Message From Charna

• Law and Women
• Community and Philanthropy
• Grandma Irene Ratner Zehman

“A movement is only composed of people moving. To feel its warmth and motion around us is the end as well as the means.”
— Gloria Steinem

Dear Friends,

My inspiration for starting my own firm and creating the Ruby Shoes Fund came from the special optimism imparted by the women in my family. They proudly boast a reputation for being particularly strong, but more, for having earned the reputation for creatively using their strengths always to make lemonade out of lemons. Although only a few in the preceding generations had the opportunity to test their hard-to-match skills in the business world, they passed on, in innumerable ways, the very stuff which is at the heart of my professional hopes and dreams, and those for my daughter and future granddaughters. For me, there simply is no place like home. Drawing on that extra flair that has always set the “Ratner women’s style” apart, “ruby shoes” references the magical slippers worn by Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz: just like Dorothy learned from the women who helped her on her path, I believe the power to change the world and reach our potential lies in each of us.