Honors
The 2025 Unsung Heroes
Notable New Yorkers achieving success behind the scenes
City & State presents the 2025 Unsung Heroes. Phillips Lytle; Denise Rosario; Damora Regala
Whenever a candidate for mayor, governor or president is elected for the first time, the conversation quickly turns to who will make up their inner circle – and how qualified and capable their top appointees will be. While voters cast their ballots for their favored candidates, the winner’s ability to carry out an agenda largely depends on the abilities of trusted aides and advisers.
It’s a similar dynamic all across the public, private and nonprofit spheres. While CEOs, presidents and executive directors are the public faces of their organizations, agencies, industries or advocacy efforts, there are usually key deputies – vice presidents, program directors, division heads, chiefs of staff – who prove to be just as indispensable in achieving success.
City & State’s inaugural Unsung Heroes list, researched and written in partnership with journalist Lon Cohen, recognizes New Yorkers who are highly effective but operate largely under the radar. The list does include a few presidents, CEOs and executive directors of smaller or less prominent organizations. What unifies everyone on the Unsung Heroes list is that they are movers and shakers who get things done – behind the scenes and out of the spotlight.
Aisa Agboneni
The Institute for Community Living is one of New York City’s largest behavioral health and housing nonprofits, serving 13,000 people annually – and Aisa Agboneni is expanding its reach by bolstering its mental health programs. Rising through the organization’s ranks over the years, Agboneni now oversees care coordination, residential services and child welfare advocacy. His people-centered approach promotes dignity, stability and recovery. A licensed real estate agent, he also assists first-time homebuyers and lends his time to efforts to improve access to food, care and opportunity in underserved communities.
Eugenio Alcantara
Eugenio Alcantara is a guiding force behind one of Empire State Development’s most successful turnarounds. Building on years of experience at the New York City Department of Finance and the Department of Small Business Services, he brought a deep understanding of procurement and MWBE certification to New York state’s economic development arm in 2022. Facing a backlog of more than 3,700 MWBE applications, he carried out two 90-day sprints that eliminated outstanding cases. Known for his mentorship and collaboration, Alcantara strengthens his team while ensuring each applicant receives a fair, efficient process.
Alejandro Alvarez
Through a partnership with the New Rochelle Forward workforce development program, Alejandro Alvarez is helping residents of the Westchester County city gain the skills to compete for local construction and clean energy jobs. The Soulful Synergy co-founder and CEO draws on his own construction background to design programs that bridge people to opportunity across Westchester and New York City. A founding member of Generation Now New Rochelle and a My Brother’s Keeper mentor, he is building partnerships, credentials and pipelines that connect workforce training to lasting community growth.
Cassidy Andrews
Cassidy Andrews has turned personal hardship into community action. Facing family rejection and homelessness after coming out as gay, she found purpose in Greenpoint’s long-running meal program. She was mentored by a neighborhood elder who had delivered food to people with AIDS and went on to scale up the effort into the Brooklyn Community Kitchen, which rescues surplus food from restaurants and events to create fresh meals for hundreds of seniors each week. She has also held creative fundraisers like a recent all-gender beauty pageant, while mentoring queer youth and advocating for housing security.
Dwayne M. Andrews
Dwayne M. Andrews has built a career bridging law, policy and advocacy, shaping strategy for clients across government and industry. Before joining Patrick B. Jenkins & Associates, he led government relations at firms like Cozen O’Connor and Blank Rome, where he also advanced diversity as chair of the Attorneys of Color affinity group. A former congressional aide who helped plan hearings on e-commerce and digital equity, he remains a force behind policies that strengthen communities and leadership pipelines across New York City, even as he works outside the spotlight.
Faven Araya
Faven Araya leads both research efforts and on-the-ground community engagement at the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health, directing initiatives that tackle mental health, cardiovascular disease, HIV/AIDS and social determinants of health. The organization reached more than 1,500 Brooklyn residents over the past year through a number of programs and workshops. Araya also heads up Communities Together for Health Equity, a coalition of more than 70 grassroots organizations. Araya brings together community insight and health care systems, advancing Arthur Ashe’s vision of lasting health equity.
Alex Arkorful
Alex Arkorful plays a key role in advancing educational and workforce access at the SUNY Bronx Educational Opportunity Center, helping guide low-income and nontraditional students through academic and career pathways. Through partnerships like the Urban Resource Institute’s Economic Empowerment Program, he strengthens the bridge between education and employment, helping participants gain confidence and practical experience. Arkorful notes that interns “expand their learning and experience professional environments,” helping both students and institutions thrive across Bronx communities.
Lola Barbarash
Lola Barbarash brings over a decade of financial leadership to her role at Charter School Business Management, where she was promoted to managing director in May. A former auditor, she has spent over 14 years at the firm, which provides accounting and compliance services that support charter schools and nonprofits across New York City. Known for her diligence and practical innovation, Barbarash has streamlined accounting systems, strengthened human resources compliance and fostered financial literacy among school leaders, essential operations serving as the backbone for the city’s education landscape.
Janell Bartley
Janell Bartley has spent two decades refining systems that keep mission-driven organizations running smoothly. A first-generation college graduate and Afro-Latina raised in Brooklyn, she joined Futures Ignite in 2022 as its first director of operations and has since risen to her current title as chief of people and operations. Known for her integrity and steady leadership, she has turned organizational chaos into cohesive systems while embedding accountability and inclusion into every process. Her work ensures that Futures Ignite’s mission to empower underprivileged youth is matched by a culture grounded in fairness, collaboration and care.
Ysa Bogle-Martin
With more than two decades in human resources, Ysa Bogle-Martin has become an anchor of stability at Volunteers of America-Greater New York. Over 11 years with the organization, she has risen from benefits manager to assistant vice president, leading efforts to strengthen payroll, benefits and compliance systems that support more than a thousand staff members. Known for her calm leadership, approachability and data-driven decision-making, she ensures fair pay, robust health coverage and staff confidence so front-line teams can stay focused on serving vulnerable New Yorkers.
Frances Brown
A school crossing guard turned tenant leader, Frances Brown has been the steady hand in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn for decades. She built Mothers Against Gangs to curb violence, convening its annual luncheon uniting key players. Brown backs the Brooklyn Marine Terminal redevelopment plan, saying it “promises good-paying jobs, entrepreneurship, pipelines for our youth and mixed-income housing that foster economic diversity.” Brown is the president of the Red Hook East Residents Association, which represents tenants in the New York City Housing Authority’s Red Hook East housing development.
Suzy Changar
Suzy Changar has spent well over a decade shaping the lower Manhattan neighborhood of Hudson Square into one of New York City’s most recognizable creative districts. She has led award-winning campaigns that turned streetscapes into expressions of civic identity, helping 80% of locals identify the area as Hudson Square. Her initiatives link businesses, schools and workforce leaders, including collaborations in which high school students and creative mentors co-designed public art. A veteran of civic and cultural marketing, she brings warmth, wit and strategy to her efforts to build a community.
Kristina Coleman
Kristina Coleman helps guide child advocacy and mental health programs that reach thousands of vulnerable children and families across New York City, overseeing five child advocacy centers, a counseling center and trauma response initiatives. Known for sustaining busy teams with compassion and creativity, she also championed a more inclusive data system that better reflects the racial and cultural identities of the communities they serve. A licensed clinical social worker, Coleman previously served as a director at The Children’s Village, a leading child welfare nonprofit.
Karla Cordero
Karla Cordero has helped guide WE ACT for Environmental Justice through a period of transformation, strengthening its internal systems and morale while ensuring its strategic direction is aligned with its mission. Drawing on her background in New York City government, where she led sustainability and resiliency projects and served as chief operating officer at the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, she brings her expertise in change management. Focusing on a culture of collaboration that creates tangible results, she helped WE ACT evolve from grassroots advocacy to a force in environmental justice.
Wini Cudjoe
Everyone knows the Ronald McDonald House name, but few know the woman who has helped to keep its New York home running for more than three decades. Over that time, Wini Cudjoe has shaped every facet of the 95-room, 83,000-square-foot facility housing families of children facing serious illness, leading a team of more than 30 who provide around-the-clock support. She helped expand the organization from a housing provider into community health partner through, among other things, its Family Room programs across the city, which bridge the gap between families and medical providers, creating a support circle during difficult times.
Terence Cullen
Terence Cullen’s fingerprints can be found on some of New York City’s most consequential stories, even if his name rarely appears in the headlines. A former award-winning journalist turned communications strategist, he helped pass the Climate Mobilization Act in New York City and guided the New York Building Congress through the city’s COVID-19 pandemic recovery. Now a senior vice president at Actum, the Queens native draws on more than a decade of media and government experience to craft campaigns that move opinion, shape policy and change outcomes.
Albert Dalipi
Albert Dalipi has risen through the ranks since joining the Fordham Road Business Improvement District in 2021, helping foster its growth. He has partnered with New York City agencies and other stakeholders to strengthen safety, workforce development and commercial vitality while ensuring programs reflect community priorities. He has expanded the Patrol Ambassador Program from a pilot to permanent service, improving security. He has represented merchants and institutions during debates over the proposed Fordham Road busway, ensuring community voices are heard. A Fordham University graduate, he brings deep Bronx roots and nonprofit experience.
Kathy Edouard-Bell
At New York City’s largest volunteer organization, Kathy Edouard-Bell is maximizing its impact. Over more than a decade at New York Cares, she has gone from being an AmeriCorps service member placed in the organization to its director of community relations and program design. Managing a team that shapes strategy and oversees partnerships across the city, she has refined children’s education programs using data and community feedback, ensuring volunteer efforts respond to real needs. Her leadership in relaunching Mission Vet Check strengthened the organization’s outreach to military veterans and secured new funding.
Debbie Egel
Debbie Egel is one of the New York State Public Employees Federation’s most persistent field leaders, advocating for public sector staffers. She recently helped coordinate the statewide Protest of Assignments initiative to elevate front-line health care concerns. She also led more than 40 rallies and strategy sessions defending SUNY Downstate from closure. Working with clergy, community and elected leaders from Brooklyn to Albany to Washington, D.C., she helped secure a $1 billion state investment for the struggling hospital. A mentor to emerging labor leaders, Egel previously served as a state official with the state Office of Addiction Services and Supports.
Mary Elizabeth Elkordy
Mary Elizabeth Elkordy built a boutique communications firm during the COVID-19 pandemic’s early months and now guides more than 750 clients, from Fortune 500 giants to grassroots nonprofits, with a fast, news-driven approach to public relations that has earned placements in major publications, all while toiling behind the scenes. Known for lifting up those around her, she ensures that her firm’s growth reflects the collective work of her team and clients. A former Capitol Hill aide who worked on Hillary Rodham Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign and in her U.S. Senate office, she later produced programs at WABC-AM radio.
Bryan Ellicott-Cook
A decade ago, Bryan Ellicott-Cook won a settlement with New York City in a gender identity discrimination lawsuit the transgender man brought after he was barred from entering the men’s locker room at a Staten Island public pool. Ellicott-Cook has continued to champion LGBTQ+ equality in the years since, including in his current role as director of government relations at SAGE, the nation’s oldest and largest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBTQ+ older adults. He recently advocated successfully for $3.2 million in funding for New York City’s Trans Equity Fund.
Tim Ellis
Tim Ellis helps steer two of upstate New York’s largest utilities through one of the most challenging periods for the state’s energy grid. A former Metropolitan Transportation Authority executive and chief of staff in the governor’s office, he brings nearly two decades of public sector experience to his leadership of government relations at New York State Electric and Gas as well as Rochester Gas and Electric, both part of Avangrid. Working across 44 counties, Ellis also provides a voice on infrastructure modernization, highlighting widespread grid strain and advocating for $16 billion in upgrades that will strengthen reliability, support housing growth and create new jobs.
Emmanuel Emeasoba
Dr. Emmanuel Emeasoba is an interventional cardiology fellow at Maimonides who previously supported the Montefiore Einstein Starfish Program, a public health initiative focused on hepatitis B and hypertension screening in West African communities. He has co-developed congregation-based outreach to improve care access. The program distributed free blood pressure cuffs and used effective five-minute talks instead of longer sessions to turn hypertension screenings into a gateway for hepatitis B testing.
Rebecca Evans
Rebecca Evans has defined what climate leadership looks like in a small city with big ambitions. She helped shape Justice50, a landmark initiative directing half of Ithaca’s capital budget to neighborhoods most affected by climate change and economic inequities, creating a new model for fair, community-driven investment. She also reframed the city’s Climate Action Plan, linking climate goals to social outcomes and shifting the focus from emissions to people. Evans continues to lead Ithaca’s green transition, emphasizing fairness, accountability and impact.
Rebecca Farbo
For more than two decades, Rebecca Farbo has helped burnish the public image of Phillips Lytle without stepping into the spotlight herself, guiding its marketing and business development strategy across nine offices. A former ad agency president and creative director, Farbo has launched rebranding and advertising campaigns and strengthened relationships while elevating the firm’s reputation. Outside of the office, her long involvement with the March of Dimes reflects the same spirit of service that drives her professional success, letting her work speak for itself.
Shari Feinberg
Shari Feinberg is a steady presence at Maimonides Children’s Hospital, where she leads pediatric hematology oncology care. The hospital’s only certified chemotherapy and biotherapy instructor, she guides new nurses through the program while ensuring seamless care for patients from infancy through age 26. Feinberg helps young patients find moments of joy by organizing celebrations and community events that bring warmth to hospital life. Feinberg demonstrates that while outcomes can’t always be controlled, success lies in making a genuine difference for every child and family she serves.
Jennifer Gholston
Jennifer Gholston has spent two decades transforming how New York City trains those on the front lines of homelessness, behavioral health and crisis response, overseeing programs that reach more than 10,000 practitioners annually, from social services providers to police officers. She directs the New York City Police Department’s Crisis Intervention Team initiative, which trains nearly 4,000 officers each year in de-escalation and empathetic response, and oversees curriculum development for all city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene-funded housing providers, ensuring consistent, evidence-based practices across the city’s human services network.
Sam Goldsmith
Sam Goldsmith keeps the wheels turning in New York City government, helping shape policies on behalf of his boss, Council Member Gale Brewer. He has spearheaded legislation to close illegal cannabis shops, regulate lithium-ion batteries and improve third-party food delivery oversight, while coordinating hearings that have bolstered city accountability. He’s a former journalist with experience at two tabloids – the New York Post and the Daily News – and was a chief of staff at the city Department of Education. Goldsmith also volunteers with the Coalition for the Homeless, delivering meals in the South Bronx.
Jahaira Gonzalez
Jahaira Gonzalez makes sure no one in the Bronx’s LGBTQ+ community is left behind. As director of community outreach and prevention services at Destination Tomorrow, she oversees testing, counseling and support programs while running the center’s food pantry to combat food insecurity. She approaches her work with empathy, having once relied on the same resources she now delivers. Since 2017, she has helped expand in-house and referral-based programs at the organization that connects residents to education, health care and career readiness.
Fariha Habib
Fariha Habib brings the same precision to community service that she does to telecom engineering. As president of H&H Telecom Construction, which she co-founded to create jobs and opportunities, she has built a firm rooted in sustainable growth and social purpose. A veteran project manager for AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, she now balances infrastructure work with hands-on philanthropy, leading the Lion Fariha Women Development Center in Bangladesh, organizing medical camps, vocational training and supply drives that expand opportunity from New York construction sites to rural villages abroad.
Sarra Hale-Stern
For more than two decades, Sarra Hale-Stern has been a steady hand behind one of the state Senate’s most experienced lawmakers. Since starting as a volunteer fresh out of college, Hale-Stern has risen through nearly every role in state Sen. Liz Krueger’s office before becoming chief of staff in 2023, mastering both the art of policy and the human side of governance. A recognized expert on housing and a trusted adviser to other elected officials’ staffers, she’s known as the person who supports constituents and gets things done.
Penelope Hernandez Gonzalez
Penelope Hernandez Gonzalez is ensuring older New Yorkers age with dignity, connections and adequate care. At University Settlement, the nation’s first settlement house founded in 1886, she oversees the newly expanded Wellness Together program. It has grown from an initiative serving 200 older adults to nearly 1,000 across the East Village, Lower East Side and Chinatown. A former social worker and housing advocate, Hernandez Gonzalez built a team of 21 that blends practical support with social connection, ensuring homebound neighbors remain active, engaged and valued members of their communities.
Arthur Jacobs
Arthur Jacobs trains New York City’s digital inclusion officers, more than 40 agency liaisons who have gone through his program to ensure public websites and materials are accessible for all New Yorkers. A longtime disability etiquette trainer, Jacobs has been with the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities since 2017 and co-authored its Guide to Planning Accessible Events. He’s also president of the National Federation of the Blind’s New York City chapter and brings three decades of expertise to making government work for everyone, building New York City’s digital doorway to inclusion.
Christopher Johnson
Ethan Geto and Michele de Milly are the headliners at Geto & de Milly, but they wouldn’t be as successful without stellar staffers like Christopher Johnson. Johnson, who has over three decades of experience in politics, government, community relations, public relations and advertising, has been with the lobbying firm since 2006. He helped build its digital and social media division and has led campaigns for Fortune 500 companies like Home Depot and Walmart. Last year, when mental health clubhouses faced budget cuts, Johnson mobilized a coalition of community programs to restore city funding.
Kari Kurjiaka
At the nonprofit Reach Out and Read of Greater New York, Kari Kurjiaka oversees initiatives that have delivered over 400,000 books to 230 clinics and partners this year, supporting over 250,000 children while also positioning early literacy as a public health priority through legislative engagement. She built the Book Buying Buddies coalition, expanding collective purchasing power for nonprofits nationwide. A former educator, Kurjiaka’s work at the Clinton Foundation and First Book, where she co-led the national Diverse Books for All Coalition, helped advance equity in childhood education and storytelling.
Sherry Lee
Sherry Lee has spent nearly a quarter century ensuring New York City’s vast municipal vehicle fleet runs efficiently and sustainably, redefining leadership in a male-dominated field. She oversees more than $500 million annually in vehicle acquisitions and has managed over $5 billion in procurements since 2012. Lee also developed the city’s “virtual agency” system aligning 40 departments under one fiscal framework and created tracking systems for 1,800 fleet staff. She helped complete New York’s largest electric vehicle purchase as well.
Dior Lindsey-Virgil
Dior Lindsey-Virgil launched the Osborne Association’s FamilyWorks program in Buffalo in 2019, building its Western New York presence for children and families affected by incarceration. A licensed social worker, she provides training and technical assistance to agencies on the impact of parental arrest and co-leads the Safeguarding Children of Arrested Parents policy with the Buffalo Police Department. A member of the Buffalo Association of Black Social Workers and a recent Health Leadership Fellow, Lindsey-Virgil is pursuing a doctorate focused on healing and human rights.
Kervens Louissaint
Kervens Louissaint has spent nearly two decades transforming LiveOnNY into a national leader for organ donation. A former neuroscience ICU nurse who joined the organization in 2008, he rose through its ranks to become senior vice president and chief clinical officer in 2023, a role in which he oversees all clinical operations. Leading a network of 11 transplant centers and nearly 100 hospitals that serve 13 million New Yorkers, he has helped raise organ donation by nearly 70% in three years while advancing national standards.
Andrew Lynch
A self-taught cartographer and designer who made his mark chronicling New York’s transit history through his blog, Andrew Lynch is turning mapping into a movement as co-founder and chief design officer of QueensLink. He leads efforts to revive the long-abandoned Rockaway Beach Branch as both transit and parkland, an effort to advance transit equity and climate justice. His design leadership helped secure a $500,000 U.S. Department of Transportation grant and continues to build public momentum through data, visuals and grassroots advocacy.
Katherine Molina-Powell
Katherine Molina-Powell has helped guide NYC Kids RISE’s citywide expansion, advancing opportunities for more than 280,000 public school students across 1,000 schools with over $45 million in scholarship accounts. Since coming aboard in 2023, she has built and formalized the organization’s governance, policy and operational systems, modernizing finance, human resources, compliance, technology and cybersecurity to sustain growth. Drawing on her past leadership roles at Acelero and Shine Early Learning, she ensures the Save for College Program’s long-term stability in partnership with New York City.
Anya Mukarji-Connolly
Anya Mukarji-Connolly drives policy initiatives and communications at Brooklyn Defender Services, a nonprofit legal services organization that focuses on criminal, family and immigration defense while also providing civil legal services, social work support and advocacy. Mukarji-Connolly recently teamed up with the Parent Legislative Advocacy Network to support the Anti-Harassment in Reporting bill, which would make anonymous reporting of child abuse with confidential reporting, if signed by the governor. Her earlier roles include overseeing Brooklyn Defender Services’ Family Defense Practice, heading up the New York Legal Assistance Group’s LGBTQ+ Law Project and running the Urban Justice Center’s Peter Cicchino Youth Project.
Young Sook Na
Since joining Global Kids in 2015, Young Sook Na has risen to the position of vice president of finance, managing budgets, audits and compliance while modernizing systems and strengthening transparency across the organization. With nearly three decades in the nonprofit sector, including in a key role at the MinKwon Center for Community Action, Na combines years of experience with a mission-driven approach. Her stewardship helps sustain programs that reach thousands of young people each year, empowering future leaders through education and global citizenship.
Travis Nelson
The suburbs of Long Island are a critical political battleground, and Travis Nelson knows firsthand how to propel Democrats to victory in a time of sharp divisions. He served as Long Island political director for the state Democratic Party’s Coordinated Campaign in 2024, helping Reps. Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen win battleground congressional districts in the region. The first-generation Jamaican American is now director of outreach and a political adviser to Gillen, who’s in what’s projected to be one of the most competitive races next year.
Donald Nesbit
From the school kitchens of Brooklyn to the executive board room of New York City’s largest municipal union, Donald Nesbit has spent decades fighting for public workers. Rising from school lunch helper to executive vice president of District Council 37’s Local 372 in 2014, he helped secure universal free school lunches across city schools in 2017 after years of advocacy. He’s a member of the Executive Board of DC 37, chairs DC 37’s Political Action Committee and serves as trustee of the New York City Board of Education Retirement System.
Paige O’Brien
Paige O’Brien leads Family & Children’s Association’s advancement strategy, strengthening programs that serve Long Island’s most vulnerable residents. A proud Long Island native, she brings her work full circle, fundraising for the same communities that shaped her. Known for inventive campaigns that weave storytelling, social media and community engagement, she has helped secure hundreds of millions in gifts nationwide. Having previously led major campaigns through crises like Hurricane Harvey in Texas, O’Brien blends data-driven insights with heart, redefining what modern philanthropy can achieve.
Annie Pellerito
Annie Pellerito is responsible for YAI’s complex incident management system, coordinating cases across more than 170 certified programs with 4,000 staff members. She ensures every report in the Quality, Compliance and Ethics Department is tracked, documented and resolved on deadline, keeping the nonprofit in full regulatory compliance. Her diligence in updating statewide databases, guiding investigators and maintaining communication with leadership reflects her commitment to YAI’s mission of helping 20,000 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities live, love, work and learn independently.
Patricia Primo
With more than 15 years at Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City under her belt, Patricia Primo brings deep institutional knowledge to her leadership of the organization’s homeownership and foreclosure counseling programs. Drawing on her experience in the mortgage industry, she helps first-time homebuyers navigate the path to stability while building partnerships that aim to expand access to affordable housing. Her work advances the mission of delivering trusted, citywide financial empowerment programs that make homeownership a reality for families across all five boroughs.
Conzina Scales
Conzina Scales has been a presence in New York City’s foster care system for more than 30 years, devoting two decades to the Coalition for Hispanic Family Services. Known for his patient, relationship-centered approach, he helps children rebuild trust, reunite with their families and find permanent homes through adoption. Grounded in the organization’s culturally competent care model, he meets families where they are, ensuring every child is seen and supported. Scales keeps a gallery of graduation photos on his office wall to remind him of every life he has touched.
Linda Schellenberg
Linda Schellenberg has spent more than two decades improving the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities through her work at The Center for Family Support. Beginning her career as a direct support professional, she rose to lead programs across New York and New Jersey that emphasize self-direction and individualized care. Over 25 years, she has helped shape the organization’s growth while ensuring programs meet rigorous federal, state and local standards. A licensed social worker, she was recognized with a 2024 Leadership Award from the Interagency Council of Developmental Disability Agencies.
Richard Serrano
Richard Serrano has dedicated his career to helping older adults and families living with dementia find comfort, care and connection. With Active Rockland, the practice he founded in 2009, he turned a modest 2,200-square-foot space into a welcoming center where physical therapy and wellness meet. His team later developed the county’s only outpatient dementia day program, located in the Palisades Center mall. Through simple yet meaningful activities like Memory Lane TV and chair yoga, participants regain confidence while caregivers find the respite and community they need.
Connor Shaw
Connor Shaw directs political and legislative strategy for the International Union of Journeymen and Allied Trades, or IUJAT, advocating for more than 100,000 members in Washington, D.C., Trenton, New Jersey, and Albany. A veteran of national and local campaigns, Shaw has advanced policies that strengthened worker protections and pay, from auto technician wage reforms to higher compensation for home care workers. He also helped launch CEED Local 420, representing cannabis employees in New Jersey. Shaw has worked on campaigns and super PACs at every level of government, helping to shape messaging and strategy behind major initiatives.
Dawn Sherman
Dawn Sherman has helped steer The Black Car Fund for more than a decade, modernizing communications and strengthening engagement with over 100,000 covered drivers statewide. A former executive at the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, she brought her public sector knowledge to The Black Car Fund’s mission. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she led communications that kept drivers informed and oversaw the distribution of 20,000 personal protective equipment kits. Sherman has also led the rebranding of the organization’s Driver Education Center and introduced a Driver Resource Fair program.
Mohammad “Tipu” Sultan
Mohammad “Tipu” Sultan keeps one of New York City’s most vital labor movements connected and organized, building unity in a diverse and demanding industry. A former yellow cab driver turned organizer with the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, Sultan fields around-the-clock calls from more than 10,000 drivers, helping them navigate city agencies, resolve disputes and organize for change. He was a driving force in the 2021 hunger strike and City Hall protest that led to historic debt relief for drivers.
Anneka Swinson
Anneka Swinson keeps one of New York City’s largest social services organizations running smoothly, ensuring its mission never loses momentum. As office manager of HANAC, she links programs, staff and partners that support more than 30,000 New Yorkers annually. Swinson helps keep leadership focused on serving vulnerable communities rather than logistics. She also plans and manages HANAC’s annual gala, coordinating everything from honorees to seating arrangements. Founded in Queens in 1972 to assist the city’s Greek immigrant community, HANAC is now a multicultural network spanning housing, youth, immigration and senior services.
Camelia Tepelus
Since 2019, Camelia Tepelus has led the Morris Park Business Improvement District, guiding the revitalization of Morris Park Avenue and helping the Bronx corridor reach one of the borough’s lowest vacancy rates. She engineered key projects that helped secure $20 million in state Downtown Revitalization Initiative funding and was a leading advocate for the Reimagining the Cross Bronx effort to improve public health. Her “Morris Park Stars” light installation at Loreto Playground won a 2024 LIT Lighting Design Award, symbolizing her belief that community transformation can be both practical and inspiring.
Finny Varghese
Finny Varghese leads the New York Staffing Association, a trade association, with a focus on raising standards and elevating public trust in the industry. He works to make his agency a collaborative space where staffing leaders act as partners in growth, not competitors, and where people-centered practices set the benchmark for excellence. He has spent nearly two decades at Nexus Staff, the company he founded, and uses that experience to continue helping businesses and job seekers connect with empathy, authenticity and a belief in purposeful work.
Jorge Ventura
Jorge Ventura is playing a pivotal role in New Rochelle’s transformation, guiding projects that have brought billions of dollars in investment while aligning zoning reforms with long-term goals. His approach blends digital tools with on-the-ground engagement to ensure community priorities shape initiatives like The LINC, which turns a six-lane roadway into a linear park, and the redesigned Transit Center, a multimodal gateway connecting residents to jobs and housing. A former New York City planner who led neighborhood studies in Staten Island and the Bronx, he brings precision and purpose to building a thriving, connected city.
Kenneth Wasley III
Kenneth Wasley III spent over two decades with the Drug Enforcement Administration, where he was a group supervisor for the federal Asset Forfeiture Unit and investigated organized crime and financial fraud. His experience also includes rooting out Medicaid fraud during a stint at Centene Corp. and, earlier in his career, undergoing advanced CIA and DEA training. At his investigative firm, Twin Shields Consulting, he now applies his expertise to cases involving embezzlement, online fraud and sensitive family court cases in the Hudson Valley and New York City metropolitan area.
Bill Yeung
Bill Yeung has gone from program participant at the Chinese-American Planning Council to the nonprofit organization’s chief operating officer. Since joining CPC in 2000, he has modernized systems, strengthened cybersecurity and streamlined operations across more than 50 programs serving more than 80,000 people. A key architect of CPC’s digital transformation, Yeung built a fully staffed information technology department with limited resources. He also helped open the organization’s new lower Manhattan headquarters and expanded its real estate portfolio. A first-generation immigrant, Yeung’s journey reflects CPC’s belief that investing in people transforms communities.
Anawah Yisrael
Anawah Yisrael has spent nearly a decade advancing East Side House Settlement’s mission. She manages a $4 million contract portfolio and oversees programs that connect thousands of Bronx residents to jobs and job training every year. She started out working with East Side House Settlement’s Jobs-Plus program, and later helped build the Post-Secondary Pathways initiative, creating certification routes in health care, construction and security that foster long-term mobility. In addition to reintroducing Salesforce to the team’s work to improve its data tracking, Yisrael consistently surpasses education, training and job placement benchmarks while continuing to advocate for equity across New York City.
Konstantin Zborovskiy
An immigrant who grew up in New York City, Konstantin Zborovskiy helps oversee much of New York City’s complex juvenile justice system. As chief operating officer at the Administration for Children’s Services’ Division of Youth and Family Justice, he leads a team that handles more than 60 contracts with a collective budget of more than $200 million and supports more than 900 staff. Since 2020, he has expanded college, arts and workforce programs in detention, secured more than $14 million in annual funding for community-based diversion programs and led a youth-focused, trauma-informed capital project. Zborovskiy also mentors students at Baruch College, where he earned a master’s degree.
Katy Zielinski
Katy Zielinski has quickly become one of the key strategists shaping clean energy and environmental communications in New York. After leading media coverage on the governor’s energy and environment priorities as a deputy communications director in the Hochul administration, Zielinski came aboard the Moxie Strategies team last year as the firm opened its New York office, where she is helping to secure major clients and drive growth. Known for integrating public affairs and media strategy, she now leads campaigns like New Yorkers for Clean Air, using coalition-building and earned media to advance climate and air quality policy.
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