Nonprofit Westchester Honors New Sector Leaders

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. (November, 2018) – Nonprofit Westchester (NPW), an organization that provides Westchester’s nonprofit sector with a single unified voice for the role it plays in the economic vitality and sustainability of the county, honored sector leaders with its inaugural Keep Westchester Thriving Awards and elected new members to join the organization’s Board of Directors at its Annual Meeting on November 5th at Doral Arrowwood.

The Individual Changemaker Award was presented to Marjorie Madfis, Founder and President of Yes She Can, Inc. As a nonprofit professional, Marjorie has demonstrated innovation and creativity to advance the mission of her organization which is to develop transferable job skills for teen girls and young women with autism spectrum disorders to enable them to join the competitive workforce.

The Organizational Changemaker Award was presented to The Acceleration Project (TAP), an organization that has positively impacted the community through innovation and creativity. The Acceleration Project provides high-caliber business advice to small businesses, entrepreneurs, municipalities and nonprofits, with a focus on minority and women-owned businesses by leveraging the untapped potential of professional women to accelerate local economic development.

“A thriving community doesn’t just appear – it is something that the nonprofit sector builds in partnership with individuals, government and business,” said Joanna Straub, NPW Executive Director. “The blueprint for our success depends on dedicated and knowledgeable leadership willing to enhance reliable programs and direction by encouraging innovative vision and creativity from colleagues at all levels. We are thrilled to recognize that type of changemaker leadership with our inaugural Keep Westchester Thriving Awards.”

Also at the Annual Meeting, the membership approved the election of the following individuals to NPW’s Board of Directors:

KAREN CHEEKS-LOMAX is the Chief Executive Officer of My Sisters’ Place, an organization that has worked since 1978 to end violence in intimate relationships and combat the effects of domestic violence and human trafficking on women, men and children throughout Westchester County, New York.

JIRANDY MARTINEZ is the Executive Director of the Community Resource Center (CRC) (AKA Hispanic Resource Center of Larchmont and Mamaroneck). The Community Resource Center (CRC) is a 501 (C) 3 community-based organization dedicated to empowering new immigrants in Westchester to become self- sufficient and active members of the community.

HEATHER MILLER is the Executive Director of the Thomas H. Slater Center. The Slater Center is committed to providing quality programming in a safe, secure and nurturing environment. Their mission is to improve the quality of life, and maximize the potential of the people they serve, by providing them with the tools, resources, services and programs for success.

About Nonprofit Westchester

Nonprofit Westchester (NPW) provides the nonprofit sector with a single unified voice for the role it plays in the economic vitality and sustainability of the county, focusing on sharing resources, connections, and information to strengthen Westchester in partnership with the for-profit and government sectors. The organization currently represents 161 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations in the county under a cooperative mission to strengthen the impact, capacity and visibility of the nonprofit sector for a more just and caring community. In 2014, NPW released a study done in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies called “Westchester County Nonprofits: A Major Economic Engine,” which concluded that nonprofits are a multi-billion dollar industry and make up the largest employment sector in Westchester County. NPW is grateful for the support of its sponsors, including PKF O'Connor Davies, KeyBank, Rollins Insurance, The Westchester Bank, Northwell Health - Phelps & Northern Westchester Hospitals, and The Westchester Community Foundation.

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