Friday, April 28, 2023
The Plaza Hotel 770 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10019
11:30 AM Reception | 12:00 PM Luncheon
Keynote Speaker Alicia Graf Mack, Dean & Director of Dance
Host Cindy Hsu, CBS2 News Anchor and Reporter
Philanthropic Honoree Ruth Pryor
Each year, more than 400 of New York City’s most accomplished and engaged leaders gather to attend the Women Mean Business Luncheon, which supports the Coalition’s First Step Job Training Program. The event features program graduates sharing their moving stories and experiences. Past events have also featured guest speakers including Eve Ensler, Arianna Huffington, Hillary Clinton, Christine Quinn, Anna Quindlen, Ashley Graham, Darlene Love, Adenah Bayoh, and Dari Alexander.
First Step gives homeless and low-income women the skills and confidence needed to achieve financial independence. Our innovative 14-week curriculum offers computer and job skills training, an internship with a major corporation or nonprofit organization, mentoring, job placement assistance and extensive post-graduate support.
First Step Advisory Board
Cindy Arnold, Chair Yvette Arsenec-Weir Vanessa Barnett Christy Burke Marisol DeLeon Austin Fremont Sara Fusco Barbara Kolsun Deborah Krulewitch Natalie Lederman Susan Lerner Natsayi Mawere Rachel Noel Ruth Pryor Wendy Samuel Joan Sapinsley Jane Singer
Donate
Advocates Jennifer & Peter Wallace Ruth Pryor
Sustainers Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP Burke & Company LLC Richard H. Lewis & Joan M. Sapinsley Friends of Deborah Krulewitch & Jane Singer
Patrons Fross Zelnick Lehrman & Zissu, P.C. Fundamental Advisors, LP Marina Rinaldi
Sponsors The Weir Family Foundation, Inc. Fremont Blue Events
Supporters Sullivan & Worcester LLP Nardello & Co. LLC Marc & Giulia Weisman Clutter Therapy LLC Susan Lerner
Friends Vincent & Shelly Fremont Rudolph Landin
As of March 13, 2023
Dean & Director of Dance
Began her inaugural season as Dean and Director of Juilliard Dance in the fall of 2018. Before assuming that role, Alicia enjoyed a distinguished career as a principal dancer of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Dance Theater of Harlem and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Ms. Graf Mack has danced as a guest performer with Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, Beyoncé, John Legend, Andre 3000, Alicia Keys and Jon Batiste, in addition to numerous appearances in galas, festivals and nationally aired television shows.
Ms. Graf Mack graduated magna cum laude with honors in history from Columbia University and holds an MA in nonprofit management from Washington University in St. Louis. In 2007, Smithsonian magazine named her an American Innovator of the Arts and Sciences. She is a recipient of the Columbia University Medal of Excellence, an award given each year to one alumnus who has demonstrated excellence in their field of work. In 2008, she delivered the keynote address to the graduates of Columbia University’s School of General Studies.
As a dance educator, Ms. Graf Mack taught as adjunct faculty at the University of Houston and Washington University in St. Louis, and was a visiting assistant professor at Webster University in 2010-2011 and 2015-2018. She is a co-founder of D(n)A Arts Collective, an initiative created with her sister to enrich the lives of young dancers through master classes and intensives. Alicia Graf Mack is the proud co-producer and host of a new podcast, Moving Moments, featuring authentic conversations with some of the most celebrated, ground-breaking artists in the field of dance.
Anchor and Reporter, CBS2 News
Cindy Hsu is an Emmy Award-winning anchor and reporter who has been at CBS2 News in New York City since 1993. Her passion is sharing stories about children, seniors, education, adoption, animals and mental health awareness.
Cindy has earned Emmy Awards for stories including “Smuggled from China,” exposing the horrific plights of Chinese refugees trying to make it to America. Her most poignant story was the two-part series “Bringing Rosie Home.” Through home videos, she brought viewers to China as she adopted her daughter Rosie as a single mother. The series won the New York AP Broadcasters Award for Best Feature and was nominated for an Emmy.
She has worked as a journalist throughout the country, including Richmond, Virginia, Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Steubenville, Ohio.
She spends much for her off-duty time in community work and is open about her struggle with depression, hoping to break down the stigma surrounding mental health. She has worked with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and is strongly involved in the Asian-American community. Some of her past and present philanthropic affiliations include: The Asian Professional Exchange (APEX) which is a big brother/big sister program. Cindy and her little sister have been together for more than two decades. She’s also worked with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, The Humane Society of New York, The Children’s Miracle Network and the Museum of Chinese in America.
Cindy served as President of the New York Chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association, and paddled for years on a championship Dragon Boating team called Women in Canoe.
Cindy’s parents immigrated from China. Her father was a Coast Guard pilot, so the family moved every two to four years. Cindy was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and graduated from Virginia Tech. She lives in New York City with her daughter Rosie and their rescue dog Lilo.
