JUNE 18, 2024
NIGHT
CELEBRATION
YOUTHBRIDGE-NY
OF
Hub
Mastercard Tech
The Mount Sinai Health System
Brendan G. Carr, MD, MA, MS
Chief Executive Officer
Margaret Pastuszko, MBA
President and Chief Operating Officer
Congratulate the YOUTHBRIDGE-NY 2024 HONOREES and
GRADUATING
BRIDGERS
YouthBridge-NY is a nonprofit leadership development organization that convenes and trains young people to meet the challenges of an increasingly diverse New York City. Since 1997, YouthBridge-NY youth leaders have been proactively involved in enhancing the leadership and diversity landscape of our city and are dedicated to improving the quality of life for all.
The YouthBridge-NY Fellowship is a two-year program for high school juniors and seniors. First-year Fellows participate in monthly skill-building workshops and specialized social action committees focused on either healthcare inequality, criminal justice reform, or food justice. After a year of acquiring important leadership skills and experiencing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, secondyear Bridgers are given the opportunity to further enhance and hone these skills. Bridgers meet monthly to learn about community organizing, advocacy, and opportunities in college.
Fellows and Bridgers also participate in an orientation summer retreat, special meetings with corporate and city leaders, build friendships with peers from all five boroughs, and much more!
Event Program
Welcome to the celebration! Grab some appetizers and a refreshing drink before the official ceremony begins.
YouthBridge-NY Fellowship Graduation Class of 2024
Opening Remarks Fellows Remarks
Healthcare Disparities Committee
Criminal Justice Reform Committee
Food Justice Committee
Each Committee awards a mini-grant to a non-profit Bridger Remarks
Award Ceremony for our Distinguished Honorees
Councilmember Julie Menin with the Community Leader Award
Henry Garrido with the Diversity and Inclusion Award
Santiago Mueckay with the Distinguished Alum Award
Hosted and Sponsored by:
YouthBridge-NY is managed by the Center for Shared Society at the Jewish Community Relations Council of NY, a proud partner of UJA-Federation of NY.
Councilmember Julie Menin
Community Leader Award
Council Member Julie Menin represents District 5, which is the East Side and Roosevelt Island. During her first term in office, she was able to pass 13 bills--including a historic law on creating an Office of Healthcare Accountability and bringing New York closer to universal childcare. She is currently the Chair of the Committee on Consumer & Worker Protection and co-chair of the New York City Council's Women's Caucus. She previously worked as the City's Census Director and achieved a historic result where New York City finished first among all major cities. She is also the former Commissioner for the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection as well as the Commissioner of the Office of Media and Entertainment.
Council Member Menin created a new city initiative to seed over 13,000 kindergartners with a college savings account with NYC Kids RISE and chaired the board of New York City Kids RISE, a not-for-profit organization she helped to create charged with implementing this program which has now been adopted citywide. Before becoming a Commissioner, she served as a seven-year Chair of Manhattan Community Board 1 and is widely credited with helping to lead Lower Manhattan’s resurgence after 9/11.
Henry Garrido
Diversity and Inclusion Award
Henry A. Garrido is the executive director of District Council 37, New York City’s largest municipal employee union. He was elected to a third term in January 2022. Since becoming executive director in 2014, Garrido has focused on encouraging greater member participation. Garrido initiated the DC 37 Union Strong organizing campaign that helped boost DC 37 membership to 150,000. The campaign continues to broaden membership outreach and services through one-on-one conversations with members. More than 95 percent of DC 37 locals have 100 percent member participation. Garrido previously served as the union’s associate director. In that position, he helped establish the Municipal Employees Housing Program, which coordinates grants for first-time homebuyers and provides foreclosure prevention services, financial education and counseling. He also directed the union’s white paper project that addressed government waste by investigating the privatization of City services and identifying additional revenue sources. Garrido also was involved in an initiative on sustainability and green jobs in New York State. Garrido is an international vice president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), co-chair of the Municipal Labor Committee, a trustee on the City of New York’s Workforce Investment Board, an advisory board member of the New York City Independent Budget Office, and serves on the board of the New York City Employees Retirement System (NYCERS). A native of the Dominican Republic, he is the first Latino to head DC 37 since it was formed in 1944.
Santiago Mueckay
Distinguished Alum Award
Santiago's commitment to human rights and social justice stems from his personal experience as a former undocumented immigrant and DACA recipient and from seeing his grandfather, a successful human rights lawyer in Ecuador, defend the rights of those who could not defend themselves.
Santiago currently serves as the Advocacy Manager for the Vera Institute of Justice's Advancing Universal Representation initiative. In this role, Santiago leads federal government relations and lobbying efforts, aiming to secure the passage of legislation that would ensure that migrants have access to legal representation in detention and deportation proceedings.
Before joining Vera in 2024, Santiago served as the Associate Director for Child and Family Migration Policy at Save the Children. During his five-year tenure, he developed the organization’s federal migration portfolio, working to keep migrant families together and protect access to asylum.
From 2014 to 2017, Santiago worked at the NYC Business Integrity Commission as a NYC Urban Fellow and Policy Analyst. In this capacity, he raised maximum rates for the commercial carting industry, formulating new regulations for the heating oil industry, and establishing a side-guard rebate program in alignment with the Mayor's Vision Zero initiative. Santiago's commitment to leadership and social justice was strengthened during his time as a Youthbridge-NY fellow and employee.
Santiago holds a BA in Political Science from the Macaulay Honors College at Baruch College and an MPP from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
BRIDGERS
Graduating Bridgers
Hallel Abrams Gerber
The Bronx High School of Science
Daiana Azimova
Brooklyn Technical High School
Erina Chowdhury
The Young Women's Leadership School of the Bronx
Ayushi Das
Floral Park Memorial High School
Yijin Dong
Brooklyn Technical High School
Jolie Futterman
High School of American Studies at Lehman College
Bhargavi Karthikeyan
South Brunswick High School
Kristen Lau
Edgemont High School
Chelsea Mclaurin
Edward R. Murrow High School
Alexander Ottensoser
Ramaz Upper School
Joshua Paz
The Kew-Forest School
Allison Ticona
Academy of Finance and Enterprise
Continuing Fellows
Maya Aidibi Razi School
Olivia Baruch HAFTR
Vayden Bayross Brooklyn Technical HS
Samuel Gusel Staten Island Technical HS
Tzipora Guttman Staten Island Technical HS
Mia Hamond Midwood HS
Ashley Jeonarine Queens HS for the Sciences
Bridgette Jeonarine Townsend Harris HS
Grace Kollander Ramaz Upper School
Nathan Krasny Academy of American Studies
Samuel Krasny Academy of American Studies
Ashley Lo Stuyvesant HS
Angela Liu
Brooklyn Technical HS
Gabriel Mittler Ramaz Upper School
Chelsea Nan Townsend Harris HS
Tiara Naselli Brooklyn Technical HS
Kayla Robinson Academy of Mount St. Ursula
Tania Rouf Flushing HS
Liba Safa Razi School
Murphy Slater Bronx HS of Science
Jigdal Tsering Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics
Alisha Vohra Francis Lewis HS
Ava Wong Hunter College HS
Soleil Wizman Hunter College HS
Masha Zaitsev Ethical Culture Fieldston School
Doris Zheng Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics
YouthBridge-NY Committees
Healthcare Disparities:
Fellows will be trained to understand how different social factors affect health outcomes with a particular focus on vulnerable populations. They will gain insight on the issues and struggles that vulnerable populations face due to conditions outside of their control. They will learn about initiatives that work to eliminate health disparities and to promote more accessible and higher quality care to underserved communities.
Maya Aidibi
Mia Hamond
Samuel Gusel Tzipora Guttman
Ashley Jeonarine Grace Kollander
Nathan Krasny Angela Liu Gabriel Mittler
Chelsea Nan Liba Safa
Criminal Justice Reform:
Fellows will explore the history of mass incarceration, how the criminal justice system influences and shapes one’s life, and the challenges that continue to arise within a spectrum of inequalities. What is the narrative surrounding criminal justice, and how can we rewrite it? They will learn how to combat these issues and become an advocate for an empowered, uplifted community.
Bridgette Jeonarine Samuel Krasny Ashley Lo Tiara Naselli
Kayla Robinson Jigdal Tsering
Soleil Wizman
Food Justice:
Doris Zheng
Fellows will deep dive into the world of food and income inequalities. There is plenty of food in our world where no one should go hungry and no one should have two or more jobs and still be struggling to survive. They will explore why these inequities exist, what systems are in place right now that either combat or contribute to these inequities, and we will discuss ways that we can advocate and make a change for a more just and equal society.
Olivia Baruch Vayden Bayross Tania Rouf
Murphy Slater
Alisha Vohra Ava Wong
Masha Zaitsev
YouthBridge-NY Board of Directors
William D. Abramson
Waheed Ameen
Martin Bienenstock
Suzanne R. Davidowitz
Joanne Jaffe
Bradley Korn
Joel Levy
Michael S. Miller
Cecilia Nelson-Hurt
Mahin Rahaman
Mohammad Razvi
Lynn D. Sherman
Elizabeth Velez
Jason Williams
Founders (Ex-Officio)
David Chen
Hector Gesualdo*
Michael Gill
Marvin Jacob
Virginia Kee
Serafin Mariel
Ira Millstein
Dennis Walcott
Staff
Bob Kaplan Founding Director
Tiffany Moreno Program Director
L. Kim Robinson Director of YB-Brooklyn
*Deceased
Karen Lander Lafferty Executive Director
William Roberts Director of Alumni Relations
YouthBridge-NY
and recognize the 2024 Honorees
NYC Councilmember Julie Menin
Henry Garrido
Santiago Mueckay and
The Graduating Bridgers & Continuing Fellows
Bennett Golub President
Cheryl Fishbein Board Chair
Mark Treyger CEO
UJA-FEDERATION OF NEW YORK IS PLEASED TO JOIN
JEWISH COMMUNITY RELATIONS COUNCIL OF NEW YORK
CELEBRATING THE FELLOWS AND BRIDGERS AND HONORING
NYC COUNCILMEMBER JULIE MENIN
With the Community Leader Award
HENRY GARRIDO
With the Diversity and Inclusion Award and
SANTIAGO MUECKAY
With the Distinguished Alum Award
Thank you for your incredible dedication to uplifting and strengthening our community.
Congratulations to you all!
Linda Mirels President
Marc Rowan Chair of the Board
Eric S. Goldstein Chief Executive Officer
Congratulations to YouthBridge-NY and the 2024 Honorees and Councilmember Julie Menin
the Graduating Bridgers & Continuing Fellows
Henry Garrido Santiago Mueckay
Suzanne Davidowitz
We acknowledge the outstanding contributions of our 2024 honorees:
Councilmember Julie Menin
We are also grateful for the outstanding work of the YouthBridge staff leadership: Karen Lafferty Tiffany Moreno
Sincerely,
William, Jade, Mia Abramson and Susan Buchbinder
Henry Garrido
Santiago Mueckay
Joel and Carol Levy
salute YouthBridge-NY
Congratulations to all of our YouthBridge-NY students for a wonderful year of great accomplishments!
Congrats to Santiago Mueckay for his commitment to helping others and advocating for those who do not have a voice.
Jason T. Williams YouthBridge-NY Board Chair and Development Committee Santi,
It's an incredible honor to celebrate your hard work and the path you've paved over the years. We're so proud of your many accomplishments, the doors you’ve opened, and everything you’re achieving in your career. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for you!
- Mya, Mami Nore, and Yarik
The Vera Institute’s
Advancing Universal Representation Initiative Congratulates Santiago Mueckay, recipient of YouthBridge-NY’s Distinguished Alum Award.
Congratulations, Halleli and all the Bridgers, on your commitment to building a better, more thoughtful community and world. Love, Ema and Abba
Congratulations to all of our YouthBridge-NY Fellows & Bridgers!
Joanne Jaffe
Retired Chief, NYPD YouthBridge-NY Board Member & Senior Advisor
at Success Academy Charter Schools
The Allianz Foundation for North America congratulates Councilmember Julie Menin, Henry Garrido, and Santiago Mueckay on being honored by YouthBridge-NY as well as the graduating Bridgers and continuing Fellows of 2024.
It is a privilege and pleasure to join these distinguished honorees in advancing the work of YouthBridge-NY. We are proud to call YouthBridge-NY our partner in preparing a new generation for leadership on issues of diversity and inclusion, thus empowering young people to shape a more secure future for all.
