The Best Part of our Annual Immigrant Heritage Week Awards: Our Awardees
The Best Part of our Annual Immigrant Heritage Week Awards: Our Awardees
As we look back on this year’s 4th Annual BCNA Immigrant Heritage Week Awards, what emerges, even more than our exciting speakers and informative panel, is the extraordinary accomplishments of our client-awardees, and of all our clients for that matter.
We are constantly humbled by the drive, focus, commitment, and creativity of the clients we serve and of the New York immigrant community in general.
This year’s awardees were particularly impressive!
The 2015 Bootstrap Entrepreneur Award was presented to Ismaila Bah and Mohamed Bah, owners of Noor Halal African American Market in the South Bronx, which offers its customers fresh produce, groceries and African specialties, as well as freshly butchered halal meat. The Bahs have been working with BCNA since opening the market in 2011 and we are thrilled to see them flourishing.
The 2015 New York Job Creator Award went to Yelena Gordiyevskaya, owner of Smiles Around Us Academy and Day Care Center, who has created 55 jobs for fellow New Yorkers to date.
Ms. Gordiyevskaya has been a BCNA client since 1999, soon after she opened her first center. She now has three locations: two day care centers, and a private school for pre-K through 8th grade.
The 2015 New Beginning Awards were presented to Aissata Niangadou, Wyllys Rodriguez, Zhuldyz Makhadiyeva, and Shyam Bogati—who all successfully completed BCNA’s Individual Development Account program and received matching grants to put toward furthering their education, pursuing career training, or starting a small business.
Ms. Niangadou graduated from Fordham University this month with a BS in public accounting; Ms. Makhadiyeva will get her certificate in makeup artistry in June; Mr. Rodriguez is pursuing an Associates degree at Hostos Community College; and Mr. Bogati used his grant to purchase a car to operate his own car service business.
We are honored to serve and support immigrant entrepreneurs in NYC. We are especially proud of these six clients, who are not only working hard to pursue their dreams and creating a better future for their families, but also contributing to New York City’s economy.
As we move forward this year with our work – granting loans, encouraging saving, and running workshops geared toward business success – we are already looking forward to celebrating new client accomplishments at next year’s Immigrant Heritage Week Awards!