Joelle Berdugo Adler, Founder, ONE X ONE & President, Diesel Canada
Joelle Berdugo-Adler (Joey) lived in a variety of countries including Morocco, France and Switzerland before settling with her parents in Montreal, Canada. While studying Commerce at Concordia University, Joey also worked full time in various marketing and promotional Companies honing her skills as strong marketing professional.
In 1984, she began her career in fashion with the legendary Sergio Valente, who was leading the designer denim craze the early 80's. Joey was now hooked on the denim and fashion business..
1987, Joey and her Partner and future husband Lou Adler traveled to Italy to secure the Canadian rights to what would become the most important premium denim brand in the world. The power of Diesel would ultimately fuel the decision by Lou and Joey in 1993 to concentrate all their resources in one brand. The risky move paid off and achieved great success.
Joey's insight to the success of the business was the understanding that building a brand differentiated the business from all others, and sacrificing early profits for a long term strategy although a very different approach in the early 80's was clearly a good decision. When Diesel came to Canada in 1988 the world wide volume was approximately 40M USD. Today worldwide sales are over 1.5B Euros. Joey made Diesel a life's Passion fired by her motto "everything good takes long to get to but you get to stay there longer as well". Joey has dedicated her life to cherishing relationships as well as a commitment to integrity and honesty. These traits have delivered success in Joey's life from her business to her marriage and to her feelings about philanthropy.
In 2003, her husband and long time partner Louis Adler passed away after a courageous bout with cancer. For 18 months, Joey was his caretaker, friend and partner while keeping one eye on her ever growing, ever changing business. Her late husband touched many people and Joey decided to begin a new chapter in her life.
In 2004, Joey began the Lou Adler Foundation. Initially, the plan was to donate funds to cancer related charities as well as establish in-hospital "family-friendly" rooms for families who had to spend long stays at a Hospital caring and supporting a loved one. As usual, Joey's drive, courage and determination took that project to new heights and it has since expanded greatly.
In 2005, Joey created OneXOne, www.onexone.org, a non-profit foundation committed to supporting charities both locally (Boys and Girls Club, Child Find, War Child) and globally (DATA, Millennium Promise, H20). OneXOne took its place on the global fundraising stage in 2005 when actress Kate Hudson hosted an elegant gala that had audience dazzled by guests including Bono, and sensational performances including Raine Maida and Chantal Kreviazuk and The African Children's Choir. That evening the stage was set for a year long annual campaign that not only honours extraordinary people that have made a difference but also a celebration of many vital philanthropic partners who need our help to reach children in need every where. In 2006, millions of people around the world took notice as OneXOne and its extraordinary gala host Matt Damon welcomed guests like Brad Pitt and Penelope Cruz and performers like John Legend, Wyclef Jean, and welcomed back Chantal Kreviazuk and The African Childrens's Choir. In just a little over 2 years, nearly four million dollars have been raised to support children around the world living in poverty and distress.
Joey's commitmentto supporting families dealing with catastrophic illness include two special programs;
1. The Adler/Sheiner Patient Support Program (Jewish General Hospital); a pilot project where a nurse practitioner acts as a liason between families and the caregivers in an ICU setting; helping the families cope through devastations. The program operates in two comfortable rooms equipped with computers and research materials and a team of professionals. 2. Hope & Cope" Wellness Center (Lou's House) in Montreal. An old home was gutted and rebuilt as a haven for patients coping with Cancer. The house is a compliment to the medical treatments and truly helps heal with counseling, Yoga, Nutrition courses, exercise as well as group sessions. Joey and her family are the main benefactors as a lasting memory to her late husband.
Joey's philanthropy includes a board position of a summer camp for underprivileged children sending 1000 kids and 600 seniors to a camp in Quebec. Joey also supports Juvenile Diabetes, Montreal Children's Hospital. Last year, The One x One Foundation donated $50,000 dollars to SickKids to build a movie theatre in the hospital for sick kids.
Last year, Joey was profiled in Fashion magazine and will be honoured at the Denim & Diamonds Gala in May for her work with Hope & Cope. Joey also devotes here time as an elected city councilor of Esterel for over 10 years responsible for finances and security. On a personal level Joey derives great pleasure from her family which includes her parents, siblings, step-children nephews Sam, Noah and a recent grandson Baby Louis named after her late husband.
"Not a single life - anywhere in the world - is expendable. By combining passion and action, we can inspire others to commit to improving the world, one person at a time."
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