Biographies of Honorees:

Edie Windsor - "The Unlikely Activist" 

Edith “Edie” Windsor, “The Unlikely Activist,” in the words of Time magazine, has spent most of her adult life breaking down barriers to full equality. Professionally a computer software expert, she founded and served as president of P.C. Classics Inc., specializing in software development projects. She became a nationally known figure and a symbol of equality when the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear her landmark legal case, the recent, successful challenge to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. She embarked on a judicial odyssey, fighting a battle she never expected to wage— let alone win. Edie Windsor is now the matriarch of America’s gay rights movement.  

Gail Bruce - Artist and Native American Education Activist

Gail Bruce is an artist, entrepreneur, and Native American education activist. Her art has been shown in numerous galleries and is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. A longtime member of The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Multicultural Audience Development Initiative, she also helped found the American Indian College Fund, conceived and built 29 Cultural Learning Centers at Tribal Colleges on reservations in 12 states, and founded UNRESERVED American Indian Fashion and Art Alliance creating internships for Native youth. Ms. Bruce sits in an advisory capacity on numerous Native American boards.

Vy Higginsen - Harlem's Teen Choir

Vy Higginsen, author and playwright, was the first African American female radio personality in the prime time New York City market on WBLS, the first woman to host a morning show on New York radio at WWRL, and the first African American woman to produce a drama on Broadway with Joe Turner’s Come and Gone by August Wilson.  Ms. Higginsen went on to co-write, produce, and direct Mama, I Want to Sing before founding her not-for-profit Mama Foundation for the Arts in Harlem, which is dedicated to nurturing talented African American youth in the performing arts. 

and

Melissa Mark-Viverito - Speaker of the NYC Council

Melissa Mark-Viverito is the Speaker of the New York City Council, the first Puerto Rican and Latina to hold a citywide government leadership position. She represents the 8th Council District, which includes El Barrio/East Harlem and the South Bronx. Ms. Mark-Viverito worked for over a decade in local activism, nonprofit organizations, and labor before being elected to the Council in 2005, as the first Puerto Rican woman and Latina to represent her district. Through her leadership, the Council has become more open and transparent, has passed legislation creating the first Inspector General for the NYPD and the IDNYC program, and has provided additional funding to address critical safety and maintenance concerns at New York’s public housing.