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About Harry:
More About MeHarry Leibowitz was born September 7, 1941 in Brooklyn, New York. Both his parents were immigrants to the USA. His father arrived from Vienna, Austria at the age of 6 months with his mother but he was soon orphaned and placed with an orphanage on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He was adopted at the age of 4 by a couple named Leibowitz who were late 30’s and childless. Harry’s mother was born in France but was not French. Her parents were emigrating across Europe to escape the ‘pogroms’ taking place in Eastern Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. Their families got stuck in France awaiting visas to the USA and a marriage was arranged between his grandmother who was from Kiev, Ukraine and his grandfather who was from Poland. They arrived in New York City when she was only 1 year old in 1915. Harry’s family was quite poor and all during WWII and into the early 50’s they lived in an old bungalow in Coney Island where 10 families shared the common bathroom facilities. Harry’s father worked during the War as a longshoreman loading Liberty Ships at the Brooklyn Docks while his mother worked as a presser in a commercial laundry in Manhattan. At age 11, after getting a permanent job with the U.S. Post Office driving a truck, his father was able to move the family to a modern high rise in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. His mother got a somewhat higher paying, albeit tougher job, in a meat packing plant on the Lower West Side of Manhattan. When Harry was just 14 his father died in his sleep, leaving Harry, his mother, one sister and an elderly grandmother. Within weeks the County Sheriff came and repossessed all their furniture as it had been acquired on a weekly pay plan which, now, could not be maintained. Thus at age 14 Harry went to work. Since he was under-age and the law only allowed 3 hours a day of work for minors, Harry got a cash paying job working nights and weekends so he would not be easily seen. He worked full-time in a neighborhood bakery in Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn where he started out cleaning pans and floor and doing set-up for the professional bakers. He held this job all through high school and college. Harry attended Brooklyn College of The City University of New York where he received his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Theater and Broadcasting. He then went on the Wayne State University to pursue his Doctoral degree. After receiving his undergraduate degree, Harry was married to his high-school sweetheart. Two children, one daughter and one son were produced in this marriage. The marriage ended in divorce in the early 1990’s. Upon completing his Doctoral studies, Harry was hired by The Procter & Gamble Company of Cincinnati, Ohio to work in Brand Management/Marketing. Harry left P&G in 1972 and went to work for the Playtex Company which was then part of ESMARK. He lived and worked abroad for Esmark in Europe and Canada and left after 8 years with the title of Executive VP. Harry next went to work as President and COO of a Japanese company, Myojo Foods, which was building a plant in the US and intending to enter the US market. The company aborted this plan after 18 months and sold its factory. At this point Harry started his own business called Partners In Marketing which did specialized consulting and research for a variety of well known companies such as Kroger, Eli Lilly, Bank of California, Medtronics and many others. Harry sold the business in 2002 as part of his retirement plan and to work full time on World of Children. In 2003, Harry re-married to Ms. Kay Isaacson who is one of America’s leading fashion merchants/executives. She had held positions as President of Accessory Lady (division of Melville, Corp.), Acting President of Banana Republic and EVP/GMM of Victoria’s Secret from which she retired in 2003. Currently Kay sits on the Boards of 2 publicly traded fashion retailers – GUESS? (NYSE) and COLDWATER CREEK (NASDAQ). Harry and Kay split their time between residences at Lake Tahoe, Nevada and in Tuscany, Italy where they restored a 500 year-old farmhouse. In 2007 Harry received the Procter & Gamble Alumni Humanitarian Award. In 2006 he was honored with the Reclaiming Youth International Child Advocacy Award, and in 1999 he received the Starr Commonwealth Award for Service to Children.
World of Chidren

worldofchildren.org


To inspire action by children and on behalf of children, the world's largest voiceless minority, by raising global awareness of the state of children's affairs and recognizing the achievements of adults and children with monetary awards in order to support the continuance and enhancement of the good works of those honored.

The Spirit of Crazy Horse Award Recipient

Reclaiming Youth Network


'Reclaiming Youth International recognizes individuals whose distinguished contributions in practice, policy, or research have helped reclaim our most vulnerable children.  The Spirit of Crazy Hourse is named after the traditional principles of indigenous people who treated children as sacred beings.'

Read Crazy Horse Speech