By William Kustiono
In midday there was a Luncheon Keynote Address by Darryl Towns, Commisioner and CEO of New York State Homes and Community Renewal. After the Luncheon Keynote, there was Luncheon Plenary Panel. The discussed topic is “What’s at Stake for the Asian American Community in the 2013 Local Ellections?” New York City will have a new mayor election in 2014 and it will also have new officials and more than half of the City Council will be freshmen members.
Jessie Lee, Jonathan Bowles, John Choe, and Kevin Kong
This panel discussed the institutional strategies on the next administration will need to consider such as mayoral appointments and language access in public agencies to ensure that New York continues to be a leader in providing for immigrants’ needs and opportunities. The panelist are Maria Castaneda, SEIU 1199, Bill Chong, New York City Department for the Aging, Benjamin Dulchin, Association for Neighborhood Housing and Development, Wayne Ho, Coalition for Asian American Children and families, and moderator Sewell Chan, New York Times.
Later at the Luncheon Plenary Panel, we proceed to the Workshop Session Two with three different topics: “Leadership and Response to Superstorm Sandy”, “Real Talk on Small Business”, and “Building Civic Participation from the Ground Up”
The first topic covered in the workshop is, “Leadership and Response to Superstorm Sandy.” Superstorm Sandy was the most devastating disaster New York has seen since 9/11. Government agencies, foundations and community organizations mobilized their assets to aid in the immediate recovery and help plan for long-term recovery. The panelist are: Damaris Reyes, Good Old Lower East Side, Denise Scott, LISC-NYC, Eddie Mark, Brooklyn Community Board 13, Joseph McKellar, Faith in New York.
The second topic covered in the workshop is, “Real Talk on Small Business”. This panel discussed the works of the panelists with the small businesses to build local leadership, advocate for the needs of business, and promote growth of small businesses across the city. The Panelists are: Jessie Lee, CAMBA, John Choe, One Flushing Community Economic Development Center, Jonathan Bowles, Center for an Urban Future, and moderator Kevin Kong, Renaissance Economic Development Corporation.
The third panel is “Building Civic Participation from the Ground Up”. This panel discussed the innovative strategies for how the panelists are working to build the voice, presence and power of communities from the ground up. The panelists are: Gigi Li, Community Board 3, Linda Sarsour, Muslim Democratic Club, Nazli Parvizi, Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit, Maurice Mitchell, NY Civic Engagement Table, and moderator Richard Lee, Office of City Council Member Leroy Comrie.
At end of session, there was a Reception and Awards Ceremony. The award ceremony recognizes people who delivered high quality community awareness and successfully contributed to the development of the company in the community. These people are Deborah Boatwright, NeighborWorks America, Judi Stern-Orlando, Astella Development Corporation, and Melissa Mark-Viverito, New York City Council District 8. Overall, the conference explained the future development in the New York City and surrounding areas. There were panelists from variety backgrounds discussed together on a certain important topic aimed at the development of Asian communities. And the conference also had several informations targeted on the business people who would like to know more detail about the Asian communities development in the United States in particularly in New York City areas.
Leave a Reply