2021 QCP Annual Gala

Queens Centers for Progress

2021 Annual Gala 2021 BUSINESSMAN OF THE YEAR DAVID MICHAELS SENIOR RELATIONSHIP MANAGER WELLS FARGO BANK

WALTER ZACHARIUS HUMANITARIAN AWARD RECIPIENT DENNIS JOHNSON, ESQ.

Featuring the Musical Stylings of:

Terrace on The Park 52-11 111th Street Corona, NY 11368

PROGRAM Words of Welcome Terri Ross QCP, Executive Director Sounds of the 60’s with The Rockinghams Remembering Walter Zacharius Suzanne Zacharius 2021 Walter Zacharius Humanitarian Award Dennis Johnson, Esq.

2021 Businessman of the Year David Michaels Senior Relationship Manager Wells Fargo Bank RECOGNITION OF SPONSORS

A Very Special Thank You to QCP’s Gala Chairman

Franz Gritsch Thank you for your leadership and active involvement with Queens Centers for Progress.

With Sincere Appreciation, The QCP Board of Directors, staff and people we serve.

T H A N K Y O U

Gala Chairman

Franz Gritsch Member, QCP Board of Directors

Gala Committee

Hon. George E. Berger - George Berger and Gerald J. Caliendo, Gerald J. Caliendo Architects, Raymond Chan, R.A. - Raymond Chan Architects, Anthony Cosentino, - Former Chief Engineer, Pat Coulaz - Member, QCP Board of Raymond Irrera, Raymond Irrera & James Kilkenny - Member, QCP Board of Hon. Natalie Rogers - Member, QCP Board of Hon. Tarek Zeid, - Member, QCP Board of QCP Board President - Margaret MacPherson Executive Director - Terri Director of Development - Wendy

QUEENS CENTERS FOR PROGRESS BOARD OF DIRECTORS Executive Director Terri Ross

Secretary Patricia Coulaz

President Margaret MacPherson

Treasurer Thomas N. Toscano, Esq.

Vice Presidents Joseph A. Cristiano Hon. David Elliot Hon. Tarek M. Zeid

Board of Directors Gerald J. Caliendo Raymond Chan Anthony S. Cosentino Franz Gritsch Hon. Raymond J. Irrera Hon. James Kilkenny Nancy Vargas

Active Past Presidents Hon. George E. Berger John J. Governale Michael J. Macaluso Hon. Natalie Rogers Jack M. Weinstein

Director of Development Wendy Phaff Gennaro

Queens Centers for Progress Would like to thank this year’s honorees

David Michaels Dennis Johnson, Esq. For their commitment, support and leadership of this year’s Annual Gala.

Congratulations and Thank You, David and Dennis!

A MESSAGE FROM QCP BOARD PRESIDENT Margaret MacPherson It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the 2021 Fall Gala and thank you for your generous support.

For the past two years I have had the honor to be President of Queens Centers for Progress (QCP). I am forever touched by the professionalism and affection shown by the QCP staff for those who we serve and each other. People employed by QCP do what they do every day out of a sense of care and concern for others and are very special people.

For over seventy years, Queens Centers for Progress has taken a leading role in helping people with developmental disabilities achieve their full potential. QCP helps families deal with the difficult challenges they face in their lives each day with skill, compassion, and love. I know, because my brother, Thomas, attended QCP’s day programs and lived in their residence for forty years.

The Annual Gala is a major fund-raiser for QCP. It is through the generous support and involvement of the Queens Community that QCP can continue their mission of helping individuals with disabilities live their best lives.

I extend my sincere thanks to the wonderful Board of Directors that I have the pleasure to work with and thank them for supporting me as their President. They have helped make this another good year for the agency and the people we serve.

This year, it is our pleasure to honor and to applaud the work of David Michaels, Senior Vice President/ Senior Relationship Manager, Wells Fargo Bank as the 2021 Businessman of the Year, and Dennis Johnson, Esq., recipient of the first ever Walter Zacharius Humanitarian Award. Both gentlemen exemplify the good in our communities through their selfless giving.

Please accept my personal gratitude for your presence, generosity, and willingness to help those who benefit from your participation this evening.

President QCP Board of Directors

Queens Centers for Progress would like to thank the Estate of

Walter Zacharius For their generous contribution and continued support to our life-enriching and life-sustaining programs for adults and children with intellectual and developmental disabilities - QCP Staff

Walter Zacharius (October 16, 1923 - March 2, 2011)

Former QCP Board President 1987-1989 Walter Zacharius was the founder and CEO of a major publishing company, an author, an art collector, a jazz musician, a philanthropist and a boyhood friend of Daniel Wieder, United Cerebral Palsy of Queens’s Executive Director from the mid-1960s until his untimely death in 1987. Walter joined United Cerebral Palsy of Queens Board of Directors in 1985 and was Board President from 1987-1989.

Walter and Dan grew up in the Borough Park-Midwood neighborhoods of Brooklyn. After high school Walter enlisted in the Army and served in Europe with Dan Wieder. Walter was a participant in D-Day and at age 19 was with the French when they liberated Paris at the end of the war.

In 1974, he founded Kensington Publishing, which remains one of the largest independent publishers in the business, with his son, Steven, as current President and CEO. Kensington started out by publishing historical romance novels and later added a division devoted to promoting African American authors. Walter also created Kensington Media, a film production company that was located in California.

Walter and Dan remained friends and Dan persuaded Walter to the join United Cerebral Palsy of Queens Board, where his business acumen was highly valued, as was his commitment to the agency’s mission. When Dan Wieder passed away in 1987, Walter provided a strong presence as Board President in the agency’s transition to a new Executive Director.

Walter always wanted to be a writer, and in 2004 his novel “Songbird/The Memories We Keep” was published. The book was the novelization of the experiences of a Polish woman he met in Paris who was a valiant fighter against the Nazis.

Walter’s philanthropic activities included the establishment of a publishing scholarship at NYU, founding college scholarships for minority children from Harlem, and working with RBI Harlem, which started out as two baseball fields, but has since become an organization dedicated to empowering and educating children in Harlem through teamwork, education and opportunities for growth.

The naming of the Humanitarian Award at tonight’s event could not be more appropriate.

Walter was a true friend and benefactor of Queens Centers for Progress. We are pleased to recognize his contributions and perpetuate his memory.

CONGRATULATIONS To our Walter Zacharius Humanitarian Award Recipient

DENNIS JOHNSON, ESQ. For going above and beyond the call of your profession for Queens Centers for Progress.

We are eternally grateful for all that you do for us.

- QCP Staff

Walter Zacharius Humanitarian Award Recipient Dennis Johnson, Esq.

Dennis Johnson, Esq., who practices law in both New York and Massachusetts, is a solo practitioner with a general practice focusing on civil matters. Since 2016, he has served as a Town Justice for the Town of North East in Dutchess County, his hometown, overseeing pre-trial felony proceedings, misdemeanors, orders of protection, traffic violations, summary proceedings, small claims and an occasional wedding.

David J. Baron, Esq., a long-time supporter of Queens Centers for Progress (QCP), introduced Dennis to the organization prior to his untimely death in 2016. Since then, Dennis has honored David’s legacy by representing QCP in numerous matters including real estate transactions, regulatory investigations, guardianship proceedings, business contract negotiations, and insurance matters, all on a pro bono basis.

Though Dennis’ generous contribution of his time and his sharp legal mind, he has helped QCP fulfill our mission and has seen us through difficult dealings on behalf of the people whom we support. This long lasting relationship built on trust, admiration and gratitude is the real benefit of his benevolence but it does not stop there – recently when Dennis provided legal services for a client, rather than receiving payment, he asked his client to donate his fees to QCP. Dennis has been married to his indispensable wife, Katherine, for the past twenty-four years. In his “spare” time, together with his 85-year-old friend, Julian Strauss, DVM, Dennis spends time operating an ever-growing commercial maple syrup farm, which now has over 1,100 trees.

It is our honor to present Dennis Johnson with the newly created “Walter Zacharius Humanitarian Award.” Dennis exemplifies the spirit of giving and, and like the namesake of the award, he too, has devoted his time and energy into ensuring QCP’s best interest.

2021 Businessman of the Year David Michaels Senior Relationship Manager Wells Fargo Bank

David Michaels, Senior Vice President of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. in the New York City Regional Commercial Banking Office specializes in providing commercial and investment banking products to Mid-Corporate clients with annual revenues generally between $50 million and $5 billion in diverse industries located throughout New York City. David was a founding Senior Relationship Manager for Wachovia Bank’s NYC Commercial Banking Group in 2003 responsible for business development and managing acquired client relationships. David joined Wells Fargo Bank as Senior Relationship Manager upon merger with Wachovia Bank in 2008.

Prior to spearheading the New York City Commercial Banking effort for Wachovia Bank, David was a Corporate Finance Specialist at JPMorgan Chase where he was directly responsible for idea generation, pitch, and sale of investment banking products for a diverse portfolio of Mid-Corporate client and prospective client relationships. Major clients were located nationwide in the consumer products, apparel, footwear, home furnishings and specialty retail industries.

David was previously the Regional Credit Deputy and Senior Credit Officer for the Empire State Region of combined Middle Market Banking Regions of Chemical Bank and Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company, post-merger, from 1992 until 1994. David was principally responsible for monitoring and credit approval of a diverse portfolio of commercial loans and restructuring/reorganization of classified problem loans covered by the Region. Prior to the merger, David was a founding member of the Middle Market Investment Banking team formed in 1987 specializing in Leveraged Finance for acquisitions, leveraged buyouts and recapitalizations of Middle Market companies at Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company.

David started his banking career in Chemical Bank’s Credit Management Training Program after graduating from Cornell University’s Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management in 1980. David is a hands-on contributor to the greater New York City community through his board work with Cornell University Hillel Foundation, Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance, Scarsdale Youth Soccer Club and Westchester Reform Temple. David enjoys golf, skiing and worldwide travel. David and his wife, Nancy, reside in Scarsdale, New York and are the proud parents of Debra, B.J. (and his wife, Sara) and Emily.

Congratulations David!

Your leadership in the business community and commitment to QCP and the IDD Community are an inspiration!

Rikki & Barry Kaplan

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