Akron, Ohio, owes much of its beauty, its arts, and its leadership to Judith Isroff.
Isroff started the Keep Akron Beautiful movement more than 20 years ago when the city was looking particularly seedy. The movement started as a grassroots movement to educate the public about the need for recycling and beautification. Isroff was its first executive director (from 1981-1989) and helped write the grants that brought much needed funding to the project.
As an arts advocate, Isroff and her husband Clifford set up the Lola K. Isroff Arts Assistance Fund which underwrites a summer arts program for Akron junior and high school students at The University of Akron. She also serves on the Ohio Citizens for the Arts board, the Community Advisory Council to WKSU and the board of trustees of the Akron Art Museum.
As a citizen concerned about the future of the city, Isroff became president of Leadership Akron, where she oversaw a training program that helps mold the next generation of male and female leaders. She was president of the Akron Roundtable and is a lifetime member of its board. She also was the first and only woman board president of the Akron Jewish Community Federation.
Over the years, Isroff has received many awards, including the Myrtle Wreath Award from Hadassah, the Women’s History Project Woman of the Year award and (with her husband) the 2001 Bert Polsky Humanitarian Award.
Photos courtesy of the Beacon Journal.