CITYFLIGHT MEDIA NETWORK™ ANNOUNCES AWARD NOMINEES FOR “10 MOST INFLUENTIAL AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE BAY AREA“ FOR 2003
CITYFLIGHT MEDIA NETWORK
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
EDITORS: ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT, FEATURES, METRO, URBAN AFFAIRS, EVENT CALENDARS
CONTACT
Toni Beckham
408.499.3664
PR@cityflight.com
Mayor Gavin Newsom and Chronicle Editor Phil Bronstein Among Guest Award Presenters at 5th Annual Awards Celebration
SAN JOSE, CA - MARCH 2004 - Many people contribute consistently
to the welfare of our children, our businesses, and our community. Five years
ago, CityFlight Media Network established the annual Bay Area tradition of
publicly recognizing 30 such deserving individuals. Saturday, April 3, 2004
CityFlight will acknowledge individuals who have made significant contributions
in representing and enriching the Bay Area African American community during
the past year. At 8:00 p.m. Saturday, April 3, 2004, CityFlight will roll
out the red carpet for its honorees in the Forum at Yerba Buena Center for
the Arts 701 Mission Street (at Third St.) San Francisco.
San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom, San Francisco Chronicle executive vice president
and editor Phil Bronstein, San Jose city councilmember Cindy Chavez; Oakland
Visitor's Bureau executive director Manette Beliveau, and San Francisco Visitor's
Bureau president John Marks will be among the special guest award presenters.
102.9-FM KBLX radio, the leader in adult contemporary music, and NBC11/KNTV, the fastest growing news station in the Bay Area will join CityFlight to host the gala reception in honor of 30 people who have been nominated to be named among the "10 Most Influential African Americans in the Bay Area™" for 2003. AARP, Bank of America, Citibank, Hewlett-Packard Company, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Sun Microsystems, Inc., Union Bank of California and Wells Fargo are among the corporate partners to have joined CityFlight to produce this year's history-making celebration.
CityFlight's previous awards programs have been enormously
successful sold-out events that were attended by a host of the Bay Area's
most prominent community, corporate, sports, entertainment, ministerial and
political leaders, among others.
Nominees for the "10 Most Influential African Americans in the Bay Area"
for 2003 are:
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Goapele – Recording Artist and Performer
Thomas R. Simpson - Founder & Artistic Dir., AfroSolo Theatre Company
Deborah Vaughan - Artistic Dir. & Choreographer, Dimensions Dance Theater
COMMUNITY SERVICE
DeVone L. Boggan - Pres. & Exec. Dir., The Mentoring Center
Wendy U. Jackson - Exec. Dir., East Oakland Community Project
Cheryl Smith - Exec. Dir., Bayview Hunter's Point YMCA
CORPORATE
Cheryl Perry League - Equal Opportunity Officer, Port of Oakland
Zainabu McKinney - Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP
Brenda Wright - Sr. V.P. / Dir. Community Dev., Wells Fargo
EDUCATION
Dr. Anita Grier – Pres., Bd. of Trustees, SF Community College Dist.
Margaret J. Matson Norris - Academic Dir., Omega Boys Club
Sharon Parker - Co-executive Dir., ASA Academy & Science Center
ENTREPRENEUR/SMALL BUSINESS
Cheryl D. Broussard - CEO, Cheryl Broussard & Co., Inc.
Frank S. Greene, Jr., Ph.D. - Founding Partner, NewVista Capital
Craig Tanner – Founder & CEO, Urban Golf Gear
HEALTHCARE
Gloria Brown, MPA - African Am. Community Health Advisory Committee
Arnell J. Hinkle, MPH, RD - Exec. Dir., CA Adolescent Nutrition & Fitness
Prog.
Michael A. LeNoir, M.D. – Assoc. Clinical Professor in Pediatrics, UCSF
MEDIA
Lori Waldon-DeAdwyler - Managing Editor, CBS 5 News
Dori J. Maynard - Pres. & CEO, Robert C. Maynard Inst. for Journalism
Ed.
Yumi Wilson - Asst. Prof. of Journalism, San Francisco State Univ.
POLITICAL/PUBLIC SERVICE
Keith Carson - V.P., Alameda County Bd. of Supvrs. & 5th Dist. Supvr.
Janeith Glenn-Davis - Chief of Police, Cal State University, Hayward
Kamala Harris - District Attorney, City & County of San Francisco
SPORTS
Carl S. Foster – Co-director, Slam N Jam Youth Basketball Program
Dr. Fitzgerald "Fitz" Hill, Head Football Coach, San Jose State
Univ.
Cedrick Wilson – Wide Receiver, San Francisco 49ers
YOUTH
Patrick Armstrong - Freshman, Univ. of California at Berkeley
Rosalyn Reneé Reed - Senior, Holy Names High School
Kyle Armando Richard – Senior, Archbishop Mitty High School
Among previous years' award recipients are: former San Francisco mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr.; Oakland Ballet artistic director, Karen Brown; Superior Court Judge Sharon Chatman; Unity Care Group president & CEO, André Chapman; Congresswoman Barbara Lee; Dr. Julia Hare; Pastor Tony Williams; Bishop J.W. Macklin; Maestro Michael Morgan; BET and KTVU broadcast journalist, Renee Kemp; educator and civic activist, Carl Ray; KPIX news anchor, Barbara Rodgers; Omega Boy's Club co-founder and executive director Dr. Joseph Marshall, Jr.; and 98.1 KISS-FM radio personality, Renel Brooks-Moon. The list of past award presenters is equally impressive.
This year, several prestigious community and professional organizations partnered with CityFlight to nominate more than 150 people; chose 30 candidates based upon the biographies supplied by the nominees; and selected 10 whom they determined to be most deserving of recognition for their respective accomplishments and/or contributions in 2003. The Nomination Committee partners are:
100 Black Men of Silicon Valley, Inc.
Silicon Valley Black Chamber of Commerce
100 Black Men of the Bay Area, Inc.
National Assoc. of Black Accountants
Bay Area Black Journalists Association
National Black MBA Association
Bay Area Black United Fund
National Coalition of 100 Black Women, East Bay
First Fridays of the Bay Area
National Society of Black Engineers
Charles Houston Bar Association
San Francisco Black Film Festival
Diablo Black Men's Group
Urban Financial Services Coalition
San Francisco Black Chamber of Commerce
Women of Color Action Network (WCAN)
ABOUT CITYFLIGHT MEDIA NETWORK:
Founded in 1995, CityFlight Media Network was created to educate, entertain and inspire its audience in order to uplift the community, support business successes, and offer positive guidance for youth.
The Network encompasses its flagship division CityFlight Newsmagazine™, the award winning African American news publication; CityFlight Online™, which is represented by its premier website for African American news, events and search directories; and CityFlight Events™, the division that produces some of the Bay Area’s most highly-praised special events.
CityFlight Media Network operates under 501(c)3 non-profit status. CityFlight is produced in print, online and in person by a dedicated operations team and an incomparable all-volunteer editorial staff of nearly 90 individuals.
Note to editors:
For press pass / interview requests, please contact Toni Beckham PR@CityFlight.com
408.499.3664