12 AWP Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 May 24–30, 2019
NEXT GENERATION HONORED AT 2019
'STARS UNDER 40' GALA
SCHNEPS MEDIA CELEBRATES YOUNG PROFESSIONALS POISED TO TAKE OVER BROOKLYN
BY AIDAN GRAHAM
Schneps Media celebrated the young and
influential at the eighth annual ‘Stars Under
40’ celebration on May 16 in Dyker Heights.
Honorees included Brooklyn business tycoons,
charitable community leaders, and the
next generation of Kings County stars.
The event was emceed by Ruschell Boone,
the dynamic screen presence from Spectrum
News NY1 news, who livened up the crowd
with her signature, charming humor.
This year’s ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ honor
was bestowed upon Abdul Elenani, who founded
his specialty coffee and healthy kitchen
franchise, Cocoa Grinder, while in college in
2013. The 26-year-old businessman now manages
numerous locations around the city, but
says the workload comes naturally to him.
“I’ve been in the food game all my life,” he
said. “It’s stressful, but fun. If you’re doing
something that you like, then you’re not working
a day in your life.
This year’s commendation for ‘Entrepreneurial
Dynamic Duo’ went to Julian Bannister
and Yannick Jules-Bannister, who co-founded
New Beginning Cleaners, a 60-employee cleaning
operation to help people and their loved
ones achieve a healthy living environment.
“People needed help getting their homes
and their lives together. And, we couldn’t deny
helping people,” said Julian Bannister. “We
quickly built a process to declutter their home,
redo their home, and really change their lives.”
Other honorees included Natoya McGhie,
the incoming president of the Brooklyn
Women’s Bar Association.
“We help college students who are going
into law school, and young lawyers who want
to network by meeting attorneys and judges,”
she said. “That’s how I got involved in the bar
association. Seven years later, I wanted to go
back and help people coming up like I did.”
McGhie provides guidance to young women
who are rising through the legal world, including
Gabriella Castellano, who took home the
‘Rising Star’ honor as a New York Law School
student. The first in her family to graduate
college, this Bay Ridge up-and-comer will be
working for the Bronx District Attorney’s Office
this summer, training for her forthcoming
prosecutorial career.
Castellano called the award a welcome step
for her fast-rising future.
“When I found out I was going to be honored,
it was the middle of finals, so I was a mess, but
it was like a light at the end of the tunnel,” she
said.
This year’s ‘Health Hero’ award went to Dr.
Ramsey Joudeh, the Chief Medical Officer of
Artisans of Medicine, a state-of-the-art facility
serving all Brooklynites’ medical needs.
Other awardees included educators, entertainers,
legal eagles, and artists, each with
their own story of personal successes and
community caring.
The awards sparkled as bright as the stars
receiving them, as did the sponsors who helped
make the event possible: Spectrum / Charter
Communications, Artisans of Medicine, JP
Morgan Chase, Flushing Bank, Ben Bay Realty,
New Beginning Cleaners and Candy Mingles.
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