16 AWP Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 February 15–21, 2019
BROOKLYN POWER WOMEN AWARDS
Schneps Media salutes Power Women
Annual awards night honors formidable ladies whose work helps shape the borough
Our 2019 honorees
(Left) Lisa Evers of Fox 5 will co-host the night’s festivities. (Right) Elizabeth Melendez Fisher will be honored
for her work with the Global Leadership Award at the Power Women Awards on March 14.
BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGY
RELIEVES BACK PAIN
Surgeons perform an estimated 300,000
to 400,000 back surgeries every year.
Annually, neurosurgeons perform at least
100,000 operations for lumbar disc disease
alone, and orthopedic surgeons perform
a similar number. It is estimated that
between 20% and 40% of these operations
are unsuccessful.
That is why doctors from all over the
country are racing to acquire and get
trained to operate the DRX9000TM, an FDA
approved device that is saving thousands
of Americans suffering from chronic back
pain from going under the knife.
Dr. Melinda Keller, who treats serious
back pain without surgery explains how
the DRX9000TM works... “Over 10 years
ago, NASA began to notice an unexpected
result of space travel: Astronauts that left
with back pain would come back without
it. After investigated this now phenomenon
here’s what they found: During the antigravity
state of the mission there were
decompressive forces on the intervertebral
discs and back pain was relieved. How?
When you travel through space, the effects
of gravity are removed and you are in a
weightless state. All the pressure is taken
off your spine and discs. Even better —
and this is the key — a negative pressure
is created. This negative pressure actually
sucks the herniated material back into
the disc and allows it to heal. Thanks to
the DRX9000TM, disc herniation sufferers
finally have a non-surgical solution.”
The main conditions the DRX9000TM has
documented success with are back pain,
sciatica, herniated and/or bulging discs
(single or multiple), degenerative disc disease,
facet syndromes and a relapse or
failure following back surgery.
Anyone wishing to learn more about
this new FDA approved solution to back
pain or to set up an appointment for a
free consultation call Dr. Keller’s office at
718 234-6212 or visit Brooklyn Spine
Center, 5911 16th Ave., Brooklyn, New
York 11204. Brooklynspinecenter.com.
DRX9000TM
Local doctor treats herniated
and bulging discs, sciatica,
and serious lower back pain
WITHOUT BACK SURGERY
By Courtney Donahue
Brooklyn Paper
Save the date!
Schneps Media will host
its eighth-annual Power
Women Awards and Networking
Event on March 14
to honor and celebrate the
ladies whose contributions,
work, activism, and heart
have had a positive impact
in Brooklyn — and we’re inviting
you to join us!
The event honors top
Kings County women for
their outstanding leadership
and contributions to the community.
This year’s festivities,
at Sirico’s Caterers in
Dyker Heights, will be cohosted
by Lisa Evers of Fox
5, and will include an interactive
business expo, followed
by a dinner and awards ceremony.
The night is a great
way to thank the wonderful
women who give their all to
this borough, said the event’s
organizer.
“There is so much talent
and there are so many successful
women who give back
to the community,” said Lori
Pedone. “This is an opportunity
for them to network with
each other and be recognized
for all that they do.”
The beautiful night is
made possible by our wonderful
sponsors, Dime Bank,
JP Morgan Chase, MetroPlus
Health Plan, Northwell
Health, The Avondale Care
Group, Broadway Stages, and
DMV Service Centers LLC
/ JSA Tags Inc.
This year’s event will feature
a new award, the Global
Leadership Award, which
will be presented to Elizabeth
Melendez Fisher, the
founder of the Selah Foundation,
a national organization
that focuses on ending
sex trafficking and exploitation.
Fisher says her passion
started with a resolve to help
victims of sex abuse. When
she was planning an event and
Our 2019 Power Women are remarkable ladies who have had a positive impact on
Kings County, so buy your ticket today at www.brooklynpaper.com/powerwomen
and join us as we cheer on the efforts of these fabulous women:
Global Leadership Award
Elizabeth Melendez Fisher
Founder and Chief Executive
Offi cer, Selah Foundation
Hall Of Fame
Margarette Tropnas, LMSW
• Program Director, Urban
Resource Institute
• President, UNA-USA Brooklyn
Chapter
• Adjunct Lecturer, Hunter-
Silberman School of Social
Work
Lifetime Achievement
Award
Sylvia Mariamoff
The Attitude Lady
Dynamic Duo Award
Michelle Lee and Monica
Holowacz
Broadway Stages
Honorees
• Cristen
Agostinacchio
• Josephine Augello
• Natacha Aurelien
• Dr. Kim Best, PhD
• Angela Blum-
Finlay
• Sonia Bonilla
• Jessica Burdo
• Carrie Anne
Cavallo
• Raisa Chernina
• Caroline P. Cohen
• Pamela Esposito-
Amery
• Danielle Fairbairn-
Bland
• Barbara Felker
• Hon. Alice Fisher
Rubin
• Paula Ingram
• Cloe’ Luv
• Onida Coward
Mayers
• Ingrid Murray
• Regina Myer
• Michelle Neary
• Margarycel
E. Nunez
• Karen Overton
• Caroline Pardo
• Dr. Ionie Pierce
•Elise Pettus
• Tere Pettitt
• Briget Rein
• Bonnie Schwerin
• Susan Siegel
• Pat Singer
• Gail L. Smith
• Melanie Wiener
• Ana Zen-Ochoa
looking for a charity to give
to, she learned about the horrific
level of sex trafficking
in America, and how it impacts
local communities. She
became interested in helping,
and has since become a crusader
whose aim is to educate,
prevent, and help children
and women affected by
this. She adds that the root
of sex trafficking is often a
child who has suffered sexual
abuse.
Fisher founded Selah
Freedom in 2011, and later
founded the global arm, Selah
Way Foundation.
Selah Freedom’s initiative,
Prevention, arms kindergarten
through 12th-grade
children, parents, and caregivers
with the knowledge
they need to recognize and
avoid trafficking through
materials that are placed in
schools and community centers.
Fisher says the curriculum
also teaches those who
may be victims of abuse and
trafficking to safely disclose
what they’re experiencing.
The program is currently in
Brooklyn and throughout the
tri-state area.
The Protection program
trains law enforcement personnel
to recognize signs of
trafficking — and Fisher says
this is particularly important
for officers to learn because it
isn’t always easy to spot.
She says, for instance, a
young child could be riding in
the back of a car with an adult
in the front. She trains the officers
to recognize if it looks
questionable — for instance,
if the child looks scared —
and to intervene.
“A young girl or boy in
the back of a car with an
adult that looks questionable,
they should stop the
car, take a moment with the
child, take a moment with
the adult,” said Fisher. “If
they know what they’re seeing,
they won’t miss it. The
key to stopping trafficking
is intervening before it gets
out of control.”
Receiving the Global
Leadership Award is a true
honor, she says, because it’s
a chance to make more people
aware of her cause — and
could spark that same passion
in someone else.
“It means more to me
than you would ever understand,”
said Fisher. “My passion
is training other people.
Speaking about sex trafficking,
you open people’s eyes.
Nothing makes me more excited
than when I can have
a platform, because that’s
the only chance you have
to awaken leaders. It takes
my breath away.”
One hundred percent of
the proceeds from the evening’s
raffle will go to the
Selah Foundation.
And don’t miss the Brooklyn’s
Power Women issue, on
stands March 8, where you
can read about the important
work all of our honorees do
everyday to make the borough
a better place.
Eighth-annual Power
Women Awards and Networking
Event at Sirico’s
Caterers (8023 13th Ave. between
80th and 81st streets
in Dyker Heights) March 14,
6–9 pm. Tickets $150 and
available at www.brooklynpaper.
com/powerwomen .
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