56 Buffalo Black Leaders to be honored
On Saturday, September 30, Buffalo Black Achievers, Inc, (BBA), will host their 51st Annual Black Achievers Awards Gala at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center. This year’s event will honor 56 outstanding African Americans from Buffalo, including Rashida Dowell (M&T Bank), Kenneth Ivy (The Rose), Nicole Juzdowski (United Way), and Morgan W. Bryant (Girl Scouts of America).
The BBA Awards tradition was founded in 1972 by Herbert Bellamy Sr., as celebration of personal, professional, spiritual, and community achievements within the Black community.
“Thanks to the vision of my father in establishing these awards, Buffalonians have become aware of the significant contributions Black Buffalo Achievers have and are continuing to make throughout our city and county,” said Herbert Bellamy, Jr., C.E.O. of Bellamy Enterprises and Buffalo Black Achievers, Inc. “What is particularly impressive is that our half-century-plus-list of honorees hail from all walks of life and have impacted every segment of our community. I am proud to honor this year’s 56 exceptional individuals and look forward to ensuring the continuation of these awards for years to come.”
Bellamy, Jr. followed in his father’s footsteps, to ensure that his legacy of duly recognizing the efforts of Black achievers would carry forth. The banquet, and black-tie awards gala, is an evening of fine dining, networking, and entertainment, that begins with a Red Carpet Reception at 5:00 p.m., followed by dinner and awards presentations from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 pm.
This year’s co-chairs of the event are Erie County Legislature Chairperson, Hon. April. Baskin, and Corporate Responsibility Officer and Community Relations Manager for KeyBank in Buffalo and Rochester, Chiwuike “Chi-Chi” Owunwanne.
“It’s important that people support this banquet and I encourage everyone to attend,” Baskin stated. “We need to celebrate and honor the hard work and contributions* of these 56 honorees who have made and continue to make our city and county a better place for us all.”
For more information or to purchase tickets, call 716.884.1490, or visit the Black Achievers, Inc. website at www.buffaloblackachievers.org. Tickets may also be purchased at Doris Records, 286 East Ferry Street.
Buffalo Black Achievers 2023 Honorees and Sponsors
CandidateSponsor 1 Doris Allen People Inc. 2 Tiffany N. Anderson Buffalo Black Nurses Inc. 3 Melissa Archer Buffalo Urban League 4 Armonde “Moe” Badger BankOnBuffalo 5 Loren Baptiste WECGODII Inc. 6 Shentelle Bell Erie County Medical Center 7 James Blackwell Phillips Lytle 8 Reginald Bowman GHD 9 Terrance Bowman West Herr Auto Group 10 Semaj Brown LaNova Pizzeria 11 Morgan W. Bryant Girl Scouts of Western New York 12 Rosalind Burgin Koester Associates 13 Darryl Carter Colston Enterprises 14 Gary A. Chatmon St. John Baptist Church 15 Andrew Cheatham Key Bank 16 Anna Cooke Smith Drescher & Malecki 17 Andrew Davis Rich Products 18 Errol Douglas, PhD, SPHR,SHRM-SCP Roswell Park 19 Rashida Dowell M&T 20 The Knoer Group 21 Rev. Dwayne R. Gillison Sr. Bellamy Enterprises 22 Montrice Goins Audacy (AM 1400) 23 Virgil Hamm Tops Markets 24 Willie Hicks Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Church 25 Cheryl Houston Community Services for Every 1 26 La’Dia Hutchen CSS Construction 27 Kenneth Ivy The Rose 28 Metrice Jenkins Kaleida Health 29 Marlon Johnson Sr NFTA 30 Nicole Juzdowski United Way 31 Olivia Lewis Wegmans 32 Sabrina Madison Highmark BC BS Western New York 33 Tommie McClam Office of Senator Timothy Kennedy 34 Joseph McEachin West Herr Auto Group 35 Sean McKinnie Alan R. Core Funeral Home 36 Indera V. Mims Thomas T. Edwards Funeral Home Inc. 37 Ray Mitchell Plum Impressions 38 HaRonda Morrison Police Athletic League of Buffalo 39 Dr. Emmekunla Nylander WUFO 40 Franchelle C. H. Parker WKBW-TV 41 Sheila Rayam Buffalo News 42 Maya Reid Design, Development, Compliance 43 Kathleen Richardson-Cross Fitness Institute 44 Nicole G. Robinson Willie Hutch Jones Education and Sports 45 Annika R. Samuels National Fuel Gas 46 Dorothy Siaw Asamoah Murak Associates 47 Kyria Stephens BNMC 48 Arthur Taggart Jr. Belmont Housing Resources for WNY, Inc. 49 Bruce S. Warrick RL Experience, LLC 50 Bennie Williams Murak Associates- Habitat for Humanity-Buffalo 51 Nathan E. Wright Sr. True Word Appointed Ministries Special Awards Family Values Award Michelle Austin Brown Irene Bellamy Musician Award Brian K. Freeman Media Award Bilal S. Akram President’s Award Dr. Steve Stoute Legends Award Dr. Catherine Collins
*Determining each year’s BBA Awardees is a unique process in that the event sponsors make the award selections. The idea is that those who work with the individuals and witness their value and impact, are best suited to determining those who are honored. This year’s sponsor list numbers 56 and each has chosen a member of the 2023 Buffalo Black Achievers.
Lead image: (l to r) BBA Board Member—James Hill, Jr., Buffalo Black Achievers Awards Event, producer, videographer, and graphics designer—Roderick Simmons, 2023 BBA Event Emcee—Pheben Kassahun, Herbert Bellamy, Jr., 2022 BBA Award Honoree / Representative of 2023 BBA Sponsor West Herr—Latricia Davis, and 2023 BBA Awards Event Moderator—Rev. James Lewis
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