Above & Beyond: Maggie Moran Receives Chairperson Award

March, 2015
Packed House to Honor 25 New York Women and Award $5,000 Donation

April 1, 2015, New York, NY – Commissioner of New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs Julie Menin emceed City & State’s annual Above & Beyond gala this past Thursday which honored 25 exceptional professional women and awarded a $5,000 donation to the Covenant House NYC, a nonprofit that assists underserved youth.

City & State’s Above & Beyond feature recognizes New York female professionals in the sectors of business, labor, media, public service and nonprofits, and features each awardee in a special print publication, on CityandStateNY.com, and at the gala event.

“This year’s honorees are an incredible mix of accomplished women who are not only role models for young professionals, but inspirations for anyone trying to make their mark in these fields,” said City & State Executive Editor Michael Johnson.

This year marked the first live interview discussion with editor-at-large Gerson Borrero. In his sit down with Commissioner Menin, she shared her experience as a woman working in banking and highlighted Mayor de Blasio’s focus on increasing female leadership in his administration, which is currently over 50 percent.

“There’s no elevator to success,” Commissioner Menin told the 250 attendees, “you have to take the stairs.”

This year’s Chairperson Award, a distinct honor given to just one of the 25 awardees, went to Maggie Moran of M Public Affairs. She captivated the crowd with her acceptance speech and chose Covenant House NYC to receive City & State’s $5,000 donation in her honor.

“Maggie is incredibly accomplished and we are honored have her as the 2015 Chairperson Award recipient,” said City & State Publisher Andrew Holt.

“This year’s donation was the largest City & State has ever awarded,” said City & State CEO Tom Allon. “We’re proud to be able to support Covenant House NYC and their incredible work.”

Below is the full list of the Above & Beyond Class of 2015. Each of their profiles can be read at CityandStateNY.com. Event photos are available on Flickr and Chairperson Maggie Moran’s speech is available on City & State TV.

Non Profits

Carol Corden, Executive Director, New Destiny Housing

Harriet McDonald, Executive Vice President, The Doe Fund

Alison Overseth, Executive Director, Partnership for After School Education

Reshma Saujani, CEO and founder, Girls Who Code

Margarette Purvis, CEO, Food Bank for New York City

Business

Jean Barrett, Executive Director, Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade

Valeisha Butterfield-Jones, Co-founder and CEO, Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network

Wendy Cai-Lee, Executive Vice President, East West Bank

Emily Giske, Partner and co-founder, Bolton-St. Johns

Maggie Moran, President and CEO, M Public Affairs (Chairperson)

Labor

Elaine Kim, Assistant to President for Communications, 32BJ Service Employees International Union

Karen Magee, President, New York State United Teacher

Marina V. O’Donnell, Legislative and Political Director, New York State Conference of Operating Engineers

Maureen Salter, Assistant to the President, United Federation of Teachers

Wanda Williams, Director of Political Action and Legislation, District Council 37

Media

Sarah Bartlett, Dean, City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism

Maria Hinojosa, Founder, Futuro Media Group

Sandra Lilley, Editor, NBCNews.com Latino Section

Liz Willen, Editor-in-Chief, Hechinger Report

Liena Zagare, Publisher, Corner Media

Public Service

Lynne Brown, Senior Vice President for University Relations and Public Affairs, New York University

Lisa Flores, Deputy New York City Comptroller, Contracts and Procurement

Rachel Haot, Chief Digital Officer and Deputy Secretary for Technology, New York State

Catherine Rinaldi, Executive Vice President, Metro-North Railroad

Nancy Zimpher, SUNY Chancellor

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