award. She has been honored by Theatre Works/USA Primary Stages and the Ruth Kurtzman MAC Award. A frequent presence on the New York nightclub scene, deRoy has produced nine CD's in the Jamie deRoy & friends series on Harbinger and PS Classics labels. Her long running shows benefit her favorite charitable causes such as "The Actors Fund: Jamie deRoy & friends Cabaret initiative," a program to assist people in the cabaret industry with help for medical needs and concerns

Tara Smith Swibel, Chair. Tara Smith Swibel is the founder of Triptyk Studios, a company that develops and produces Broadway, film, tv and web-based IP. Tara made her Broadway debut at 26 as Co-Lead Producer of the hit musical satire, Xanadu, for which she was honored with the 2008 Outer Critics Circle Award and a TONY Award Nomination for Best Musical. Other Broadway hits include The Seagull starring Kristen Scott Thomas, Will Ferrell's You're Welcome America (TONY nominee), An American in Paris (11 TONY nominations) and Oh Hello starring Nick Kroll and John Mullaney. Ms. Smith co-founded and serves as Board Chair for Teens for Food Justice, a non for profit that addresses food insecurity by empowering teens to build high capacity hydroponic farms in their Title-1 schools, which grow up to 25k pounds of produce per school, supplying the school cafeteria with fresh produce daily. By fall 2019, TFFJ, will operate in six New York schools, with an additional four set to open by 2022, and three additional farms are in the works for Miami with the support of The Gloria Estefan Foundation and Miami-Dade Public School Superintendent Carvahlo.

NBC's Today Show Lifestyle Contributor Jill Martin will act as Master of Ceremonies. This year's event will be attended by nearly 250 supporters and hosted by Co-Presidents of the Women's Division Terri Goldberg and Trudy Schlachter and Luncheon Chairs Carol Roaman and Andrea Stark.

As in years past, honorees achievements' are celebrated and each will share personal reflections on their own experiences about how cancer has impacted their lives.

The Spirit of Achievement Awards, which began as a mother-daughter luncheon honoring Marlene Dietrich and her daughter Maria Riva in 1954, was the very first "benefit luncheon" in Manhattan. It is now considered a power-house luncheon for women in all fields, from acting to journalism to medicine. The list of names associated with the Spirit Luncheon is unparalleled.

Past honorees include Eleanor Roosevelt, Meryl Streep, Barbara Walters, Sharon Stone, Christine Baranski, Anne Bancroft, Jane Pauley, Gloria Steinem, Twyla Tharp, Candice Bergen, Barbara Cocoran, Hoda Kotb, Cynthia Nixon, Whoopi Goldberg, Cindy Crawford, Katie Couric, Vera Wang, Iris Apfel, Shirley MacLaine, Elsa Peretti, Joyce Carol Oats, Diane Von Furstenberg, Patricia Field, Susan Lucci, Glenn Close, Diane Sawyer, Nora Ephron, Evelyn Lauder, Jill Martin, Donna Karan and many others.

Since its inception, the Women's Division has raised more than $100 million and has established: a Wing for Prenatal Studies and Research in Birth Defects, a Clinical Research Institute for Child Development, and funded major research in immunodiagnosis and immunotherapy in cancer.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos