Creative for Good

FOR ALISA COHEN, A LIFE FILLED WITH ART, SCIENCE AND UNEXPECTED TURNS HAS BECOME AN ENRICHED CANVAS FOR GIVING BACK.

Ask someone to describe Alisa Cohen and you might need a little time.

Artist. Medical illustrator. Healthcare executive. Interior designer. Educator. Actress. Broadway Producer. Philanthropist. Grief counselor. Wife. Mother. Grandmother. Devoted Daughter. Sister. Pup Punim’s Mom.

At first glance, it may seem like an eclectic collection of interests and pursuits. Look closer, though, and a common thread emerges: creativity fueled by curiosity and then put to work with purpose.

Alisa has a favorite philosophy: “Leave the room better than you found it.” And for her, the “room” has never been limited to four walls.

It might be a university, an arts organization, a hospital, a medical school, a home under construction, a synagogue, an animal rescue shelter, or a gathering of people navigating loss. Leaving it better might mean contributing resources, sharing expertise, bringing people together — or simply showing up.

Another principle that guides Alisa is a family legacy of tikkun olam, meaning “repairing the world.” For her, that deep sense of responsibility takes many forms, but the idea is simple: use what you must leave something better behind.

Her Art and Science of Purpose

Long before Alisa’s community involvement took so many forms, two of her interests were already coming together.

At the University of Florida, she studied health sciences education, graduating first in her class, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. Rather than choosing between art and science, she combined them, entering the highly specialized field of medical illustration.

That willingness to cross boundaries became something of a pattern.

In 1991, Alisa and her husband, ophthalmologist G. Richard Cohen, established the Cohen Laser & Vision Center in Boca Raton, where she served as executive director. She later created Alisa Cohen Design, bringing her creative eye to residential and healthcare interiors.

And then there’s acting. Alisa has pursued work in film and television—another avenue in a life not defined by a single role.

Her accomplishments ultimately brought recognition from her alma mater when she was inducted into the University of Florida’s Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame.

But achievement has always come with another question: What can I do with it?

Creating Something for Others

The answer has taken many forms.

Alisa created the first Wellness Fair in Richmond, Virginia and became a Viner Scholar mentor. Through Habitat for Humanity, she served as a board member and Women’s Build team captain. After experiencing profound loss herself, she founded Parent to Parent, a bereavement support group that transformed personal understanding into a resource for others navigating grief.

Investing in Art, Education and Understanding

Some of Alisa’s most significant commitments reflect the interests and values that have shaped her own life.

As a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board for Florida Atlantic University’s Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, she supports creativity, live theater, culture and arts education. This December, she is co-chairing the College’s inaugural FAU Holiday Spectacular Concert.

Her family’s philanthropy at Florida Atlantic also extends to its soon-to-open Craig and Barbara Weiner Holocaust Museum of South Florida, housed in the new Kurt and Marilyn Wallach Holocaust and Jewish Studies Building. Through its exhibitions and programming, the museum seeks to advance tolerance and respect while confronting racism, prejudice and hate.

For Alisa, a recent visit to Ellis Island with her husband sparked an idea for the new museum. Inspired by their experience of exploring family history there, she conceived an ancestry-research component for which she and her family have endowed as The Alisa and Dr. G. Richard Cohen Family Immigration and Holocaust Research Stations where visitors explore their own family history and discover more about the people and journeys that came before them.

Continuing the Cohen family’s 30-year legacy of medical leadership in Boca Raton, Alisa and her husband, Richard, have also invested as a member of Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation. Their philanthropy specifically supports research at the hospital’s Marcus Neuroscience Institute, and volunteerism includes serving as the Experience Chair for the foundation’s annual ball for two years.

A Life with Room for More

For all the roles Alisa has embraced, she considers her greatest accomplishments much closer to home: her marriage to Richard and the family they have built together — including a legacy of giving that continues with the next generation.

Her interests may take her in many directions, but the motivation remains remarkably consistent.

We don’t have to change the whole world.

We can simply start with the room we’re in.