Sara Rutenberg

Athlete, Brainstormer, Care taker, Concerned citizen, Event planner, Jewish, Lawyer, Parent, World traveler

My younger sister committed suicide when she was 20. I was the last person she spoke to. I was too busy to talk to her. I never saw or spoke to her again. It almost destroyed me. Spending much of my life avoiding the shame and guilt that was particularly brutal because no one talked about mental illness and suicide in the 70's, I turned to law school and the corporate world to bury my feelings. A rare female exec in the entertainment industry at that time, I accepted the harassment and discrimination as my punishment for failing to save my sister. As the years went by and I had children and a great deal of therapy, and seeing my parents grief diminished because of their grandchildren, I started rebuilding myself, leaving the entertainment business. I became COO for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and spent six years working with extraordinary authors and publishers and illustrators, including Jules Pfeiffer, Judy Blume, Kwame Alexander, Lois Lowery and Julie Andrews. As a fanatic reader, the job was beyond my wildest expectations. Sadly, in December 2015, my father suddenly passed away, having a heart attack and falling into the pool at his beloved home. He left businesses to run and my mother to care for as well as my mentally ill sister which necessitated my leaving my job. It was time for a change, for me to change, to use my grief and sadness in a new way. My brother and I now run the business together, and have set up a foundation to honor my father. It supports causes in a number of areas, from mental illness, homelessness, animal rescue, Crohn’s disease, the arts and many others. I am also on the Board of Didi Hirsch Mental Health services, an extraordinary organization which provides mental health services to a variety of populations. We have also now formed Strawberry Mansion Entertainment, a production company with the goal of making impactful content. We are currently working on a number of projects, including a movie based on the young adult book Just A Normal Tuesday by Kim Turrisi. The story of a family devastated by the suicide of one of its children, it explores the process of grief and healing. My hope is to help even one person save their own life. PS I am also a cancer survivor!

Fitness, suicide prevention, meditation, politics , voter education, mental health, the environment, eating disorders, books, justice , travel, animal rescue, no kill shelters

turn abandoned malls into housing for the homeless and seniors.

Entertainment lawyer, event planner, reader, Travel planning

Kayaking and boxing