Brooklyn Assembyman Nick Perry recently honored 11 outstanding community figures at his 25th Anniversary Award Gala at Paradise Catering Hall on Avenue U in Brooklyn.
The Rev. Terrence Melvin and Wanda Williams received the Distinguished Labor Leader Awards; Mark E. Tony received the Champion of Quality Healthcare Award; Robert Mohamed received the Legend of Broadcasting Award; Leroy Morrison received the Outstanding Entrepreneurial Leadership Award; and Dr. Agatha A. Anosike and Jaleese Dickson-Montilus received the Outstanding Entrepreneurial Leadership Award.
Sylvia Fairclough-Leslie received the Outstanding Educator Award; Collette Halliman received the Leadership in Early Childhood Education Award; and Hazra Ali and Roy McKenzie received the Outstanding Community Service Awards.
“I thank everyone who joined me tonight for helping honor these worthy individuals for their personal achievement and for their eagerness to share their success by meaningful involvement in their community in substantial ways that help make our city, state and nation and surely our world a better place,” the Jamaican-born Perry, who represents the 58th Assembly District in Brooklyn, told patrons.
He later told Caribbean Life that “the hard working, dedicated members of my committee, Friends of Nick Perry, did a wonderful job of organizing this year’s awards dinner dance.
“But all our efforts and planning would have been in vain without the over 350 individuals who shared their evening with us, and the distinguished group of honorees who we celebrated and recognized,” he added.
Rev. Terrence L. Melvin holds the second highest office in the New York State labor movement – Secretary-Treasurer of the 2.5 million members, New York State AFL-CIO. In July 2007, Melvin was elected to this position. In August 2008, he was re-elected to a four-year term.
In May 2012, at the 41st International Convention of the CBTU, Melvin was elected unanimously as the organization’s new president, succeeding William (Bill) Lucy, who had held the position since he co-founded CBTU in 1972. CBTU, which is dedicated to addressing the unique concerns of black workers and their communities, has 50 chapters in major US cities and one in Ontario, Canada.
Among his various labor and community roles, Melvin is a man of devout faith and spiritual belief. He is an ordained Baptist Minister. He serves as Associate Minister and Assistant to the Pastor at Second Baptist Church, Lackawanna, New York.
Wanda Williams is currently the Director of Legislation for District Council 37 (DC 37). Previously, Williams served as the Director of Political Action and Legislation (PAL) Department of District Council 37 of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME) AFL-CIO, New York City’s largest public sector municipal labor union, representing 125,000 members and 50,000 retirees.
Before joining District Council 37, she was a consultant for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Washington, D.C. and Beirut, Lebanon.
Mark E. Toney is recognized nationally as an accomplished leader in serving as senior management for organizations, both publicly traded and privately-held, that are underperforming, in distress, reorganizing, or preparing for or currently in bankruptcy.
He is also recognized for his balanced, independent, and creative thinking in difficult and complex situations. He has served in a number of roles as senior management, including that of the chief executive officer, chief restructuring officer, and chief financial officer.
Robert Mohamed – If it can be done in radio, legendary New York broadcaster Robert Mohamed has probably done it. Broadcast engineer and consultant, On Air personality, disc jockey, talk show host, voiceover artist, hearing aid inventor, an accomplished singer and recording artiste, and now the chief executive officer, owner and founder of WICR-AM 1620, the Indo-Caribbean Radio Network.
Leroy Morrison, a native of Jamaica, has been an activist and entrepreneur within New York’s dynamic transportation community for over three decades.
Morrison is the owner and chief executive officer of Pebbles Transportation and Alexis Van Lines, Inc, two New York City’s oldest and most reliable commuter van services.
Dr. Agatha A. Anosike is currently director of Nursing Education, Research, and Performance Improvement at the NYC H+H/Kings County Medical Center, as well as serve as adjunct professor at CUNY.
She has held multiple administrative, education, performance improvement positions in many healthcare facilities. Her areas of clinical experience include medical-surgical, critical care, emergency care and ambulatory care. Dr. Anosike is a Family Nurse Practitioner experienced in pediatric and adult ambulatory care centers.
Jaleesa Dickson Montilus, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, found her purpose through life experiences. Jaleesa graduated from Stony Brook University with a BA in Healthcare Management and Administration and a Masters of Social Work Degree. She has since received specialized training in the area of addiction and co-occurring disorders.
Montilus is a licensed social worker who is passionate in the development and empowerment of young adults.
Sylvia Fairclough-Leslie is the principal of PS 268 in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. She began her career of service in education in Queens and shortly after relocated to the Bronx. But it was in Brooklyn where she flourished at PS 268.
During her career at PS 268, she was elected by her peers as UFT Chapter Leader for three years serving the interests of her fellow teachers. But her differing vital roles within the school appear to be endless and marked her as one of the most influential members of PS 268’s faculty throughout her tenure.
Collette Halliman is a Brooklyn-bred success story. Born in Jamaica, she migrated to New York with her stepmother and father. After the death of her father in 1998, she reunited with her mother and shortly moved to Atlanta in 2000. Halliman had to assume a great deal of responsibility within her family at an early age. Her teenage years were spent in Brownsville, where she lived and went to school.
Fulfilling one of her goals, Halliman is now responsible for staffing over 130 people at Inner Force and is currently leading an expansion program. She is actively involved with hundreds of parents and children who turn to her as the person at the right hand of the chief executive officer.
Hazra Ali, a Trinidadian American, founded her own small business, New Hope and Beyond Inc, in 2003 which is a real estate investment company that deals primarily with foreclosure properties in Brooklyn and Queens.
She is a graduate of UWI St Augustine and is a licensed pharmacist and practiced for several years in Trinidad and Tobago before migrating to New York.
Roy McKenzie was born in Aruba where he lived for the first nine years of his life. Soon after, his parents relocated back to Carriacou with the family.
McKenzie, being a competent and tenacious individual, proudly holds the position of president with the East 59th Street Block Association, where he resides, GRENCAP United Inc. (the umbrella for organizations from Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique) and The Big Apple Social Club, which has been in existence for over 40 years.
