NEW YORK IS FERTILE GROUND FOR Black professionals and entrepreneurs. The state, for example, is home to more than 11,300 Black-owned businesses, the most in the U.S. In the spirit of this legacy, Crain’s has selected 105 honorees for its 2022 list of Notable Black Leaders and Executives. The objective was to identify talented and accomplished Black individuals whose professional and communal achievements enhance New York City and the lives of its inhabitants. Working in a wide range of industries—including law, medicine, engineering, finance, construction and entertainment—the honorees on this roster deserve accolades for their contributions. To choose the honorees, Crain’s consulted with trusted sources in New York City’s business world. Nominations, submitted by individuals and companies in the area, were then vetted. Ultimately, the honorees were picked for their career accomplishments as well as their broader community involvement. Read on to discover how the Black leaders on our list invigorate the New York business community every day.
AMELIA ADAMS
ADEOLA ADEJOBI
AMAL ALIBAIR
President and founder, Adams Advisors
CEO and founder, Avant-Garde Network
Throughout her career, Adams has worked to advance the interests of two groups: women and members of the Black community. She founded Adams Advisors, a political consulting and community development firm whose clients include the Bard Prison Initiative and the Partnership for New York City. Adams also serves as executive board chairwoman of 21 in ’21, a nonprofit that successfully campaigned for the inclusion of an unprecedented number of women on the City Council last year. In previous communityfocused roles, she led efforts to increase the New York state minimum wage and to reform a policy leading to high suspension rates among Black students at a local school.
Being the only Black lawyer at the New York office of a large firm spurred Adejobi to found the Avant-Garde Network, a social-impact organization for Black professionals dedicated to improving diversity, equity and inclusion in business. As its chief executive, she has hosted more than 200 events to date, including the Diversity in Commercial Real Estate and Women of Color and Capital conferences. Her Avant-Garde Network has engaged more than 40,000 professionals worldwide, resulting in increased access to capital, opportunities and business solutions for the Black community. Adejobi has received numerous industry honors including a New York Women’s Chamber of Commerce Woman of Excellence Award.
Head of the U.S. institutional client solutions business, Goldman Sachs
A native of Somalia who immigrated to the U.S. as a student, Alibair is familiar with the challenges facing minorities—and she puts her knowledge to use at investment bank Goldman Sachs. As the head of Goldman’s U.S. institutional client solutions business, Alibair oversees billions of dollars in assets for endowments and foundations nationwide, leading a team that dispenses customized investment advice. She launched the firm’s Advancing Black Advisors Leadership program and an initiative to increase diversity on nonprofit boards. She is designing a multiyear program to enhance Goldman’s relationship with the Black community.
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METHODOLOGY: The honorees did not pay to be included. Their profiles were drawn from submitted nomination materials. This list is not comprehensive. It includes only executives for whom nominations were submitted and accepted after an editorial review. To qualify for this list, honorees had to self-identify as Black and be employed within New York City or the surrounding counties, serving in a senior leadership role at their organization. They had to show accomplishment in their field and the ability to effect change in their role or area of practice, in addition to demonstrating community or philanthropic activities.
DR. MACHELLE ALLEN Senior vice president and chief medical officer, NYC Health + Hospitals
The race-based disparity in health care access Allen has witnessed in central Harlem was the impetus for much of her remarkable work at H+H. Now as the health system’s chief medical officer, she oversees the more than 8,000 providers who make up its medical staff. Allen, who has been at H+H for more than four decades, has used her post to develop innovative programs. She implemented obstetric simulations designed to reduce race-based health care disparities, for instance. She commissioned implicit bias training for the health system’s board of directors and leadership, and she developed a pipeline program to attract underrepresented minorities to medical careers.
MARISSA ALTER-NELSON Partner, Sidley Austin
Alter-Nelson, a firstgeneration professional, is the first Black lawyer to rise from first-year associate to partner at the Sidley Austin law firm. Her practice involves complex litigation related to business, commercial and financial disputes for clients including AT&T, Bank of America and Citibank. Alter-Nelson, an accomplished litigator, participates in the Sidley Prelaw Scholars Program, which subsidizes Law School Admission Test study courses and application fees for financially challenged aspiring lawyers. In her pro bono practice, she has represented low-income women in domestic matters, as well as several death-row inmates.
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NOTABLE 2022 MICHELLE ARMSTRONG
JASON AUTAR
DONNEL BAIRD
Head of philanthropy and executive director of the Ares Charitable Foundation, Ares Management
Chief operations officer, Oyate Group
Co-founder and CEO, BlocPower
Autar’s on-the-ground work has helped upward of 30,000 people get vaccinated against Covid-19. As the chief operations officer at Oyate Group, a nonprofit that works to alleviate poverty and lift underserved communities throughout New York City, Autar oversaw door-to-door outreach and partnerships with community centers. Autar, who is responsible for Oyate’s varied programming, works to address gaps in health care, nutrition and higher education in minority communities. Before joining Oyate, he worked as a court liaison for the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services, providing defendants with alternatives to incarceration; and as a program coordinator at Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey.
Struggling to heat their home, members of Baird’s family would use their oven for warmth and open windows to release carbon monoxide. That formative childhood experience catalyzed his career interest in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. Baird is co-founder and CEO of BlocPower, a climate technology company powering a cleanenergy revolution. Notably, the organization secured a contract to decarbonize upstate Ithaca in the first large-scale citywide electrification initiative in the country. Baird worked in the Obama administration on a Department of Energy greenbuildings project that leveraged $6.5 billion in funding to create green jobs and retrofit buildings.
Armstrong is charged with overseeing all philanthropic efforts for asset manager Ares Management, from employee engagement and volunteerism to corporate sponsorship programs. To further the firm’s core values and cultivate financial support for the Ares Charitable Foundation, she works with the Ares environmental; social and governance; and diversity, equity and inclusion teams. Armstrong secured a $30 million grant for AltFinance, an initiative that prepares students from historically Black colleges and universities for careers in alternative asset management. During the pandemic, she created the first firmwide virtual program that engaged employees from different locations in volunteer efforts.
HERMINA “NINA” BATSON Director and global head of internal audit regulatory engagement, Barclays
Compliance, regulatory reporting, taxes, accounting, operations, audits. Those areas are where Batson wields experience at Barclays. Batson, committed to diversity on every team she manages, is serving a two-year term as the first Black president of the Financial Women’s Association. The organization, for which she has volunteered for more than two decades, provides personal, professional and financial aid to young women in finance. Batson formerly was director of securitized products at MUFG, a bank and financial services company where she managed accounting, regulatory reporting and compliance.
MARTIN BELL Partner, Simpson Thacher
When he joined Simpson Thacher as a partner last year, Bell brought his experience representing high-profile companies to handle complex disputes and sensitive investigations. Bell, an accomplished trial lawyer, has held several public positions in New York and spent more than a decade as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District. Bell prosecuted criminal civil rights cases including those involving corrections-officer misconduct at Rikers Island. At Simpson Thacher, he is on a committee that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion at the firm through mentoring programs and affinity groups.
BLACK EMPLOYEES MAKE UP 12% OF AMERICA’S PRIVATE-SECTOR WORKFORCE —MCKINSEY & CO.
RODNEYSE BICHOTTE HERMELYN Member, New York Assembly; chair, Brooklyn Democratic Party
Bichotte Hermelyn, who represents Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood and Ditmas Park in the Assembly, has been vital to the passage of several bills aimed at boosting minority interests. In so doing she has championed minority- and woman-owned business enterprises, helped expand minority contracting opportunities and strengthened voting rights laws. Bichotte Hermelyn, the first Black woman to chair the Brooklyn Democratic Party, heads the Assembly’s MWBE subcommittee. She helped lead the diverse coalition that supported Eric Adams for New York mayor. She was instrumental in the creation of the Little Haiti cultural district in Brooklyn, and she is an advocate for Black maternal health care.
TROY BLACKWELL
VICTOR BODY-LAWSON
KYLE BOLDEN
TORRENCE BOONE
Founder and executive director, Ready for Change
Principal and founder, Body Lawson Associates
U.S. East market segment leader, EY
Motivated by the belief that voting is among the most powerful tools one can exercise in a democracy, Blackwell founded Ready for Change, a political action committee dedicated to increasing voting among young people, particularly those of color. As executive director of the organization, which also focuses on issues related to climate change, mental health, criminaljustice reform and youth employment, Blackwell oversees its operations, communications and partnerships. He ran for the City Council last year, advocating municipal hospital– based grants for violenceintervention programs and expansion of the city’s paid-sickday requirement. He held several positions with the 2020 Biden-Harris campaign.
Body-Lawson says he believes architecture can play a major role in revitalizing Black and brown neighborhoods. As the principal of Body Lawson Associates, an architecture and design firm, he leads the design of hundreds of affordable housing units for New Yorkers and mixed-use projects for Black churches. Body-Lawson, who has worked in Ghana, has received awards for his work. He is an associate professor of architecture and real estate at Columbia University, where he has introduced new approaches for communities that have historically lacked access to outstanding architecture, community solutions and urban investments.
In his nearly quarter-century with the professional services network of EY, Bolden has advised market participants on matters ranging from financial transactions to readiness for initial public offerings. At EY, he oversees tax, consulting, strategy, and assurance for the real estate, hospitality and construction sectors. He advises C-suite executives on strategy and counsels boards and investors on environmental, social and corporate governance. Bolden, who mentors Black students and EY professionals, is executive sponsor of the firm’s Inclusive Engagement and Development Initiative. He is on the board of the Real Estate Executive Council, an association of minority executives in the commercial real estate industry.
Vice president of global client partnerships, Google
Boone ranked 10th on the Crain’s list of the 25 Most Powerful New Yorkers last year— for good reason. In his role at Google, he has overseen the company’s massive expansion of its New York footprint. He is charged with driving Google’s strategy across a portfolio of global advertisers in the tech, beauty and consumer packaged goods spaces. As a member of the company’s global business hiring committee, he endeavors to hire and promote individuals from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in the tech sector.
16 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | February 21, 2022
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NOTABLE 2022 ESI-KILANGA BOWSER-SANTIAGO Senior project manager, Turner Construction
Bowser-Santiago is a trailblazer for Black women in construction. Since joining Turner as an assistant engineer in 2006—when there were even fewer minority women in the industry than there are today—she has held roles of increasing responsibility. She now leads a team of seven engineers in the interior fit-out of a 1.3 million-square-foot office and amenities space. Bowser-Santiago has been an industry ambassador for the historically Black colleges and universities fellowship program at Columbia University, sharing insights from a Black perspective on navigating the corporate world. She was instrumental in the founding of an employee resource group at Turner for employees of African descent.
DANIELLE BROWN
DALE BURNETT
GERRARD BUSHELL
HENRY BUTLER
Senior vice president of data enablement and category strategy, Disney
Co-founder and managing director, BIG Equity Investors
Chairman and CEO, the New Terminal One project at JFK Airport; chairman, CAG Holdings
District leader and first vice chairman, Brooklyn Democratic Party
Bushell is committed to building a team characterized by inclusion and innovation in a project that is expected to benefit New Yorkers of all stripes: the New Terminal One project at Kennedy Airport. As its chairman and CEO, he is building on his extensive business, government and finance experience—in conjunction with the Port Authority—to deliver the new terminal. Under Bushell’s direction, the endeavor to date has involved more than $46 million in contracting with minority- and woman-owned business enterprises. He also is chairman of CAG Holdings, the airport infrastructure investment platform of the Carlyle Group, and he is a member of New York state’s MWBE task force.
Butler spent a sizable chunk of his career as a conductor with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and he showed his communitymindedness even then. As an active member of his union, he advocated for workers’ rights and served as the union’s community outreach liaison. He remains an advocate for the people, albeit in a political setting. As district leader for the 56th Assembly District of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, he facilitates elections at poll sites and appoints election workers while taking part in selecting judicial nominees and running county committee meetings. As the people’s representative, Butler works with communities to ensure resources are being channeled to the neediest.
Brown oversees the use of data and targeted solutions to fuel Disney’s advertising approach— which allows clients to gain maximum impact from campaigns across the media and entertainment company’s product portfolio. She manages a team that models hundreds of psychographic and behavioral attributes to customize audience-based ad solutions. In addition, she helps lead the hiring committee within Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion committee and spearheads the Brave Conversations series, a forum in which employees reflect on and discuss inclusion. Brown mentors employees across the company, particularly women of color.
A son of Jamaican immigrants, Burnett is passionate about sharing the lessons his parents taught him, points that helped him achieve the American dream. Burnett helped found BIG, a minorityowned investment management platform that invests in middle-market real estate for public pensions, family offices and corporations. He leads the firm’s equity investment function, including sourcing and acquisitions. He is board chairman of Praxis Housing, a New York City provider of supportive housing, predominantly for Black and brown individuals. He is a member of several mentorship programs, through which he has exposed hundreds of young Black and indigenous people of color to career opportunities in real estate.
AS OF 2017, THE NEW YORK METROPOLITAN AREA’S BLACK POPULATION WAS CLOSE TO 3.5 MILLION—THE LARGEST IN THE COUNTRY —BLACKDEMOGRAPHICS.COM
DR. GARY BUTTS
GREGORY CALLISTE
VALENTINO CARLOTTI
NATALIA CINEAS
NICOLE CLARE
Executive vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, Mount Sinai Health System
CEO, NYC Health + Hospitals/Woodhull
Partner, Brown Brothers Harriman
Chief real estate development officer, Bowery Residents’ Committee
Calliste must consider employee wellness, clinical excellence, patient experience and fiscal viability in his role as Woodhull’s chief executive. He guided the hospital’s Covid-19 pandemic response with all of the aforementioned in mind, addressing the public-health challenges of the city’s hardest-hit communities. For his efforts, he was recognized as a health care hero by several media organizations. He has appointed people of color to H+H leadership roles, and he has mentored many throughout his career. Calliste is on the board of directors of RiseBoro Community Partnership, which provides affordable housing, food and health care for residents of Bushwick, Brooklyn.
Carlotti is the head of corporate advisory and banking at Brown Brothers Harriman, the oldest private investment banking firm in the country. In that role, he oversees a team of professionals who advise privatebusiness owners and manage assets. Before joining BBH, he was a partner at Goldman Sachs, where he served as president of its Brazil Bank and sat on the global firm’s diversity committee. He is philanthropically active in support of professionals, artists, performers and civic leaders of color. He sits on the boards of Carnegie Hall, the Boys’ Club of New York and Management Leadership for Tomorrow.
Senior vice president and chief nursing executive, NYC Health + Hospitals
Mount Sinai was among the first medical institutions to commit to becoming an anti-racist organization, establishing a task force to address that goal. Leading the charge is Butts, an executive vice president at the health system. As chief diversity and inclusion officer, he is responsible for managing diversity programs and policies at Mount Sinai, including at its Icahn School of Medicine. Building on more than two decades as director of the Center for Multicultural and Community Affairs, Butts is a champion for equity in the Mount Sinai community. His service has been recognized by the National Association of Minority Medical Educators and other organizations.
Cineas instills in Health + Hospitals nurses, managers and administrative personnel the importance of responding to shifting patient demographics, in line with the organization’s goal of extending quality health care to all New Yorkers equally. Cineas serves the health system as co-chair of its equity and access council. She is tasked with directing close to 10,000 nurses and overseeing all aspects of clinical operations and nurse education. When the pandemic struck in 2020, Cineas directed the recruitment and deployment of thousands of temporary nurses and nursing specialists to battle New York’s Covid-19 waves. She was named a 2021 Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.
At the Bowery Residents’ Committee, a nonprofit that provides services for homeless New Yorkers, Clare manages a $250 million housing development portfolio and co-chairs its diversity, equity and inclusion council. Inclusion is reflected in all manner of ways at the BRC. Clare, for instance, acquired a site for a new residence in Inwood that is designed to incorporate a memorial center honoring its history as a burial ground for enslaved Black people and a ceremonial site of the indigenous Lenape people. She is a former committee chair of the New York Urban League’s Young Professionals.
18 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | February 21, 2022
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“We as citizens can address the virus of social inequity with the same selfless determination and courage we brought to bear on COVID-19, and in doing so prove the true strength of our shared humanity.” Philip O. Ozuah, MD, PhD
President and CEO, Montefiore Medicine
Montefiore Einstein Congratulates Philip O. Ozuah, MD, PhD For his recognition in Crain’s 2022 Notable Black Leaders, in honor of his vision, innovation and impactful leadership while challenging the status quo and creating change.
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NOTABLE 2022 YAHONNES CLEARY
SEAN EBONY COLEMAN
SHARON CONTENT
JANESSA COX-IRVIN
DAVID CRICHLOW
Litigation partner, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
Founder and executive director, Destination Tomorrow
Founder and CEO, Children of Promise, NYC
As a Black trans man affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic from a young age, Coleman felt galvanized to found Destination Tomorrow, a South Bronx agency that provides services for the LGBTQ+ community. He now leads efforts to provide educational, financial, housing, health and personal support, among other services. Some specific services include GED training, HIV testing and career readiness. He is a grant maker for Gilead’s TRANScend Community Impact Fund, identifying trans-led organizations that are deserving of funds. He was selected for Mayor Eric Adams’ Equity Transition Committee, where he shares his expertise on inclusivity and dismantling biases.
The often unseen victims of incarceration are the children of the imprisoned, and Content is on a mission to meet their needs. At the nonprofit Children of Promise, she has introduced culturally sensitive mental health care, academic enrichment, mentoring and youth programming to more than 350 children. The initiatives are aimed at improving the social, emotional, behavioral and mental health competencies necessary to deal with familymember incarceration. She was on the de Blasio administration’s nonprofit and social services sector advisory council, and she previously held roles at the United Way and the Boys & Girls Club of America.
Global head of diversity and inclusion and corporate citizenship, AllianceBernstein
Partner and national chairman of commercial litigation, Katten Muchin Rosenman
It’s little wonder that Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal and CNBC have turned to Cox-Irvin for her thought leadership. At asset management firm Alliance Bernstein, she directs the diversity, equity and inclusion strategy and ensures its alignment with business priorities. Under the leadership of Cox-Irvin, who is eager to help underrepresented populations access new opportunities, two Black members were added to AllianceBernstein’s board, and the engagement of Black employees increased measurably. She serves on the board of Dress for Success, a nonprofit that provides women with professional attire and developmental support.
Inspired by Justice Thurgood Marshall, Crichlow has long been intent on achieving justice through the law and uplifting Black communities. At Katten Muchin Rosenman, Crichlow counsels companies on contract disputes, regulatory matters, international arbitrations, appeals and commercial litigation, among other issues. He has lectured for and mentored minority lawyers and law students. He is on the board of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and he previously was a co-chair of the American Bar Association’s bankruptcy and insolvency committee. Crichlow was named a 2020 Litigation Trailblazer by The National Law Journal.
Cleary is an ardent proponent of lawyers of color at Paul, Weiss, working intimately with them on the global law firm’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Cleary, a seasoned trial lawyer, advises corporate clients on commercial litigation and internal and regulatory investigations. His high-profile representations have included Citigroup, ExxonMobil, MasterCard, Morgan Stanley, Pfizer and Uber. In his pro bono practice, he focuses on issues of social and racial justice. He has collaborated with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund on voting rights litigation and with the American Bar Association on affirmative action lawsuits.
65% OF WORKING BLACK WOMEN HELD WHITE-COLLAR JOBS IN 2017, COMPARED WITH 42% OF BLACK MEN —BLACKDEMOGRAPHICS.COM
DR. NICHOLA DAVIS
PAISLEY DEMBY
MYLAN DENERSTEIN
VINCENT DUNN
NATHANIEL FIELDS
Vice president and chief population health officer, NYC Health + Hospitals
Business services director, Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses at LaGuardia Community College
Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
Co-partner in charge, Norton Rose Fulbright
CEO, Urban Resource Institute
As a Black female lawyer, Denerstein feels an obligation to support marginalized communities. She does that at law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where she is a litigation partner and co-partner in charge of the New York office. She leads intricate criminal and civil litigation and investigations, often involving government agencies. Denerstein is also the global chair of the firm’s diversity committee, and she is credited with spearheading the firm’s Black Advancement Initiative. The program led to a 75% increase in the number of Gibson Dunn’s Black lawyers and a 50% increase in its Black leaders. Denerstein has been recognized for her work by City & State and Crain’s.
Dunn is committed to advancing diversity and inclusion wherever they are absent. As co-partner in charge of the New York office at law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, Dunn oversees administrative matters, implements policy changes, integrates new associates, coordinates events, and helps employees transition from remote to in-person work. Still, he prioritizes his work on the firm’s racial equity council, where he has been vital to its Black associate sponsorship program. He says his devotion to the program stems from memories of the isolation he felt early in his career, when he often was the only Black person in corporate meetings.
Fields leads operations at the Urban Resource Institute, which provides services for victims of domestic violence. The services include shelter and prevention programs aimed at arresting cycles of poverty, abuse and trauma. In leading the institute, a historically Black organization, Fields keeps its staff of 500 focused on those issues, which disproportionately affect Black and brown people. (Nine of 10 clients are Black or Hispanic.) He routinely represents the institute in city, state and national organizations in the human services and homelessness sectors, including on the human services committee of Mayor Eric Adams’ transition team.
Davis drives innovative clinical models at H+H. With a holistic approach to health care, Davis focuses on chronic disease prevention and management, social determinants of health, and population health analytics. Acutely aware of health care disparities that are often race-based, Davis works to improve the health of Black and brown communities. She founded a work group that launched innovations in obesity management, and she established and co-chaired a Covid-19 research council. She is co-lead of a workforce diversity work group and an initiative designed to eliminate race-based clinical algorithms.
Demby leverages the power of economic development initiatives to support the Black community. As the business services director for Goldman Sachs’ business management education program at LaGuardia Community College, he directs the marketing, outreach and recruitment of small-business owners for the course. In addition, he oversees a team of advisers who provide personalized advice to entrepreneurs in the program, and he works on developing the educational process. To date, more than 1,200 New York entrepreneurs have successfully completed the program. Demby volunteers at the Prison Fellowship nonprofit, teaching entrepreneurship to Rikers Island inmates.
20 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | February 21, 2022
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Gary C. Butts, MD Executive Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Mount Sinai Health System Dean for Diversity Programs, Policy and Community Affairs, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
The Mount Sinai Health System and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Proudly honor
Gary C. Butts, MD and all the trailblazers Crain’s New York Business selected as Notable Black Leaders
mountsinai.org
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NOTABLE 2022 DEBBIAN FLETCHER-BLAKE CEO, Vocational Instruction Project Community Services
Fletcher-Blake began her career as a nurse practitioner serving the homeless and other marginalized communities, and she continues to battle health inequities at VIP Community Services, a nonprofit health care organization providing medical, housing and behavioral health resources. Fletcher-Blake is responsible for operations at the Bronx health center, including delivering integrated clinical care; ensuring customer service excellence; and coordinating team efforts with external stakeholders, providers and regulatory agencies. In response to the pandemic, she launched a house-based vaccination program for homebound senior citizens and succeeded at avoiding Covid-related furloughs, layoffs and terminations at her organization.
WILLIAM FLOYD
DR. FRITZ FRANÇOIS
MICHAEL GARNER
DARRELL GAY
D
Director of U.S., state and local government affairs and public policy, Google
Executive vice president, vice dean and chief of hospital operations, NYU Langone Health
Chief diversity and inclusion officer, Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Partner, Arent Fox
C E
Floyd plans efforts that demonstrate how tech companies can build mutually beneficial relationships with the communities in which they operate. He manages Google’s engagements with community leaders and elected officials and executes the company’s local philanthropic and community relations programs. Notably, he was involved with the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund initiative, which last year provided $5 million to 50 Black-led startups across the nation, including seven in New York City. He sits on the board of the Children’s Museum of the Arts.
Helping NYU Langone Health cope with the pandemic came naturally for François because had been on the front lines of operational initiatives before. François works with leadership to standardize patient care, reduce patient safety risks, improve throughput, eliminate waste and optimize technology tools. He also strives to eliminate health disparities through medical education: In his role as national chairman of the American College of Gastroenterology’s minority affairs committee, he assists underrepresented trainees, and he developed a summer research program to address health disparities.
Garner has set a high bar for diversity, equity and inclusion officials everywhere. His strategies at the MTA have resulted in a 20% increase in the number of Blacks, Hispanics and women hired across the agency’s enormous workforce. His work has led to significant growth for minority- and woman-owned business enterprises. Since he arrived at the MTA in 2009, the publicbenefit corporation has made $10.7 billion in payments to such businesses—a feat that culminated in Garner being named a New York state MWBE Champion by Gov. Kathy Hochul. Garner also received the 2021 Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer of the Year Award from Crain’s.
Gay is a founding board member of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, which advocates the hiring, retention and promotion of minority lawyers in corporate firms. As a partner with law firm Arent Fox, Gay is well-positioned to speak to the issue. He handles employeerelated issues—hiring, discharge, discrimination, internal investigations, workplace training and restrictive covenants—on behalf of the firm’s management. For clients, he works on labor matters such as union negotiations, arbitrations and unfair labor charges. He chaired the Covid-19 task force for the nonprofit College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, hosting seminars on legal issues related to the pandemic.
THE FIRST BLACK CEO OF A FORTUNE 500 COMPANY WAS CLIFTON WHARTON JR., WHO BECAME CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF FINANCIAL SERVICES ORGANIZATION TIAA-CREF IN 1987 —BLACKENTREPRENEURPROFILE.COM
WILLIAM GOODLOE
SOPHIA GORING-PIARD
ALICIA GUEVARA
RYAN HARRIS
WENDY HILLIARD
President and CEO, Sponsors for Educational Opportunity
Partner, Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy
CEO, Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC
Chief human resources officer, MetroPlusHealth
After attending the rigorous Brooklyn Technical High School, Goodloe was prepared for college and a stable career. But realizing that others from his low-income community did not receive similar preparation spurred his desire to work toward educational equity. At Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, which provides college and career support for disadvantaged youth, Goodloe develops and implements strategies for recruitment, donor engagement and financial viability. In addition, he oversees day-to-day administrative and programmatic operations. Under his stewardship, the SEO Scholars program has celebrated a 90% college graduation rate among participants from New York City public schools.
Goring-Piard manages employment-based immigration issues for individuals and corporate clients including Fortune 100 clients in telecom munications, financial services and engineering. A sampling of matters she handles at Fragomen includes nonimmigrant visas, permanent residence, compliance issues and corporate restructuring. Goring-Piard maintains a robust pro bono practice, providing immigration services related to asylum proceedings, familybased cases and petitions for unaccompanied minors. As a leader of her firm’s New York diversity, equity and inclusion initiative, she helped improve its recruiting process and opened doors for young lawyers of color. She has been recognized as an immigration law expert by Best Lawyers.
Guevara wields three decades’ worth of nonprofit leadership experience in her role as CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City. Guevara develops and implements fundraising initiatives, community outreach efforts and volunteer recruitment. She forges partnerships with government agencies and community organizations. In a testament to her leadership, the organization has been able to provide continuous services for more than 2,000 young people during the Covid-19 pandemic. Since the pandemic began, the median length of mentormentee matches has increased, as has enrollment in the group’s college and career success program.
Harris promotes best practices for racial, social and sexual inclusivity at MetroPlus. He develops human resources strategies in service of the organization’s overall business plan, focusing on talent acquisition, employee relations, succession planning, change management, compensation and performance management. He recently was chosen to serve as chairman of a youth leadership conference, which is expected to welcome 350 participants, most of them Black high school males. At the height of the pandemic, Harris raised funds to provide headphones for students in environments that complicate virtual learning. He previously was a deputy attorney general in New Jersey.
Founder and CEO, Wendy Hilliard Gymnastics Foundation
Hilliard, the first Black gymnast to represent the U.S. in rhythmic gymnastics, has long been devoted to giving urban youth similar opportunities. The foundation she created has provided low-cost or free gymnastics to 20,000 New York City youngsters since 1996. As CEO, Hilliard oversees the organization’s strategic and financial operations, including partnership development and fundraising. She is on the board of the Armory Foundation, which promotes youth fitness and education. She previously served as the first Black president of the Women’s Sports Foundation. For more than a decade, she sat on the executive committee of USA Gymnastics.
22 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | February 21, 2022
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d h a a
b w r i b r m f A o H c B b s p R h f
.
DONNA HUGHES
KARIM HUTSON
Chief people officer, EmblemHealth
Founder and managing member, Genesis Cos.
Hughes identifies barriers to diversity, equity and inclusion in hiring, retention, advancement and training at EmblemHealth, and she drives inclusive policies in response. She aligns the nonprofit health plan’s human capital strategies with the organization’s overarching business goals. She is credited with doubling diverse representation in leadership, introducing inclusivity training, building a library of DEI resources and piloting mentorship programs for colleagues of color. As chairwoman of her organization’s DEI council, Hughes works to expand contracting opportunities for Black- and indigenous-run businesses by emphasizing supplier diversity. She previously was on the board of Roots & Wings, a nonprofit that helps young people aging out of foster care.
Affordable housing is a pressing issue, especially in communities of color historically marginalized by discriminatory practices. Hutson is out to disrupt that pattern. In running Genesis, a full-service real estate development firm, Hutson develops affordable and market-rate homes for individuals, families, veterans, senior citizens and the formerly homeless. He and his team have earned a reputation for turning underperforming real estate assets into quality, energy-efficient spaces that remain accessible to community members. As part of the effort, they develop community programming—including Thanksgiving food drives and urban farming—that adds to residents’ quality of life.
LESLEIGH IRISH-UNDERWOOD Chief brand and external relations officer, MetroPlusHealth
Irish-Underwood has built her career around serving underserved communities. At health insurance agency MetroPlus, which offers low- to no-cost coverage to eligible New Yorkers, she is responsible for executing the organization’s brand strategy, from product marketing, strategic communications and media relations to the member experience, special events and marketing innovation. She is involved in her company’s mentorship program and works with the human resources team to educate senior staff members on modern leadership techniques. Irish-Underwood previously was senior vice president and chief marketing officer at the United Way of New York City, leading its brand marketing and communications.
LANAYA IRVIN
TANYA ISAACS
CEO, Coqual
Senior vice president and chief human resources officer, New Jewish Home
A team of researchers, data analysts, consultants and storytellers reports to Irvin at Coqual, a nonprofit think tank that conducts research and advises corporations on matters related to diversity, equity and inclusion. Irvin leads efforts to shed light on inequities and barriers that underrepresented groups face at work. She is partnering with business leaders to develop a Black Equity Index, designed to set standards for racial equity and provide benchmarks for systemic change within firms. Forbes, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal have spotlighted her thought leadership on race, gender, authenticity and inclusivity.
Isaacs oversees labor-relations functions at the New Jewish Home, a nonprofit senior health care system. Aside from the duties that the role usually demands— leadership development, employee engagement, talent acquisition, compensation and benefits— Isaacs administers the Geriatric Career Development Program, a nationally acknowledged youth workforce development initiative that provides health care career pathways to primarily Black high school students. The program, which includes paid training and professional certification, boasts a 96% employment rate. Isaacs has diversified leadership at the New Jewish Home while improving staff relations and introducing management training initiatives.
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NOTABLE Q&A with Lesleigh Irish-Underwood How a branding executive created a mission-based career CRAIN’S: What inspired you to decide to focus your career on serving vulnerable and underserved communities?
Executive Lesleigh IrishUnderwood has devoted her career to helping New York City’s most vulnerable and underserved communities. She is chief brand and external relations officer at the health plan MetroPlusHealth, a position she assumed a year ago. In this role she oversees stewarding and executing MetroPlusHealth’s brand strategy. In addition, she is heavily involved in the company’s mentorship program, for which she taps into her prior experience as senior vice president and chief marketing officer at the United Way of New York City. Outside of work, she is a member of The Brooklyn Community Foundation Board. Crain’s Content Studio recently connected with her to discuss her work and goals.
IRISH-UNDERWOOD: Growing up, I learned that “to whom much is given, much is required,” and so my focus has always been to give back to communities like the one I grew up in. I have always sought (or made) ways to create an intersection between my work and my passion— to serve a greater purpose and make a lasting impact on New York City communities—especially communities of color. CRAIN’S: What was your inspiration for joining MetroPlusHealth? IRISH-UNDERWOOD: After more than 20 years on the private side, I wanted to transfer and leverage my skills, knowledge and resources to a mission-driven company. MetroPlusHealth’s mission to close the gap in health equity and create access to quality health care for all aligns with my belief that health care is a right, not a privilege.
CRAIN’S: How has your experience at United Way informed how you perform your current position? IRISH-UNDERWOOD: At United Way of New York City, I was responsible for innovating—moving beyond the nonprofit industry “playbook”—to design unconventional solutions supporting a mission focused on underserved New Yorkers. Thankfully, that experience, community connection and local market insight allowed me to quickly identify a roadmap for MetroPlusHealth to show up for communities in need during the worst public health crisis most of us have ever experienced. CRAIN’S: What are your goals for MetroPlusHealth and its branding? IRISH-UNDERWOOD: Simply put, I want MetroPlusHealth to be iconic. We have a connection—a kinship—with New Yorkers of every background, every neighborhood, every socioeconomic level, every language, unlike any other brand. My goal is for MetroPlusHealth to fully reflect that rich, diverse, culturally competent,
community-connected and equitable New York City that we all envision. CRAIN’S: You have done a lot of work to support women leaders, particularly those who are women of color. What are your goals on that front in the next few years? IRISH-UNDERWOOD: I want to see more women of color seated at leadership tables across every NYC company and industry. I know that my voice, unique life experience and perspective as a Black woman are my superpowers. I am dedicated to helping other women, seasoned and neophyte, to own their strengths. To do that, I plan to double down on mentoring, upping my sponsorship game, and designing a course that focuses on developing women’s leadership.
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NOTABLE 2022 CANDACE JACKSON
PRINCESS JENKINS
ANTHONY JONES
STEVEN JONES
Principal, CJAM Consulting
Founder and president, Women in the Black
District leader, Brooklyn Democratic Party
CFO, Project Renewal
Since 2006, when she founded CJAM, a boutique consulting firm specializing in the arts and culture sector, Jackson has led organizations in that space through expansion, capital restoration and executive planning. Her firm is committed to supporting racially inclusive institutions that highlight communities of color. Jackson spurs her team to focus on small and midsize organizations that are the cultural life force of local communities. She mentors the next generation of cultural leaders and serves as treasurer of the board of the Heidelberg Project, a project initiative in Detroit that seeks to improve lives through outdoor art.
Jenkins learned about entrepreneurship behind the counter of her grandparents’ candy store. Now she’s at the helm of Women in the Black, which fosters the growth of businesses owned by Black women through education, networking and financing. The organization has trained thousands of entrepreneurs to date. Keenly aware of the threat that the pandemic has posed to Harlem small businesses, Jenkins has fielded hundreds of questions related to federal Small Business Administration loans and pandemic unemployment. With female-led Harlem organizations, she formed a women’s business coalition that lobbied local leaders for grants. Jenkins founded the Brownstone, a contemporary lifestyle boutique in Harlem.
Jones represents Brownsville—one of the most systemically disadvantaged communities in New York City—as district leader of the 55th Assembly District. Born and raised in Brownsville, three-quarters of which is African American, Jones was inspired to advocate for its residents after years of confronting street violence. He has arranged food and personal-protectiveequipment distributions during the pandemic, and he has led efforts to educate voters about ballot issues. Last year he ran for Brooklyn borough president. He has served on the 81st Precinct Clergy Council. He founded the Community First Democratic Club and is a former chairman of the One Brownsville nonprofit.
Marshaling his accounting and financial management finesse, Jones strives to uplift communities of color in the metropolitan area. As the chief financial officer at Project Renewal, a social services agency that helps the homeless and underserved, he oversees a $120 million budget spread across shelters, clinics and housing programs. Jones, who sees the financial stability of Project Renewal as vital to the well-being of Black New Yorkers, has helped to maintain the organization’s solvency during the pandemic. He was integral to the launch of a diversity, equity and inclusion initiative throughout the organization, the hiring of a DEI consultant and the formation of an employee resource group. He previously was president of the Martin Luther School Foundation.
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NICOLE JORDAN-MARTIN CEO and executive director, community care division of NYC Health + Hospitals
Jordan-Martin leads H+H’s community-based care management programs. One example is the NYC Test & Trace Corps’ Take Care hotel program, which provides Covid-positive individuals and their close contacts with free hotel stays, testing and clinical monitoring. To date, the program has helped 30,000 guests. Jordan-Martin has served as a health expert on community panels, addressing the Black maternal mortality crisis. As a proud advocate for health equity, she has helped the city’s communities of color gain increased access to homeand community-based medical, behavioral health and social support services.
ONE IN FIVE BLACK AMERICANS STARTS A BUSINESS —GLOBAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP MONITOR
KATY KNIGHT
LILLIAN LANDRUM
President and executive director, Siegel Family Endowment
Senior director of recruiting, Ro
Knight draws on her broad professional experience—real estate, technology, nonprofit development and communi cations—at the Siegel Family Endowment. She oversees the foundation’s overall strategy and grantmaking approach, including the recent introduction of an in-house research function, which supports organizations working at the intersections of learning, workforce and infrastructure. Knight, the rare Black woman to lead a major philanthropic foundation, has long tried to support communities of color. She has represented her community on Queens Community Board 5.
Landrum has succeeded in embedding diversity within recruitment efforts at patientdriven telehealth company Ro. She launched the company’s tech diversity hiring initiative, developing recruiting partnerships with organizations such as AfroTech and Lesbians Who Tech and introducing platforms to scale diverse hiring. Landrum is responsible for developing high-performing teams at Ro. She led the hiring of more than 400 employees in the past year. She worked with colleagues to launch Ro Mentors, an initiative in which local students of color are paired with Ro employees for support related to their professional, academic and personal development.
SYDNIE LIGGETT-DENNIS
KEVIN LILES
Executive director, A.I.M by Kyle Abraham
Chairman and CEO, 300 Entertainment and Elektra Music Group
Liggett-Dennis is adept at balancing artistic objectives with strategic and financial goals as executive director of A.I.M, a dance company that produces choreography informed by Black culture and history. Liggett-Dennis oversees all aspects of the organization, from leading the administrative team and forging relationships with external stakeholders to securing gifts from supporters and facilitating fiscally sound touring. She also works on communications, marketing, permit renewals, vendor contracts and staff policies. She recently arranged anti-racism education workshops for staff and board members, and she advocated for dancers to receive 52-week contracts with health benefits.
Even while growing the 300 Entertainment record label, Liles seeks to maintain its original entrepreneurial spirit. As its chief executive, he conceives new programs and cultivates relationships with artists. Intent on elevating the Black community, he arranged for company-wide training sessions on anti-racism, unconscious bias and professional allyship at the organization. His place in the music industry is wellestablished: His previous roles include president of Def Jam Records and executive vice president of the Warner Music Group. He created the Kevin Liles for a Better Baltimore Foundation, which aims to help young people in that city build ambition, character and self-esteem.
DR. LEWIS MARSHALL JR. Chief medical officer, NYC Health + Hospitals/ Lincoln Hospital
Joining Lincoln Hospital as chief medical officer in April 2020, Marshall hit the ground running. He led Lincoln’s Helping Healers Heal program, which is under the auspices of H+H, and he worked with colleagues to develop pandemic response plans. A lawyer as well as a doctor, he is responsible for quality management, fiscal improvements, risk management, patient satisfaction and clinical service delivery coordination. He served on a task force formed in 2020 to research the causes of the Black maternal mortality crisis and to develop innovative solutions. Marshall is the founding president of the American Academy of Disaster Medicine.
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DEBRA MARTIN CHASE
DARREN MARTIN JR.
KERRY MAYBANK
HAZEL-ANN MAYERS
JAMES MCCLAMMY
Executive producer, Martin Chase Productions
CEO and president Streamlined Media & Communications and Bold Culture
Founder and CEO, Strategic Links
General counsel and corporate secretary Turnitin
Partner Davis Polk & Wardwell
Debra Martin Chase is the first Black female producer to have an overall deal with a major studio—in her case, Universal Television. As the executive producer of the eponymous Martin Chase Productions, she has produced multiple TV and film hits. Aside from being a pioneering female executive herself, she highlights strong, independent female leads such as those in Harriet and The Princess Diaries. Her work has garnered Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. She recently was named to Variety500, a list of leaders shaping the media industry, and was included among Ebony’s 150 Most Influential African Americans. She is on the board of the New York City Ballet, where she leads the diversity and inclusion committee.
Martin created the prototype for Streamlined Media & Communications while he was still in college. Now the chief executive, he is responsible for developing and executing the vision for the company and its subsidiary, Bold Culture. At Streamlined, a media and creative services agency, he oversees internal operations as well as client relationships. The client list has included the New York Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. At Bold Culture, a business management and consulting firm, Martin develops cultural insight reports and offers diversity, equity and inclusion consulting for corporate clients including GCI Health, IDEO and M Booth.
Maybank, chief executive of the Maybank Group, a business and systems engineering consulting firm, has the same title at Strategic Links, a consortium he created that supports New York City businesses and Black-owned concerns nationwide. Strategic Links, which is evolving into a business accelerator, has been providing networking and empowerment for Black executives and entrepreneurs for more than a decade. Maybank, who was once assigned to lead a top-secret weapons project for General Electric and the Navy, has served on the alumni board of directors of the National Society of Black Engineers.
Mayers manages contracts, business affairs, litigation, intellectual property, regulatory matters and corporate governance for education technology company Turnitin. Mayers, a first-generation American, says it is imperative to elevate the next generation of the Black community. Toward that end, she attempts to expose Black youth to a range of career possibilities by speaking to and mentoring students. She is on the advisory councils of the Foundation for the City College of New York and the Women in Law Empowerment Forum. She is a fellow at the American Bar Foundation, a nonprofit research institute.
McClammy, a partner in the civil litigation practice at Davis Polk, represents financial institutions, corporations, debtors and creditors in a range of matters including antitrust, securities, commodities, class-action lawsuits and bankruptcy-related litigation. He is representing Purdue Pharma in its bankruptcy, which has the largest claims pool of any such case in U.S. history. He is a member of his firm’s Black affinity group steering committee, which defines Davis Polk’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies in coordination with leadership. McClammy is on the advisory board of Legal Outreach, which prepares New York City students from underrepresented communities for higher education and professional careers.
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Congratulations to Vincent Dunn On his recognition as one of the Crain’s New York Business 2022 Notable Black Leaders Law around the world nortonrosefulbright.com
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NOTABLE 2022 LENARD “CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD” MCKELVEY Chief creative officer, Black Effect Podcast Network
McKelvey—better known as “Charlamagne tha God”—has built a notable media empire. The radio host and TV personality is a co-founder of Black Effect, a 51% Blackowned and 100% Black-staffed organization. As its chief creative officer, he is responsible for driving and overseeing development projects. He co-hosts The Breakfast Club, a daily radio show listened to by 4.5 million people, and hosts the God’s Honest Truth podcast. He created the Mental Wealth Alliance, which strives to achieve equity by highlighting issues of Black mental health.
CHERYL MCKISSACK DANIEL President and CEO, McKissack & McKissack
McKissack Daniel is the fifth-generation owner of her family’s century-old business: McKissack & McKissack, the oldest minority- and woman-owned design and construction firm in the country. Under her leadership, the firm is involved in some of New York’s biggest projects including the New Terminal One at Kennedy Airport and the renovation of Coney Island Hospital’s campus. Earlier in her career, she provided quality assurance and control for research projects at the U.S. Defense Department. She is on the boards of the New York Building Congress Foundation and the Women Builders Council.
ERIC MCLENDON
FELICIA MEANEY
MELVA MILLER
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President and CEO, Clear National Title
Head of human resources, Piermont Bank
CEO, Association for a Better New York
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McLendon oversees the provision of title services for some of the largest and most complex commercial real estate transactions in New York City, setting the strategy and leading business development at Clear National Title, an insurance agency. He has spurred technological advancement at Clear, along with improvements in marketing communications and customer service. As a Black executive in an industry with few minority professionals in high-profile roles, McLendon encourages people from underrepresented groups to pursue careers in title services and commercial real estate through his involvement in professional organizations such as the New York Real Estate Chamber.
Piermont, a women-led institution founded in 2019 by Wendy Cai-Lee, is on a mission to change the face of banking. To that end, its human resources chief implemented an inclusive hiring process that contributes to the diversity of the bank’s team. People of color make up half the staff. Meaney also develops Piermont’s talent strategies and initiatives. During the pandemic, she has played a crucial role in protecting the health and safety of employees while ensuring the bank’s business needs are met. In previous roles, at Scotiabank and architecture firm Gensler, she counseled leaders on aligning company policy and values, ensuring compliance and overseeing workforce planning.
Miller is entrusted with the overall success of the Association for a Better New York, a coalition of corporate, nonprofit, educational, health, cultural and government leaders that implements ideas to advance the city. Miller works on economic development, stakeholder engagement, strategic partnerships and membership expansion. She diversified ABNY’s board of directors and developed a plan to diversify the organization’s membership. In addition, she implemented a community-based arts campaign in communities of color to tell stories of pandemicera resilience. Miller created the Jamaica Now Action Plan, an agenda for increasing quality employment, economic diversity and financial security in the Queens neighborhood.
NEW YORK STATE IS HOME TO MORE THAN 11,300 BLACK-OWNED BUSINESSES, WHICH TOGETHER EMPLOY 72,000 PEOPLE —MONEYTALKSNEWS.COM
CAROL MOODY
STEVE MYRTHIL
MICHELLE NICHOLAS
CYRILLE NJIKENG
RIGAUD NOEL
President and CEO, Legal Momentum
Vice president of information technology, Westhab
Senior vice president, chief diversity officer and director of community development, PCSB Bank
Managing director, Oyate Group
Executive director, New Settlement
As the managing director of Oyate, a nonprofit that fights poverty in underserved communities, Njikeng oversees a field team that works on a host of initiatives including vaccination campaigns, food distribution and gun buyback programs. Njikeng doesn’t hesitate to get out there himself: He has conducted door-to-door outreach to battle vaccine hesitancy and dispel myths regarding inoculation. Njikeng recently produced a documentary telling the story of the pandemic in the Bronx through the lens of Oyate’s work. He founded the My Sister Cares Foundation, which distributes computers, toys and clothing to children in African orphanages.
Noel is the voice of New Settlement, an organization that strives to improve housing and community development in the Bronx. Noel builds and maintains relationships with stakeholders, including government officials, financial supporters and community partners, and he oversees an $8 million budget. Seeking to improve the wellness of Bronx families, he led efforts to reopen New Settlement’s state-of-the-art community center. He raised funds to expand the organization’s services, which help individuals retain their agency in matters of education, employment and housing. Noel is a board member of the New York State Network for Youth Success.
Focusing on the intersection of racial justice and gender equality, Moody tries to advance educational, economic and gender equality each day. As the chief executive of Legal Momentum, which fights for women’s legal rights, she oversees the strategic implementation of the nonprofit’s mission. Under Moody’s leadership, Legal Momentum created a resource for low-income women that informs them of their rights. It fields hundreds of phone calls annually, providing free legal guidance through the Syms Legal Momentum Gender Equality Helpline. Moody spearheads the Rights Now! program, which gives young women of color knowledge on issues related to gender-based violence and discrimination.
Myrthil is committed to closing the digital divide and making online learning accessible to all. At Westhab, a nonprofit that addresses the affordable housing crisis, he leads efforts to meet the technological needs of more than 10,000 residents of shelters and affordable housing. He is scaling infrastructure design solutions to give residents reliable broadband access, for example. Earlier in the pandemic, in a previous role at Excellence Community Schools, he led an educational technology strategy to support students through remote learning. Myrthil is a board member of the Ascenders, a group that provides collegeadvising support services to high school students.
Nicholas learned the importance of community development early, observing her parents’ dedication to their village in Guyana. She has put that principle into action at PCSB Bank. She is responsible for the bank’s diversity, equity and inclusion competencies and for engaging the bank’s host community—all while advancing its business objectives. As a board member of the bank’s foundation, Nicholas reviews grant proposals for initiatives intended to meet local needs. She was the first Black woman to be the executive director of Girls Inc. in Westchester County, a role in which she standardized DEI efforts.
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ALEX NOETHER
ROBERT OKPALA
DR. PHILIP OZUAH
TANYA POPE
DANYALE PRICE
Expert associate partner, Bain & Co.
Partner, Buro Happold
President and CEO, Montefiore Medicine
Noether delivers change programs for some of the world’s most pre-eminent companies. He designs diversity, equity and inclusion strategies and consults on social-impact matters. He is a leader in Bain’s pro bono consulting practice for nonprofits in the racial equity and social justice arena. He is co-champion of Black employee resource groups in Bain’s New York and Toronto offices. He launched OneTen, a coalition of 60 CEOs committed to hiring, training and promoting 1 million Black employees into roles that pay family-sustaining wages in the next decade. Noether spends several hours weekly mentoring Black colleagues at Bain.
Whether leading the team that delivered a sustainability plan for Battery Park City or working on the design team for Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business, Okpala engages with ambitious clients and top architects to integrate mechanical, electrical and plumbing solutions into built assets. At engineering firm Buro Happold, Okpala delivers sustainable commercial, public and higher education projects, often complete with smarttechnology frameworks. As a trustee of the Happold Foundation, he develops programs that elevate new thought leaders and the next generation of Black professionals in the field. Among the most influential Black professionals leading large-scale sustainability planning in New York City, Okpala is lauded for bringing out the best in diverse teams.
Ozuah, a teacher, researcher and author, leads Montefiore Medicine, the umbrella organization for Montefiore Health System and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Ozuah oversees 40,000 employees across 13 hospitals in the Bronx and Westchester County. He led a swift and nimble pandemic response across those institutions, working to provide positive health outcomes for communities stricken disproportionately by Covid-19. Ozuah, a Nigerian by birth, was instrumental in creating an office of leadership, engagement and diversity at Montefiore that develops initiatives to help minority and disadvantaged students thrive in the medical professions.
Assistant vice president of supplier diversity, Columbia University
Chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
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Under Pope’s direction, Columbia has paid more than $1.2 billion to minority-owned, woman-owned and locally owned business enterprises in the past decade. Pope oversees vendor sourcing, onboarding and performance reviewing at the university. In particular, she cultivates MWLBE contracting opportunities as a founding member of the Corporate Alliance Program, a publicprivate arrangement between New York City and partners such as Columbia. In 2017 Pope launched the CU Grow program at the university, a coaching initiative to help MWLBEs expand their contract portfolios. She co-hosts a radio show during which she shares information helpful to small businesses.
Price joined Paul, Weiss in 2006 as its first full-time diversity, equity and inclusion professional. Now as the law firm’s chief DEI officer, she is responsible for implementing efforts to ensure a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture. In addition, she is a DEI adviser for the firm’s growing environmental, social and governance practice. She recently launched a supplier diversity program, reimagining the vendor selection process to empower minority-owned businesses in New York. In recognition of her DEI contributions to the legal profession, Price was honored in 2020 by the Association of Black Women Attorneys with the Ruth Whitehead Whaley Professional Achievement Award.
We Congratulate Our Partner
Martin Bell for his Recognition as a Notable Black Leader N E W YOR K
BE I J I NG
B RU S S E L S
HONG KONG
HOUST ON
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LOS A NGEL ES
PA L O A LT O
S Ã O PAU L O
TOK YO
WA S H I N G T O N, D. C .
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NOTABLE 2022 DENNIS PRUDE
MICHAEL PUGH
JOVIA RADIX
DON RICE
BRIAN ROBINSON
Executive vice president of field operations, CNY Group
President and CEO, Carver Federal Savings Bank
Vice president of legislation, Kasirer
CEO, Rice Financial Products
While growing up in a predominantly minority community in Detroit, Pugh witnessed the importance of financial education and small-business development. Now, as Carver’s chief executive, he communicates to business leaders across the nation the importance of supporting economic empowerment in communities of color. He manages the overall equity of the bank and focuses on increasing access to capital and other financial services. With the Society for Financial Education and Professional Development, Carver amplifies financial education at three historically Black colleges. The bank provides free financial literacy training for minority- and woman-owned business enterprises.
At lobbying and government relations firm Kasirer, Radix advises clients on an array of legislative matters. She monitors and interprets City Council legislation and weighs in on legislative initiatives. She worked on the government relations team that helped pass the controversial New York Blood Center rezoning. Radix, vice president of the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association and the editor of its newsletter, has operated a free youth tutoring and mentoring program for five years in conjunction with the Barbados Ex-Police Association. During the pandemic, she has worked with the Caribbean American Lawyers Association to organize panels of local leaders to disseminate critical public health information.
Rice leads a firm with niche expertise in five areas: historically Black colleges and universities’ capital funding, municipal fixed income, institutional equity, corporate fixed income and infrastructure private equity. As chief executive, Rice is directly involved in the day-to-day management of each of those practice areas. In the firm’s most recent fiscal year, it underwrote municipal bond issues totaling more than $100 billion. When the pandemic struck, Rice oversaw the firm’s sudden transition to a virtual environment and the continued growth of the firm’s business lines. He served on the governing board for the city’s Administration for Children’s Services, which oversees Head Start programs.
Head of prime brokerage sales for the Americas, Goldman Sachs
Since its inception, construction and developmentservices firm CNY has prioritized inclusion, fostering diverse work environments and cultivating opportunities for all its people. Prude embodies that mission. He assists Black professionals by mentoring, lecturing in schools and providing employment opportunities. More generally, he supervises hiring, training and staff development; coordinates assignments; serves on the strategic executive team; participates in approving logistical plans; ensures quality control; and monitors the workforce. He has overseen major residential, commercial, hospitality and institutional projects in the metropolitan area.
Robinson leads a Goldman Sachs team that develops financing and prime services relationships with asset managers, hedge funds and family offices across the Americas. Robinson, a partner, is a senior sponsor for the Goldman Sachs Black Analyst and Associate Initiative. He mentors more than 30 Black professionals, both within the firm and without. Robinson is on the board of advisers for Launch With GS, Goldman’s $1 billion initiative to increase access to capital for diverse investors and entrepreneurs. He sits on the board of the Guggenheim Museum.
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WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY, THE LARGEST BLACK-OWNED BUSINESS IN AMERICA, HAS MORE THAN $11 BILLION IN ANNUAL REVENUE AND MORE THAN 5,000 EMPLOYEES —TIME.COM, BLACKENTERPRISE.COM
JERELYN RODRIGUEZ CEO, Knowledge House
The Knowledge House was founded in 2014 to close gaps in the education-to-employment pipeline by providing underserved young people in the Bronx with technology training, career support and a network of partners. Rodriguez, a Knowledge House co-founder, directs a team responsible for development, programming, communications and human resources while she serves as the organization’s representative. Rodriguez, an Aspen Institute Fellow, was named a Technology, Entertainment and Design 2020 Emerging Innovator. She was on former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s New York Workforce Recovery Strategy Group, and she sits on the New York City Employment and Training Coalition board.
DONALD RUFF JR.
DAVON RUSSELL
CEO and interim president, Eagle Academy Foundation
President, WHEDco
Ruff leads the organization in its mission to support all-male college-preparatory schools, grades 6 through 12, in challenged urban communities. He works with internal and external stakeholders, oversees a diverse staff and reports to the board of directors, all to improve the workforce readiness, financial literacy and social-emotional wellness of young men. In response to the pandemic, Ruff oversaw virtual post-secondary programming and facilitated the distribution of hundreds of learning devices. He has spoken at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Black Male Initiative Conference.
The Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corp. is a nonprofit with an ambitious mandate: build affordable and sustainable housing in a low-income urban area, provide afterschool enrichment for children, and support small businesses and cultural institutions such as the Bronx Music Heritage Center. Russell guides a staff of several hundred employees at WHEDco to achieve those goals for South Bronx residents. He expanded the reach of WHEDco’s afterschool programming, which formerly served 30 children and now serves 1,200. In addition, Russell developed a peer-topeer sex-education program for Bronx teens. He is board chair of the South Bronx Early College Academy Charter School, which he helped establish.
LARRY SCOTT BLACKMON Vice president of community affairs, FreshDirect; CEO, the Blackmon Organization
As a vice president at online grocery delivery service FreshDirect, Scott Blackmon is charged with expanding partnerships, cultivating new ones and serving as a company representative. His work builds on existing community partnerships at FreshDirect that work to fight hunger and improve nutritional education, among other endeavors. Scott Blackmon, who has two decades of experience in public service, community development and government, is also the chief executive of the Blackmon Organization, a public affairs and political consulting firm. Scott Blackmon, an administrative consultant for former Mayors Bill de Blasio and Michael Bloomberg, was named to City & State’s 2021 Most Powerful of the Bronx list. He sits on the boards of 100 Black Men and the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Education Center.
WENDELL SCOTT Senior vice president of sales, Disney
Scott oversees media and investment partnerships for the advertising holding companies WPP and Dentsu across Disney’s portfolio of streaming, digital and social properties. They include ABC News, Disney Channels Worldwide, ESPN Networks, Hulu and National Geographic. Working closely with agencies, Scott leverages Disney’s data, platforms and storytellers to drive growth in the brands’ businesses. He leads employee and career development as a member of Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion executive committee in the advertising sales department. Scott is on the New York City board of Pencils for Kids, which helps children in developing countries attend school.
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DR. BEVERLY SHEPPARD Chair of pediatrics, AdvantageCare Physicians
Sheppard oversees the care of more than 50,000 children in and near New York City. At AdvantageCare Physicians, a primary and specialty care practice, Sheppard manages more than 40 pediatricians. Recognizing that routine doctor’s visits fell to the wayside during the pandemic, especially in Black communities, she established direct outreach to families to encourage standard vaccinations and checkups. In response to misgivings toward medical establishments common in Black communities, she instituted staff cultural sensitivity training. Sheppard, who has more than 35 years of medical experience, has received several industry awards.
JAMES SIMMONS III CEO and managing partner, Asland Capital Partners
After a long real estate investment career, Simmons founded Asland in 2019. He now is responsible for the privateequity firm’s strategic direction and investment planning. The real estatefocused firm owns more than $1 billion in assets. It concentrates on urban revitalization and the preservation of workforce housing. Simmons is a board member of the Greater Jamaica Development Corp. and vice chairman of the Real Estate Executive Council. He mentors many first-generation college students, among others, and speaks frequently at universities, conferences and industry events.
PRISCILLA SIMS BROWN President and CEO, Amalgamated Bank
Amalgamated views itself as “America’s socially responsible bank.” Sims Brown tried to ensure that the bank fulfills its mission while increasing its market share and profits. To that end, she leads and encourages fellow employees to develop partnerships with progressive organizations and pursue sustainable financing. Of the bank’s 10 impact areas, she is most vocal on voting rights; racial equity; antiviolence and gun safety; and climate justice. Sims Brown partnered with Cirque du Soleil to help homeless students graduate, and she worked to finance a large public housing complex for those in need. She is on the board of directors of Project Mercy, a nonprofit in Ethiopia.
DAWN SMALLS
SHELLEY STEWART III
Partner, Jenner & Block
Partner and director of the McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility, McKinsey & Co.
With experience in law, government, politics and philanthropy, Smalls advises clients on complex legal, policy and regulatory matters. As a member of Jenner & Block’s management committee, she led a team last year that won two temporary restraining orders against the city in connection with the pandemic-related placement of homeless New Yorkers in hotels. In 2019 she co-led a team that achieved a historic $65.5 million settlement for a class of 90,000 au pairs. Smalls is on the boards of the Roosevelt Institute think tank and the nonprofit Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture.
As a partner in McKinsey’s marketing and private equity practices, Stewart works with businesses from a range of sectors on marketing and sales initiatives. Stewart also has a social impact: He is director of the McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility, a think tank devoted to advancing racial equity and inclusion. In that role, he publishes research, convenes with thought leaders and stakeholders, and translates insights into tools for fueling economic growth in Black communities. Stewart is on the board of the National Black MBA Association, which empowers young Black professionals to achieve their business potential.
IN FISCAL 2019–2020, MORE THAN 2,000 BLACK-OWNED FIRMS ACHIEVED MINORITY- OR WOMAN-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE CERTIFICATION IN NEW YORK STATE —ESD.NY.GOV
PATRICIA SWANN Program director for thriving communities, New York Community Trust
At public charity New York Community Trust, Swann has focused on grassroots organizations in Black communities, particularly when it comes to grants. She helps lead the Census Equity Fund and the GoVoteNYC Fund. The former worked to ensure that New Yorkers were fairly counted in the 2020 census, which improved the odds of Black New Yorkers receiving needed government services; the latter sought to reverse a downward trend in voter turnout. Swann was the founding executive director of the Manhattan Borough Development Corp. She is on the Brooklyn Workforce Innovations advisory board.
AISHA THOMAS-PETIT Chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, AMC Networks
At AMC Thomas-Petit works to ensure a diverse and inclusive environment in front of and behind the camera. As the brand’s first diversity, equity and inclusion officer, ThomasPetit develops and executes measures to achieve that goal across AMC’s workforce and portfolio of entertainment brands and streaming services. She oversaw the launch of an internal mentoring program, introduced DEI educational resources for staff and continued to work on pay-equity assessments. Thomas-Petit launched Can We Talk About This? The on-air, short talk-show series is a forum for conversations about classic films with content considered culturally insensitive today.
ALLISON BROOKE TOMLINSON Principal and regional legal counsel, Gensler
From creating foundational documents to advising on employment law issues, Tomlinson plays an important role in the Northeast offices of design and architecture firm Gensler. Tomlinson identifies and assesses risk by overseeing debt collection, contracts and negotiations, in addition to sustainability, compliance and ethics programs. She has been integral to negotiations involving complex multimillion-dollar master services agreements with clients in the financial services and health and wellness sectors. She is co-chair of Gensler’s global race and diversity committee, and she is involved in efforts focused on the recruitment and retention of Black professionals. Tomlinson was named to the 2021 National Black Lawyers Top 100 list.
VINCE TOYE
JESSICA WALKER
Head of agency and off-balance sheet lending, JPMorgan Chase
President and CEO, Manhattan Chamber of Commerce
Within his first year at JPMorgan, Toye launched a business line with expanded financing solutions. He leads a team that provides commercial real estate clients access to a suite of lending and credit solutions through government-sponsored enterprise partnerships. He has worked on lending that helped developers finance projects to revitalize affordable housing and community centers in predominantly Black neighborhoods such as BedfordStuyvesant and Morris Heights. He is a diversity, equity and inclusion lead for JPMorgan’s commercial real estate business and has spoken on related topics at industry events.
At the Chamber of Commerce, which represents and supports more than 100,000 businesses, Walker is responsible for managing operations, political advocacy, events and programming. She is the chamber’s chief spokesperson, often representing the business community before government entities and the news media. In response to the pandemic, she helped design and launch the Small Business Resource Network, which has provided free tools and technical assistance to 25,000 businesses across the city. Seeing the pandemic’s uneven impact on Black-owned businesses, Walker targeted the bulk of her organization’s outreach toward communities of color.
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NOTABLE 2022 TOMYA WATT
ANDRE WHITE
VALERIE WHITE
JACQUELINE WILLIAMS
KEITH WRIGHT
Chief diversity officer and vice president of talent acquisition, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
CEO and executive director, Phipps Neighborhoods
Executive director, Local Initiatives Support Corp. NYC
Partner, State & Broadway
Director of strategic planning, Davidoff Hutcher & Citron
By providing access to education and economic empowerment opportunities, White works to help Black people ascend. He directs Phipps Neighborhoods, a nonprofit that helps families in low-income areas rise above poverty. White, who has nearly two decades of public service experience, is expanding the organization’s job training programs while creating initiatives to bridge the digital divide in the communities Phipps serves. He has guided the organization through the turmoil of the pandemic and has expanded its community support programs in response. White is a board member of JobsFirstNYC.
White has focused her team on helping minority-owned small businesses weather the pandemic while working to close the racial wealth gap in the city. That fits within her broader LISC mandate: advancing a platform of racial and economic equity and securing affordable housing, economic and workforce development and health equity in underserved communities. White initiated a public-private partnership to increase opportunities for minority- and woman-owned development firms to bid on and secure public contracts. In her previous position, at the Empire State Development Corp., she was the executive vice president of the Division of Minority and Women’s Business Development.
Williams fights to improve the quality of life for low- and middle-income workers. She is the principal lobbyist at State & Broadway, a New York firm that specializes in providing political, legislative and communi cations consulting services to clients across a number of industries. Among Williams’ most notable accomplishments is the passage of Human Rights Law Intro 339-A, which extended fundamental employment protections to domestic workers in the city. She was previously a lobbyist at law firm Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein and a senior staff member in the state Assembly. Williams has been a member of the state’s MBWE team.
Wright counsels businesses, nonprofits and housing entities on ways to achieve their long-term goals. As part of the firm’s efforts to establish a cannabis practice, Wright recently offered guidance to those interested in entering the state’s burgeoning market. He was a New York assemblyman for more than two decades, during which he chaired the Black, Puerto Rican and Hispanic Legislative Caucus and sponsored efforts aimed at bolstering civil rights and assisting businesses owned by women and minorities. He is chairman of the board for the Addicts Rehabilitation Center in Harlem.
Watt endeavors to ensure that the workforce at Memorial Sloan Kettering reflects the patient population it serves. As vice president of talent acquisition and mobility, she oversees recruitment for thousands of hirings. After she became acquainted with the work culture, a diversity, equity and inclusion learning program—under the aegis of Watt’s office—was mandated for all staff. Watt also was behind an internal mobility function at the cancer center that’s designed to provide career opportunities for people of color. Under her direction, the institution has partnered with OneTen and other workforce diversity development programs. Watt is on the board of the Children’s Law Center.
Congratulations, Michelle, on being recognized as a Notable Black Leader by Crain’s NY Business!
How do you motivate
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Michelle A. Nicholas SVP | Chief Diversity Officer & Director of Community Development
“In my role at PCSB Bank I’m engaging with staff, customers and the communities we serve. I’m listening and learning so much about people with different needs and cultures, with the goal of making real changes that benefit everyone.”
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The Incredibly Neighborly Commercial Bank
SERVING THE LOWER HUDSON VALLEY SINCE 1871 • 914-248-7272 • PCSB.com • Member FDIC 30 | CRAIN’S NEW YORK BUSINESS | February 21, 2022
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