Opportunitas in Action Award

The Opportunitas in Action Award, bestowed by the president of Pace University, recognizes a leader who has made innovative, positive contributions to the community in the spirit of Pace’s motto, Opportunitas

Aldrin Enis

President, One Hundred Black Men of New York

Aldrin Enis is dedicated to making a difference.

He is president of One Hundred Black Men of New York, a group created by prominent community leaders in 1963 with the mission of achieving meaningful gains for the Black community in New York City. It is the founding chapter of what is now a national community-based mentoring group, One Hundred Black Men of America.

For nearly a decade, Pace University has partnered with One Hundred Black Men of New York to host an annual cohort of the group’s Junior One Hundred Legacy Program, which provides mentorship and fosters leadership and collaboration skills among BIPOC young men from New York City high schools while exposing them to postsecondary educational opportunities, financial literacy, and both traditional and nontraditional career paths.

Elected the group’s 11th president at the end of 2020, Enis confronted the unique challenges of leading it through COVID-19, and he ensured that its partnership with Pace continued despite the pandemic. The Junior One Hundred Program lived on virtually for two years, and in 2023 returned in person. Fully committed to Pace’s longstanding mission of Opportunitas, Enis speaks regularly of the importance of expanding opportunities for BIPOC youth and of the power of higher education.

As OHBM’s president, Enis is prioritizing expanding the group’s youth and adolescent programs while heightening awareness of mental health needs and resources for young people. He has encouraged the OHBM staff working on the Junior One Hundred Legacy program to further engage with Pace and to take an intentional approach in planning the program’s content. He is eager to see the program expand further and serve even more young people.

Enis holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics from the State University of New York at Albany and a Master of Business Administration from Seton Hall University. He exemplifies the ideals of Opportunitas, and we are very pleased to present him with Pace University’s 2023 Opportunitas in Action Award.