Honors
The 2026 Unsung Heroes
Unheralded New Yorkers who are making an impact
City & State presents the 2026 Unsung Heroes. Damora Regala; BronxWorks; Richard Lawrence Jr.
New York’s public, private and nonprofit sectors are overflowing with big egos: power brokers who not only wield outsized influence but also garner plenty of attention and acclaim.
City & State’s Unsung Heroes recognizes a different kind of leader. This annual list instead digs a bit deeper to unearth the stories of exceptional New Yorkers who are making an enormous impact, just without all the fanfare. We are putting a spotlight on city and state government aides, chief operating officers and division directors at major nonprofit organizations, vice presidents in the corporate sphere and other hard-working, self-effacing staffers who are out in the streets and on the front lines. This year’s list also features a few presidents and executive directors who merit greater recognition for their impressive endeavors.
Among this year’s honorees are a former staffer for a top state lawmaker who recently joined the New York Power Authority, a violence interruptor reducing shootings in East Harlem, Manhattan, and a trade association executive who’s helping hospitals to respond to cyberattacks and other crises.
We’re pleased to present the 2026 Unsung Heroes.
Bobby Akumah
Bobby Akumah joined Empire State Development in 2022 after serving as a minority- and women-owned business enterprise officer for the New York City Administration for Children’s Services. At ESD, Akumah helps promote equitable access to public resources and support MWBEs across the state by ensuring they receive millions of dollars in procurement opportunities across 97 state agencies and authorities. Akumah also founded a nonprofit that uses soccer to teach leadership and teamwork skills to young people, and he hosts a monthly pop-up food distribution program for Bronx seniors.
Cassandra Anderson
Cassandra Anderson has been tackling New York’s affordability crisis by addressing the rising cost of owning a home and running a business. Since joining the New York Insurance Association in 2008, the insurance industry leader has advanced legislation allowing real-time auto insurance reporting, helped repeal an anti-arson application requirement and backed a modernization of the free-trade zone. This year, Anderson advocated for the state to reform anti-fraud laws and supported the governor’s state budget measures to rein in litigation leading to large payouts in car crash cases.
Carlos Aponte
Carlos Aponte brought seven years of property management experience with him in 2024 when he joined JASA, a nonprofit serving older New Yorkers. The former Doe Fund administrator and leasing specialist at The Bridge is now maintaining 205 apartments in two Manhattan affordable housing facilities, Cooper Square and Positively Third Street. Both sites have boasted high inspection scores, with near-perfect occupancy and lease renewal completion rates. Aponte oversees a seven-person team while coordinating building improvements and compliance in addition to minimizing stress for older residents.
J. Krystal Ascencio
Dr. J. Krystal Ascencio has helped Jamaica Hospital Medical Center reduce maternal health equity disparities and become a nexus for prenatal care innovation. Since joining the medical center in 2019, the obstetrics leader has improved outcomes for women while advancing clinical quality. Ascencio led the establishment of the ElevateHer program, which created a new maternal health model with doula services, oral and behavioral health treatment, with a focus on cardiac and diabetes support. She has used her platform to warn about the risks of using hot tubs during pregnancy.
Maha Attieh
Throughout her career, Maha Attieh has sought to expand access to healthcare and education to immigrant and non-English-speaking communities throughout New York. After joining the Arab-American Family Support Center in 2003, the Palestinian American social worker helped ensure voter registration materials, consumer notices and health materials were translated into Arabic, eliminating language barriers. She also advocated for a Middle Eastern and North African category on the state’s health marketplace application. Attieh has served on the New York State of Health Marketplace Advisory Committee and advised the New York City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.
Tybrey “Ty” Barnes
Tybrey “Ty” Barnes launched a last-mile delivery company in the Bronx in 2020 to give underserved populations better economic opportunities. His NorthStar Logistics – a name inspired by stories of travelers on the Underground Railroad following the North Star – has given away more than 1,000 backpacks and school supplies in underserved communities and provided tuition reimbursement up to $5,200 per employee in college and certification courses. Barnes opposes a New York City Council bill that would require Amazon to obtain licenses for last-mile deliveries, ending the subcontractor model in the city.
Mark Boyd
When Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes announced her retirement in April, Mark Boyd knew his life would enter a new stage too. The longtime adviser managed the Buffalo lawmaker’s staff, developed deep relationships with community stakeholders and handled $45 million in discretionary grants for nearly 14 years. He’s continuing his career in public service at the New York Power Authority. Since September, Boyd has been tasked with overseeing the Niagara Power Vista Visitor Center and engaging with customers and elected officials on renewables and nuclear power plant development, a key energy issue.
Syed Bukhari
For nearly 20 years, Syed Bukhari has kept New York City’s wastewater treatment plants operating safely, sustainably and efficiently. The division chief in the Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Wastewater Treatment has built environmental, health and safety management systems, or EHS, improved compliance programs and strengthened emergency preparedness as intense storms have battered the region. Bukhari also conducts design reviews for the agency’s multimillion-dollar capital projects and trains junior staffers to develop leadership and maintain long-term operational continuity. He is also a state volunteer firefighter.
Teresa Casey
Teresa Casey has helped the state’s liquor and cider producers capitalize on New Yorkers’ growing desires for farm-to-table alcoholic beverages. A principal at the association management firm Mackin & Casey, she joined the state distillers guild in 2019. Casey represents 100 distilleries, helping secure passage of direct-to-consumer shipping for spirits, an alcoholic beverage production credit and the establishment of a Brand Owner’s License, allowing craft producers to work with in-state co-packers to reduce costs. Last year, the organization launched a distillery trails app to boost tourism statewide.
Victoria Cerullo
Throughout her career, Victoria Cerullo has sought to make New York more resilient against climate change. She joined New York Climate Exchange in 2024 after serving as a senior adviser to New York City’s first deputy mayor, working in the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Economic Justice, and helping to manage recovery efforts in the immediate aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. Cerullo has since helped the New York City Housing Authority to implement climate initiatives, launched the Climate Leaders Exchange and Governors’ Dialogue on Governors Island and spearheaded her organization’s arts programing with several partners.
Brandon Chisolm
Brandon Chisolm has sought to steer young people away from paths heading toward violence and incarceration. The conflict mediation manager joined the nonprofit Getting Out and Staying Out in 2022 and has contributed to a decline in shootings in East Harlem, Manhattan, by working with community partners and building relationships with young people. For the past three years, Chisholm has led workshops, family support initiatives and direct intervention for 180 young people at a New York juvenile detention center, helping make the facility a safer place.
Kandra Clark
In her professional life, Kandra Clark has fought for more public resources to help New Yorkers facing homelessness and housing instability. The nonprofit leader joined Urban Pathways in 2025 after stints as a grant writer with The Fortune Society and shaping policy at Exodus Transitional Community. With Clark’s help, Urban Pathways secured dedicated advocacy funding, which will strengthen its capacity to center lived experience and address systemic inequities. Clark also has increased the organization’s engagement with elected officials, forged coalitions and championed investment in supportive housing and human services.
Dania Cordova
Dania Cordova has played a key role ensuring that victims of domestic violence and other abuse get the services they need during times of crisis. In the past year, she secured and managed $1 million in foundation funding for Safe Horizon’s emergency client assistance program. She also has strengthened collaboration across departments and improved the organization's understanding of governmental grant processes. Before joining Safe Horizon in 2023, Cordova served in several roles overseeing government contracts, program evaluation and compliance at the Women’s Prison Association for more than a decade.
Kenneth Cox
Kenneth Cox has positioned New York’s seniors to maintain access to an array of services, including meals, visitation and housing, for decades to come. Since the nonprofit leader joined Encore Community Services in 2023, he has greatly expanded its volunteer program, with 49 new corporate partners over the past year alone. Cox has also helped ECS nearly double its corporate and foundation support to $1.2 million, increased individual giving from $100,000 to $250,000, and grew its annual event revenue from $328,000 to $600,000 over the past three years.
Andrew Dahl
Andrew Dahl applies lessons from superstorms, pandemics and cyberattacks to prepare New York’s hospitals for future threats. Dahl, who joined the Greater New York Hospital Association in 2022, advises GNYHA’s 160 hospital and health system members on emergency preparedness as well as operations and security. He has coordinated hospital responses to cyberattacks, including the CrowdStrike outage and a ransomware attack at the New York Blood Center. This year, Dahl supported hospitals following the Air Canada crash at LaGuardia Airport and led emergency preparations for the FIFA World Cup and America250.
Jeehae Fischer
For years, Jeehae Fischer has been helping Korean Americans prevent and recover from domestic abuse. In her work with the Flushing-based Korean American Family Service Center, Fischer has supported survivors of gender-based violence, first as a program coordinator and director and later, upon returning to the organization in 2019, as the nonprofit’s executive director. She has doubled KAFSC’s budget and secured more than $1 million over its past three fundraising galas to support domestic violence services. This spring, KAFSC hosted its fifth annual AAPI Family Fun Day with other organizations in Queens.
Lawrence Fowler
For a quarter century, Lawrence Fowler has handled the nuts and bolts as the Emma L. Bowen Community Service Center delivered critical mental health and support services to thousands of Manhattan residents. As chief operating officer, Fowler manages the day-to-day operations for the Harlem-based site that serves more than 5,000 people each year and distributes more than 125,000 packages of food. This year, the steady and pragmatic executive oversaw the center’s renovations and temporary relocation to West 135th Street while coordinating staff without interruption.
Jerry Gallagher
Jerry Gallagher has helped make one of New York’s most beloved arts institutions a destination for creatively engaging with its present, past and future. Since joining the staff of the Museum of the City of New York two decades ago from the New York Philharmonic, Gallagher has overseen the Upper East Side institution’s building operations and security, hiring, marketing and communications offices. Gallagher also managed the museum’s 10-year, $97 million restoration project and spearheaded the annual “Gingerbread NYC: Great Borough Bake-Off” that celebrates city neighborhoods through gingerbread displays during the holiday season.
Bill Gross
Bill Gross has spent much of his professional life helping New York’s LGBTQ+ older adults access the programs and services they need to thrive into their golden years. Since joining SAGE 12 years ago, he has overseen multiple programs in New York City and South Florida and runs support groups for LGBTQ+ seniors. Gross helped develop the SAGE Center for Sexual Wellness and Aging initiative, served on the HIV Health and Human Services Planning Council of New York and co-founded a coalition of organizations committed to the health of long-term HIV survivors.
Thomas Heymann
Thomas Heymann is informing people of the dangers of sepsis and supporting survivors of medical emergencies. Heymann has led the Sepsis Alliance since 2013, achieving steady growth and increasing public awareness while carrying out its mission of infection prevention and education for patients and healthcare professionals. The organization has provided free support for 8,500 survivors, trained 75,000 health professionals and worked with the federal government to require hospital sepsis protocols. Heymann, a former executive at A&E Television Networks, also held leadership roles at Little Kids Rock and Young Audiences New York.
Jerry Hyppolite
Jerry Hyppolite has spent his career advancing opportunities for underserved young people. Since he joined Housing Solutions of New York, a nonprofit combating homelessness, last year, he has helped secure more than $400,000 in public funding for fiscal year 2027. Hyppolite has deepened relationships with government policymakers, strengthened board governance and organizational strategy, and helped the nonprofit expand its reach. He previously held a similar role at Partnership with Children and was a director in the New York City Department of Youth and Community Development.
Jane Johnson
Jane Johnson has spent decades providing vital services and programs for low-income children and families throughout New York City. Since 2015, Johnson has helped Children’s Aid raise $125 million in revenue from public sources annually to support programs for nearly 50,000 children. This year, she secured New York City Department of Youth and Community Development grants for 2,500 children to attend after-school programs at 17 Children’s Aid sites in high-need neighborhoods. During her entire tenure at the organization, dating back to 2001, Johnson has secured nearly $1 billion in government grants.
Samantha Khan
Samantha Khan wants to equip police officers with the resources to improve their emotional well-being while reducing the stigma of seeking mental health care. The John Jay College of Criminal Justice alum previously worked with the New York City Police Department’s Psychological Assessment Section, learning firsthand about psychological evaluations of officers, before joining POPPA three and a half years ago. Khan has helped the nonprofit, which has more than 300 peer support officers and a network of 120 clinicians, continue reducing police suicides and self-harm.
Beatrice Kim
Beatrice Kim helped establish better screening guidelines and recognition for postpartum depression while she was still in high school. The high school senior at The Chapin School and intern at Korean Community Services of Metropolitan New York has advocated for state legislation that would establish separate recognition and screening guidelines for postpartum psychosis. Kim also pushed for a New York City Council resolution calling on the state to recognize postpartum mental illness as a factor in criminal sentencing and partnered with City Hall on a maternal mental health webinar.
Nicole Lederman
Throughout her career as a therapist and licensed clinical social worker, Nicole Lederman has helped adolescents navigate emotional and social challenges as they grow up. After working with homeless and underserved youth, primarily in the Los Angeles area, Lederman was part of the founding team at Somethings, a teen-focused mental health nonprofit that started in 2024. She has since focused on developing scalable behavioral health solutions that make mental healthcare more accessible. She also serves on the advisory committee of the Door, a social services nonprofit for teens and young adults.
Dimitra Les
Dimitra Les has played a key role helping The Black Car Fund manage its staff and operations as the organization delivers workers’ compensation coverage to the state’s for-hire vehicle drivers. The human resources director helped spur the organization’s growth to more than 100 employees as it has maintained a diverse and inclusive workplace since she began working at the nonprofit more than 16 years ago. Thanks to her efforts, the organization has provided insurance and services to more than 100,000 drivers at 500 member bases across the state.
Laura Levine-Pinedo
Laura Levine-Pinedo is positioning the Bronx as a culinary and arts destination. The hospitality executive founded The 4Bronx Project, a Bronx-based nonprofit, in 2020 to support local homeless shelters. Her organization combined forces with the Kingsbridge Riverdale Van Cortlandt Development Corp. in 2022. As executive director of KRVC since 2024, she is continuing its work distributing supplies to shelters. Levine-Pinedo has spearheaded two merchant alliances, operated Gallery 505 exhibitions and advanced public beautification projects. She also co-founded Riverdale Restaurant Week and organizes Riverdale Pride.
Toni Martinez
Toni Martinez started her career at YAI, formerly known as the Young Adult Institute, in 1994 as a residential supervisor working with people with developmental disabilities. Now, she leads strategic initiatives and intake operations for the nonprofit, which provides supportive housing, job training and healthcare for more than 20,000 individuals with disabilities. Martinez has coordinated efforts to develop YAI’s partnership with the state on its Children’s Crisis Residence in Queens that opened this year and could serve as a state model. She also directed YAI’s Supportive Residential Habilitation Transformation initiative.
Nora Nicholson
Nora Nicholson is a pillar in Westchester County. She recently took on a new challenge as assistant village manager of Croton-on-Hudson, where she had already spent several years on the village’s board of trustees. She previously served as director of external affairs at the Westchester Children's Association, which she joined in 2024. She helped the nonprofit exceed its revenue goals by 25% in her first year while collecting $175,000 at its annual benefit. Nicholson also has worked at Volunteer New York, the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano, and Help a Mother Out.
Anton Nimblett
Anton Nimblett has been critical in helping Volunteers of America-Greater New York deliver housing, support services and access to healthcare. As program director of VOA-GNY’s 87-unit Bushwick Family Residence, Nimblett has strengthened partnerships with civic leaders, neighborhood organizations and donors to aid New Yorkers experiencing homelessness. Nimblett has helped provide summer camp sponsorships, sports equipment and holiday gifts for families while boosting awareness of VOA-GNY’s services and combating the stigma of homelessness. The Brooklyn-based writer has also published poetry and short story collections.
Kyra Nix
Kyra Nix is a key part of the people and culture team at the Javits Center, the iconic home to many of New York’s most popular large-scale events, including New York Comic Con, the Armory Show and the New York International Auto Show. Nix has enhanced how the Javits Center supports its workforce by creating employee resource groups, supporting more than 30 employee events and developing initiatives to improve management leadership skills. The human resources staffer also launched the CORE Collective Mentorship Program and helped develop the Javits Emerging Leaders Program, which has attracted more than 6,000 intern applicants.
Masha Pearl
For more than a decade, Masha Pearl has provided resources to Holocaust survivors and their descendants while ensuring children today absorb lessons of the 20th century genocide. As executive director of The Blue Card, Pearl has provided direct assistance to 3,000 survivor households below the poverty line, expanded services to 35 states, doubled aid distribution and secured nearly $50 million in philanthropic support. Pearl is also spearheading an artificial intelligence-powered Holocaust hologram that shares an oral history of survivor Sonia Warshawski with schools across the country.
Tania Peterson Chandler
Tania Peterson Chandler is celebrating her 30th anniversary with EAC Network, a Garden City-based human services organization serving roughly 80,000 people annually. As the nonprofit’s chief operating officer, she has spearheaded the launch of community-based programs in behavioral health, restorative justice and aging services, while improving how EAC manages its contracts and compliance. Peterson Chandler also helped secure new funding and improved how data can be used to manage performance. This spring, the nonprofit celebrated the opening of a child advocacy center in Bethpage to protect children from abuse and trafficking.
Benjamin Piacquadio
Benjamin Piacquadio has inspired generations of students as a teacher and coach in the Archdiocese of New York system. Since 2011, Piacquadio has taught middle school at St. Benedict School in the Bronx and helped expand its athletic program by leading fundraising efforts that generated over $180,000 in school improvements. This summer, Piacquadio took on the roles of varsity basketball coach and athletic director at Preston High School, a Catholic school in the Bronx where he has raised funds for a new team athletics bus.
Melissa Pino
For nearly 17 years, Melissa Pino has been on the front lines of the fight to end hunger in New York. On her watch, the Food Bank for New York City’s Mobile Pantry program distributed 1.3 million pounds of food last year. The Mobile Pantry team, which she joined in 2023, has supplied produce and other staples at 166 mobile sites citywide in 2025, reaching around 350 families at each location. She has also helped carry out the organization’s mission amid rising costs and federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cuts.
Marianne Pizzitola
For years, Marianne Pizzitola has fought to protect the health and retirement benefits of New York City’s first responders. The labor leader has organized retired municipal workers to oppose a proposed switch to Medicare Advantage, which the Adams administration halted even though the state Court of Appeals sided with the city in 2025. This summer, Pizzitola won a $53 million settlement forcing the city and EmblemHealth to reimburse co-pays for 250,000 workers. Now, she’s championing a City Council bill that would prohibit the city from enrolling retirees in a privatized Medicare plan.
Danielle Porcaro
Danielle Porcaro is keeping New York City Council members connected to the constituents who elected them. Since beginning her career in City Hall more than two decades ago, the veteran staffer has assisted four City Council speakers, helped manage City Charter and participatory budget meetings and served as a liaison to the city’s arts community. Porcaro has recently overseen parades and cultural events, including the city’s America250 celebration. She previously held leadership positions at the NYC Test & Trace Corps and NYC Census 2020 and was vice president of government relations for the then-Madison Square Garden Co.
Tricia Quan-Kep
Tricia Quan-Kep has been a behind-the-scenes leader fostering the growth of New York’s transportation infrastructure industry. The engineering executive leads business development and strategic growth at Artheon, a civil engineering company based in East Brunswick, New Jersey, that formed this year after Naik Consulting Group merged with two other firms. Quan-Kep has created professional development sessions, convened panels on the engineering profession’s use of artificial intelligence. She is also active with the Construction Management Association of America’s Metro New York/New Jersey chapter.
Jennifer Richardson
Jennifer Richardson has played an integral role making Patrick B. Jenkins & Associates one of the premier government relations firms in the state. Since joining the lobbying shop in 2018, Richardson has advocated on behalf of women-owned businesses, financial firms and criminal justice reform groups. She recently helped secure government funding for supportive housing groups and helped change laws assisting injured workers. Richardson is a board member of the Capital District Black & Hispanic Bar Association and an adjunct professor at Albany Law School.
Herman Schaffer
Throughout his career, Herman Schaffer has helped New Yorkers prepare and recover from extreme storms, disease outbreaks and acts of terrorism. For the past five years, the New York City Department of Emergency Management deputy commissioner has overseen the agency’s efforts to help local communities develop and integrate their own plans within the city’s response. Schaffer also coordinated medical staff to treat and vaccinate New Yorkers during the COVID-19 pandemic and developed the Summer Welcome Corps, which deployed 600 volunteers to 78 citywide events.
Tami Schneider
After losing her husband to cancer, Tami Schneider noticed the lack of resources for people who lost loved ones and has been supporting grieving families ever since. In 2014, Schneider established a social group, Lost & Found NYC, which has brought together more than 300 widows and widowers. Last fall, she expanded the Los Angeles-based Our House organization to New York City, launching a support center in Midtown that trains volunteers to lead support groups. Our House NYC has already reached more than 900 individuals and is now partnering with five schools in the city.
Robbie SeWelch
Robbie SeWelch became a New York City Council staffer in 2014 to connect the city’s diverse constituencies with government services and help meet local needs. For the past four years, SeWelch has led the City Council’s Community Outreach Unit, where he has worked with community organizations, faith leaders and local stakeholders to build trust and strengthen public engagement with the city’s legislative body. SeWelch has also curated artwork for legislators’ offices, celebrated openings of cultural institutions and DJed multiple City Council events.
Ken Small
For more than three decades, Ken Small has played a critical role at BronxWorks, helping fund supportive housing, healthcare, legal services and workforce training programs for thousands of Bronx residents. The Harlem-born development director secures critical government and foundation funding for BronxWorks. This year, he won $30.8 million from New York City’s Department of Youth and Community Development to fund the organization’s after-school and summer programs through 2032. He also secured $2.5 million in capital funding, $665,000 for crime victim support and $100,000 for food assistance.
Raquel Thompson
Raquel Thompson is addressing inequities in one of the nation’s most impoverished counties. As a board member at the Bronx Community Foundation, she has helped develop board growth strategy and hosted an event in April to cultivate donors in the financial services industry. Thompson, a seasoned hedge fund executive, is also the chief compliance officer and regulatory counsel at the New York-based private money management firm Christofferson, Robb & Company, where she advises leadership on regulatory matters and has spearheaded its philanthropic strategy.
Kim To
Kim To’s leadership has helped the Chinese-American Planning Council grow into one of the nation’s largest Asian American social services organizations. To, who joined CPC nearly a decade ago, has doubled her development team and increased the nonprofit’s annual operating budget from $26 million to $74 million. She recently secured $2.35 million in government funding for CPC’s Brooklyn Community Center and hosted CPC’s 60th annual gala. To is also a lead fundraiser and strategist for Mekong NYC, a nonprofit supporting the Southeast Asian community in the Bronx.
Marcelo Torres
For two decades, Marcelo Torres has been committed to helping immigrant and vulnerable communities build more secure lives in New York. Torres, who was born in Ecuador and arrived in New York in 1989, spent years helping fellow Ecuadorians navigate difficult circumstances and complex U.S. government policies at the Consulate of Ecuador in New York. Torres is now at the nonprofit HANAC, where he helps prepare funding applications and responses to requests for proposals to maintain social services programs serving 30,000 children, seniors, unemployed individuals and immigrants across New York City.
Chelsea Vizvary
Chelsea Vizvary started her career in public service with the governor’s office in 2015 before joining the state Board of Parole. Last year, she was promoted to executive deputy director, making her responsible for the agency’s daily operations and serving as a liaison among board members, staff and state agencies. Thanks to Vizvary’s work, the board received its highest accreditation score to date from the American Correctional Association. An active member of the Association of Paroling Authorities International, she presented at its annual training conference in May.
Eric Woodlin
Eric Woodlin recently celebrated his 10th anniversary with BFC Partners, a Brooklyn-based real estate development company that has completed more than 22,000 residential units across New York City. As BFC’s community engagement lead, Woodlin helped secure $100 million in contracts for minority- and women-owned businesses and assisted with the development of Brooklyn’s Major R. Owens Health & Wellness Community Center. He also organizes job fairs and community days at BFC developments. Woodlin is also the founder of Bedrock for Communities, a nonprofit supporting local community projects.
Jason Wu
Since 2013, Jason Wu has helped the Human Services Council manage a coalition of 180 nonprofit organizations and run campaigns to expedite government payments and improve working conditions for staffers. As HSC’s operations leader, he has helped coordinate HSC’s #JustPay Campaign, bringing nonprofit workers to Albany and leading a rally of thousands of workers at City Hall to demand wage equity protection legislation. Wu plans HSC’s annual gala and works with its executive director to schedule training sessions and other events for members throughout the year.
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