LET’S IMAGINE

LEARNING FROM THE LEADERS OF THE IMAGINE AWARDS

On September 12, 2024, we held an informative discussion with the winners of the 12th Annual Long Island Imagine Awards.

Meet our amazing panel!
-Rising Star Award Winner: Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County represented by Moji Pourmoradi, Executive Director
-Leadership Excellence Award Winner: David Kilmnick, PhD, MSW, Founder & President of LGBT Network
-Social Impact Award Winner: SCO Family of Services represented by Suzette Gordon, President & CEO
-Arts & Culture Award Winner: Spirit of Huntington Art Center represented by Michael Kitakis, Executive Director
-DEIA Award Winner: WDN – Women’s Diversity Network represented by Shanequa Levin, CEO & Founder
-Hall of Fame Award Winner: The Viscardi Center represented by Dr. Chris Rosa, President & CEO

Objective: Learn from a contingent of highly regarded non-profit leaders that are successfully moving the sector forward. Let their experience guide you to think differently and effectively advance your non-profit to the next level.

This discussion was moderated by Kenneth Cerini, CPA, Managing Partner of Cerini & Associates and Founder of the Long Island Imagine Awards, an event designed to recognize Long Island non-profits for their innovation, impact, and leadership.

Thank you to our Event Sponsor:

Thank you to our Diamond Sponsor:

MEET OUR SPEAKERS

Moji Pourmoradi, a passionate and lifelong educator, currently serves as the Executive Director of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center in Long Island. With a career spanning over four decades, Mrs. Pourmoradi has dedicated her life to imparting knowledge, fostering empathy, and instilling a sense of responsibility in the hearts and minds of students.

As a first generation immigrant to this country, Moji’s early years were shaped by a deep appreciation for the transformative power of education. Her academic journey led her to Major in Psychology and Near Eastern History as an undergraduate and later a Master’s Degree in Education both from NYU. She soon recognized the profound impact that studying the past could have on shaping a more compassionate and understanding future.

Mrs. Pourmoradi’s commitment to Holocaust education emerged from a belief that the lessons of history are invaluable in preventing the recurrence of atrocities. She has tirelessly worked to create a space where the horrors of the Holocaust are not only remembered but also analyzed, understood, and used as a tool for fostering empathy. Her extensive experience as an educator has allowed her to develop innovative educational programs that engage students at both intellectual and emotional levels, encouraging them to explore the human stories behind the historical facts.

In her short time as the Executive Director, the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center has almost doubled the amount of students that visit them each month from 2,500 to 5,000. Under her leadership, the museum has become a hub for interactive learning experiences, featuring multimedia exhibits, survivor testimonies, and educational workshops designed to challenge prejudices and promote critical thinking.

Moji has spearheaded initiatives to ensure that the museum serves as a living testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable adversity.

Mrs. Pourmoradi firmly believes that by understanding the atrocities of the past, we equip future generations with the integrity to build a wiser and more empathetic society. She envisions a world where young minds, armed with historical knowledge and compassion, actively work towards fostering inclusivity, tolerance, and civic justice. Through her tireless efforts, Moji Pourmoradi continues to be a beacon of inspiration, guiding the next generation to be stronger and kinder, with an understanding that the two are not diametrically opposed but rather lead us towards a better future for us all.

David Kilmnick, PhD, MSW, is a visionary leader and a prominent national advocate for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities. For more than three decades, Dr. Kilmnick has championed LGBT equality, pioneering numerous initiatives nationwide. As the founder and President of the New York LGBT Network, he has tirelessly worked to combat homophobia and transphobia by building successful nonprofit organizations that support and advocate for the LGBT communities in Long Island and Queens, New York.

Under David’s leadership, his organization has achieved several historic milestones, including the establishment of the first-ever LGBT youth prom, LGBT-affordable senior housing, and LGBT Chamber of Commerce in suburbia. His organization also founded the first-ever chartered and recognized LGBT Pride PTA in the nation and organized the first-ever Pride Nights with the Mets and Islanders. David’s enduring commitment has made him a stable, respected, recognized, and visible leader and spokesperson in the ongoing fight for equality and justice for the LGBT community.

David’s impactful work and leadership have also established him as a national voice on LGBT issues, earning him the honor of serving as the keynote speaker on behalf of the US Embassy in New Zealand at its national LGBT Conference, at the request of President Obama’s administration. He regularly engages with government officials, community leaders, and business and education executives to address pressing issues affecting the LGBT community. His insights and perspectives are frequently sought by major news outlets, where he represents suburban and underserved LGBT communities, discussing a broad range of equity, social, advocacy, and policy issues. David’s leadership is further demonstrated through his work with leading corporations and professional sports leagues across the nation, where he trains executives on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

In addition to his pioneering efforts in the LGBT community, David is a distinguished educator with over 25 years of teaching experience. He serves as the Chair of the Online Master of Social Work (MSW) Program and Assistant Professor of Instruction in the School of Social Work at the University of South Florida (USF). David has been a trailblazer in distance and online education, bringing over 20 years of expertise in online teaching, learning management systems, and course and curriculum development.

Before his tenure at USF, David was the Distance Education Director for the MSW program at the University of Northern Iowa and has held faculty positions at various colleges and universities. He has taught in schools of Social Work, Nonprofit Management, and Public Policy and Administration. David earned his PhD in Social Welfare from the Graduate Center at the City University of New York, where his dissertation explored heterosexist attitudes and the transformative impact of interactions with an openly gay instructor.

For more information, visit Dr. David Kilmnick’s website here.

Suzette Gordon was appointed President & CEO of SCO Family of Services in July 2023. In this role, she assumes oversight of the agency’s extensive continuum of residential and community-based child welfare, early childhood, youth development, family support, special needs, and homeless services.

Suzette joined SCO in January 2019 as the agency’s first Chief Legal Counsel wherein she represented SCO in all legal matters, provided legal guidance to the President & CEO and staff, oversaw SCO’s in-house legal services department and corporate compliance program, and served as the liaison for outside legal counsel to ensure that SCO complied with all applicable laws and regulations. In 2020, Suzette’s responsibilities were expanded to include oversight of the Human Resources department and Communications and Marketing departments. In December 2022, Suzette was promoted to Interim President and CEO of the agency and is credited with reimagining and strengthening SCO’s leadership team, improving program optimization, and ensuring cultural alignment with SCO’s mission, vision, and values.

Suzette brings more than 20 years of legal, government, and non-profit experience in both the private and public sectors, with particular expertise in healthcare transformation and Medicaid redesign. Prior to joining SCO, she held the position of Compliance & Contracting Officer at SBH Health System’s Bronx Partners for Healthy Communities, where she designed and operationalized the Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program’s compliance program and navigated organizational advancement toward an integrated delivery system. Previously, she served as Deputy General Counsel & Agency Chief Privacy Officer at the NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene. Earlier in her career, Suzette was a Trial Attorney at the United States Department of Justice, Civil Fraud Section.

Suzette is a well-respected lecturer and author on healthcare privacy and the law and is a former board member of Primary Care Development Corporation. She received a BA in Political Science (highest honors) from NYU College of Arts and Science and received her law degree from NYU School of Law.

Shanequa Levin is an award-winning social justice leader, motivational speaker, and author. She is also a registered ordained wedding officiant. Shanequa published a memoir titled Poverty’s Phoenix, which is about surviving childhood poverty. She is the founder and CEO of the Women’s Diversity Network, a nonprofit organization practicing transformative justice processes based on group leadership where marginalized lives are centered. The mission of the WDN is to connect and mobilize women of different backgrounds to create positive change through collective work and a unified sisterhood. Through WDN, she has created five programs, Maternal Justice Program, Wealth Equity Fellowship, Youth Justice Leadership Program, and LI United to Transform Policing and Community Safety. She orchestrates a yearly summit that brings diverse people together to learn about social justice issues and celebrate cultures.

Shanequa also founded the Long Island chapter of Mocha Moms Inc., a support group for mothers of color, and is the former director of Every Child Matters in NY, an advocacy and electoral engagement organization on behalf of kids. She is a creator of culturally relevant Facebook groups. Shanequa has also been instrumental in advocating for policy changes to Early Care and Learning, Raise The Age, Paid Family Leave Insurance, Bail Reform, Maternal Health, Police Reform, and more. As a survivor of childhood poverty, drug-addicted parents, an incarcerated father, and a teen mom, she uses her voice to help others break negative generational cycles.

Dr. Chris Rosa became President & CEO of The Viscardi Center, a network of non-profits that educate, employ and empower children and adults with disabilities, in January 2022. He is a staunch advocate for equity and economic justice for people with disabilities, being a wheelchair-user since age 12 who has Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy. A published disability studies scholar, he serves in national leadership roles for organizations that promote access and wellness for Americans with disabilities. He is also a sought-after orator on a variety of topics including disability as a key dimension of diversity, equity, & inclusion and American disability culture.

Before joining Viscardi, he served as the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Inclusion Initiatives at the City University of New York (CUNY), the nation’s largest urban public university system. In this role, Dr. Rosa designed and led programs that promote access, equity, and inclusion for over 35,000 students who have historically under-participated in higher education. Dr. Rosa’s higher education governance includes serving as Interim Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and the University’s Assistant Dean for Student Affairs for CUNY’s 25 campus system.

Dr. Rosa’s major accomplishments at CUNY include creating a model career readiness program for college students with disabilities that empowers them to achieve competitive employment at more than twice the national rate; leading efforts to establish CUNY as a first-choice college destination for neurodiverse students; launching intercollegiate inclusive athletics program; and collaborating with New York City Department of Education’s District 75 to create its Inclusive Higher Education Program.

He has also Chaired the Executive Committee of the U.S. President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities (now known as the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy) and served in leadership roles at the New York State Independent Living Council, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and the Society for Disability Studies.

Dr. Rosa earned his B.A. in Sociology & Philosophy from Queens College in 1989 and his Ph.D. in Sociology from the CUNY Graduate Center in 2001, with a dissertation entitled “Disability Rites: Constructing American Disability Culture.” He was elected to the Long Island Association’s Board of Directors in October 2022.

PAST EVENT:

LET’S IMAGINE 2023

SEPT 12, 2023 | 8:30am – 10am

On September 12, 2023, we held an informative discussion with the winners of the 11th Annual Long Island Imagine Awards. This webinar was free to attend for Long Island non-profit organizations.

Objective: Learn from a contingent of highly regarded non-profit leaders that are successfully moving the sector forward. Let their experience guide you to think differently and effectively advance your non-profit to the next level.

This discussion was moderated by Kenneth Cerini, CPA, Managing Partner of Cerini & Associates and Founder of the Long Island Imagine Awards, an event designed to recognize Long Island non-profits for their innovation, impact, and leadership. Attendees were given the opportunity to directly ask the guest panel questions.

Thank you to our Diamond Sponsor:

Thank you to our Platinum Sponsors:

MEET OUR SPEAKERS

PAST EVENT:

LET’S IMAGINE 2022

SEPT 20, 2022 | 8:30am – 10am

On September 20, 2022 we held an informative discussion with the winners of the 10th Annual Long Island Imagine Awards. This webinar was free to attend for Long Island non-profit organizations.

Objective: Learn from a contingent of highly regarded non-profit leaders that are successfully moving the sector forward. Let their experience guide you to think differently and effectively advance your non-profit to the next level.

This discussion was moderated by Kenneth Cerini, CPA, Managing Partner of Cerini & Associates and Founder of the Long Island Imagine Awards, an event designed to recognize Long Island non-profits for their innovation, impact, and leadership. Attendees were given the opportunity to directly ask the guest panel questions.

Thank you to our Platinum Sponsors:

MEET OUR SPEAKERS

PAST EVENT:

LET’S IMAGINE 2021

PAST EVENT:

LET’S IMAGINE 2020