BROOKLYN MEDIA GROUP MARCH 9 - MARCH 15, 2018 31
Brooklyn’s Power Women
shine at annual gala
BY HELEN KLEIN
HKLEIN@BROOKLYNREPORTER.COM
Outside, the rain was already
coming down but inside El
Caribe Country Club in Mill
Basin the stars were shining brightly
during Schneps Communications’
annual tribute to the Power Women
of Brooklyn, women who have made
their mark in business and the
community.
Just in time for Women’s History
Month, the awards and networking
event, held March 1 at the
5945 Strickland Avenue venue,
highlighted 40 amazing women
from the borough, including Orly
Amor, Business Coach for Public
Speakers, Orly Amor Enterprises;
Dorothea Avery, Co-Founder &
Principal, Node; Joan Bakiriddin,
Business Systems Training Manager,
Elsevier Inc.; Khadine Barakat,
CEO, Vedette Beauty & Skin Care;
Dr. Rekha Bhandari, Chief Medical
Officer, the Allure Group; Grace M.
Borrino, Esq., Partner, Abrams
& Fensterman; Irina Botvinnik,
Premier Banker, Flushing Bank;
Kim Capone, Owner/CEO, Lu Bella
Boutiques; Laura DePalma, Producer
and Supervising Editor, DeSales
Media; Dr. Monalisa Ferrari, CEO,
Ferrari and Associates International,
LLC; Jessica Gargano, Owner/
CEO, Sugar Coated Bakery; Rayma
Garraway, CEO, Never Happier Inc.;
Karisma Jay, Executive Artistic
Director/ Founder, AbunDance
Academy of the Arts, Inc.; Loretta
Y. Jones, Second Vice Chair to the
Board of Director, Municipal Credit
Union; Theresa Grillo-Landy,
General Manager, St. Joseph Chapel
& Columbarium; Sharon Devonish
Leid, CEO, NetStrucPR; Alfonsina
Vendra Messina, CEO, Lady Lair By
AVM; Grace Mo, Co-Founder, Dorcas
Ministries; LaZetta Duncan-Moore,
CEO, Brooklyn Plaza Medical Center
Inc.; Maria Nitti, Owner/CEO, Isabella’s
Creations, Operation Birthday
Party.Org; Tonya Ores, Executive
Director, Neighborhood Housing
Services of Brooklyn CDC, Inc.; Ann
Marie Perrotto, President, Christopher’s
Reason; Alexandra Pina,
Project Manager, Programming,
DeSales Media; Melissa Powell,
Chief Operating Officer, the Allure
Group; Jocelynne Rainey, Chief
Administration Officer and SVP,
Brooklyn Navy Yard Development
Corporation; Margaret M. Stanton,
Esq., President, Bay Ridge Lawyers
Association, Law Office of Margaret
M. Stanton; Xiomara Wallace, Assistant
Director, Community Affairs &
Intergovernmental Relations, NYC
Health + Hospitals | Kings County;
Katie Wu, Licensed Real Estate
Associate Broker, Keller Williams
Realty Empire; and Linda Zou, VP,
Business Relationship Manager III,
JP Morgan Chase Bank.
In addition, several women received
special awards. They were
Woman of the Year Lisa Evers, TV
News Reporter and Talk Show Host,
Fox 5 News; Empire State Bank Exceptional
Woman Award for Community
Service Linda Carlton, Guild
for Exceptional Children; Health
Hero Karen Burke, MD, Ph.D, Clinical
Professor of Dermatology, Mount
Sinai Icahn School of Medicine; Outstanding
Service to the Community
Cecilia Clarke, President and CEO
Brooklyn Community Foundation;
Innovator of the Year Sue Phillips,
President and CEO, Scenterprises;
Entertainer of the Year Cristina
Fontanelli, Award-Winning Singer
and PBS-TV Host; Dynamic Duo
Angella Cavallo and Tara Toye,
OLGCA / Horizons Dance Center;
and Rockstar of the Year Deborah B.
Curtis, VP, Global Partnerships and
Experiential Marketing, American
Express Company.
Also, three women were inducted
into the Hall of Fame. They were
Ana Oliveira, SVP, Market Executive,
Investors Bank; Karen Ditolla,
Principal, Mark Twain Intermediate
School; and Michelle Rosa-Patruno,
Mortgage Banker, United Mortgage
Corp.
The event was started after
Schneps Communications founder
Victoria Schneps attended an awards
event at which the dais was filled
with all male honorees. She decided
then and there that she would change
the equation, and began holding
awards ceremonies that recognized
women’s achievements.
This year’s group of honorees,
Schneps said, was “spectacular.
They will shine tonight,” she told the
crowd, “as they walk the red carpet.”
During the event, a raffle raised
$2,000 for the Brooklyn Community
Foundation, a not-for-profit group
in the borough that, according to its
website, “seeks to mobilize people,
capital, and expertise for a fair and
just Brooklyn.”
The sponsors of the event were
Empire State Bank, the Allure
Group, Investors Bank, Flushing
Bank, DeSales Media Group, MCU
Municipal Credit Union, the Brooklyn
Navy Yard, Chase, Medcast Plus,
the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce
and American Express.
The exhibitors at the business expo
were the Allure Group, Brooklyn
Community Foundation, Brooklyn
Navy Yard, DeSales Media, Empire
State Bank, Flushing Bank, INternational
Business Coach Orly Amor,
Investors Bank, Isabella’s Creations,
Lady Lair by AVM, Never Happier
Inc., Scenterprises, St. Joseph’s Chapel
and Columbarium and Touchstone
Jewelry.