2023 IMPACT AWARD GALA HONOREES
Martin Joseph
President & CEO of New York Heart Institute & Health Vision Partners
The Opportunity Impact Award
Over 30 years of experience in Hospital Operations,Healthcare Delivery and Healthcare Banking and Pharmaceutical and Public Safety. Mount Sinai , Northwell, New York Heart Institute , Merrill Lynch and Vice President of Citigroup Global Markets New York (Healthcare), and 14 years as President/CEO of Health Vision Partners LLC and New York Heart Institute.
A Global Health Care Advisory & Operations, Hospital Network Management
& Business Development company in New York . Providing service in
US, Asia, Middle East, South America and Africa. With affiliations with
some of world’s best hospitals, Board certified doctors and teaching
institution in US. Health Vision Partners brings the best to its Global
partners in Clinical, Research, AI, Block chain, Centers of Clinical Excellence,
Population Health Management, Evidence based medicine and Education in
Health Care. HVP also provide Proprietary business development strategy
and healthcare innovation for its clients locally and worldwide.
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Flora Montes
Flora Montes, President & CEO of Bronx Fashion Week
The Promise Impact Award
Bronx Fashion Week hosts some of New York City's leading fashion events by encouraging and empowering diversity and inclusivity in fashion. Since our inception, we have cultivated the success of established and emerging designers and models. Bronx native Flora Montes is the Founder and CEO of Bronx Fashion Week. After losing her daughter, Flora felt compelled to work with several organizations to give back to her community. The former Chef began to expand her venture born of her love of poetry, writing, and various philanthropy efforts. Flora became fiercely passionate about the Fashion Industry after attending Latin Fashion Week in 2012. She has made it her mission to connect with industry leaders and create some of the year's most anticipated fashion events. And she's been fulfilling that mission in the Bronx for almost ten years. Flora's generosity and vibrant spirit have garnered her many awards and commendations. Her accomplishments include being named one of the 25 Most Influential Women in N.Y.C. by the Bronx Times, and The NY Times hailed her as a Bronx Ambassador of Culture. She has received numerous awards and recognition from local and city government officials for leading Bronx Fashion Week. In the past year, Schneps Media named her a "Power Woman of the Bronx" for 2022
Yudelka Tapia
86th District Assembly Member
The Equity Impact Award
Yudelka Tapia is serving her first term in the New York State Assembly representing the 86th Assembly District, which consists of the neighborhoods of University Heights, Morris Heights, Mount Eden, Kingsbridge, Tremont and Fordham in the Bronx.
Yudelka was born in the Dominican Republic and attended O&M University in Santo Domingo, where she organized her fellow students against domestic violence and political corruption and served as President of the Unión Democrática de Mujeres, a national organization that organized and educated women. She later obtained a Master of Science in Urban Policy and Leadership from Hunter College.
Since immigrating to the West Bronx over 30 years ago, Yudelka has made the community her home, raising her four sons there and sending them to New York City public schools. For 23 years, she has worked as a Senior Auditor for the New York City Comptroller’s Office.
Yudelka has been deeply involved in her community, serving as PTA President at Roosevelt High School and as an Executive Committee member for the local 1407-DC 37 union. She has spent years fighting to make her community better for working families like hers.
Farah Louis
45th District Council Member
The Equity Impact Award
Farah N. Louis is a first-generation Brooklynite who was raised in an immigrant and pro-union household — an experience that later propelled her into advocacy, community organizing, and ultimately a career in public service.After nearly six years of service as a staffer, Louis ran in the special election to fill the 45th Council District seat after it was vacated by former Council Member Jumaane D. Williams. She won the election with 42 percent of the votes following six contentious weeks of campaigning.In 2019, Council Member Louis became the first woman to represent the 45th District which comprises Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood, Marine Park, Flatlands, and Kensington in Brooklyn, NY.During her first term in office, Council Member Louis rolled out an ambitious agenda and spearheaded critical legislation to protect survivors of domestic violence; close the food insecurity gap; expand access to nonprofit services, education, reproductive rights, and healthcare.
She was re-elected in 2021 for a second term in office. Louis is a member of the committees on Cultural Affairs, Libraries, and International Intergroup Relations; Education; Finance; Land Use; Transportation and Infrastructure; and Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises. In January 2022, she was appointed as Chair of the Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Sitings, and Maritime Uses. One month later, she was re-elected as Co-Chair of the Women’s Caucus and then elected as Co-Chair of the Brooklyn Delegation. Council Member Louis is also a member of the Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus as well as the Progressive Caucus.
Prior to joining the City Council, Louis worked as an administrator in healthcare at Mount Sinai Hospital and was an active 1199 member for eight years. Louis was also a seasoned publicist with fifteen years of experience and a journalist with several media outlets. In 2012, she founded Girls Leading Up (GLU), an organization seeking to transform girls and young women into emerging leaders through mentoring and hands-on experience. Her dedication to youth and women’s empowerment stems from life-changing experiences that she has used to enact positive change.
As a staunch believer in civic engagement, Louis has worked closely with elected officials, city agencies, nonprofit organizations, and small businesses to bridge the opportunity gap through education. Her parents emigrated from Haiti to Brooklyn where they overcame language barriers, discrimination, and other challenges while rebuilding their lives in Brooklyn as a middle-class family. Louis’ mother was a long-time healthcare professional and 1199 member while her father worked as a law enforcement professional and later a yellow cab driver. Their experience, determination, and service to the community would serve as a foundation for Louis’ work in social justice, immigrants’ and workers’ rights, gender equity, and women’s empowerment.
Council Member Louis is a proud graduate of the New York City public school system as an alumna of Midwood High School, located in the heart of Flatbush. She holds a master’s degree in Public Administration with a concentration in Strategic Communications from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Long Island University.
Pierina Sanchez
14th District Council Member
The Equity Impact Award
Pierina Sanchez represents the 14th Council District, which includes the resilient neighborhoods of Kingsbridge, Fordham, University Heights, Mount Eden and Mount Hope. Pierina is an Afro-Dominicana, daughter of immigrants, and born and raised in the Bronx, where her family strove to make a life for her and her brothers. She learned the value of hard work early – watching her elders sell oranges, drive taxis, clean buildings and schools – to ensure she and her generation had a chance at higher education and opportunity.
Pierina is a proud alumna of Bronx public schools P.S. 46 and M.S. 45, and the Academy of Mount Saint Ursula. She values public youth programs because the Bronx Community College Upward Bound program helped her excel. She went on to graduate from Harvard University on a full scholarship, and earn a Master in Public Affairs degree from Princeton University.From the community board to the White House, and from work in advocacy organizations to the mayor’s office – Pierina has been a fighter for immigrant families, racial justice, affordable housing, good jobs and meaningful investments in our children, families and seniors.
Pierina began her career in public service in the summer of 2007, and it propelled her into a career in public policy and urban planning. She advocated to expand early education programs at Agenda for Children Tomorrow, and helped immigrant families stabilize their status in the US. Immediately after graduating college, Pierina came back home to work in Council District 14 office, supporting thousands of her neighbors with their concerns, including organizing buildings to fight landlords for repairs. She helped to secure millions of dollars in City funding for nonprofits and schools in the community, including the funds to construct the Harrison Circle location of the Morris Heights Health Center.
Pierina served in the Obama White House and after her master’s program, as an urban planner at Regional Plan Association. At RPA, Pierina was committed to the mission that any plan for the New York region must be built on a foundation of equity and social justice. She partnered with frontline community organizations to include thousands of low- to moderate- income voices from immigrants and communities of color and shape the critical planning process. During this time, Pierina was also a member of Bronx Community Board 5, where she fought for deep affordable housing and meaningful investments during the Jerome rezoning process, and later cofounded the Jerome Avenue Revitalization Collaborative.Most recently, Pierina was an advisor in the mayor’s office, where she advocated for progressive housing, economic development and land use policies, and resources for NYCHA. When COVID-19 struck, Pierina’s work pivoted to the City’s response and she focused on bridging gaps in service to the hardest hit low-income and communities of color. Alongside colleagues, she pushed to add testing sites, distribute protective equipment, and ensure the meal delivery system was reaching every New Yorker in need. Pierina also developed an action plan to protect our neighbors in NYCHA. After the mayor’s office, Pierina was a Senior Fellow at the Pratt Center for Community Development and worked within Bronx mutual aid networks to distribute thousands of meals within the community.