Senate Resolution No. 2215
BY: Senator PARKER
COMMENDING the New York Urban League upon the
occasion of hosting its 60th Annual Frederick
Douglass Awards Dinner and recognizing the
distinguished recipients of the 2026 Frederick
Douglass Medallion
WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to recognize and
pay tribute to those institutions of high purpose and worthy
accomplishment whose enduring commitment to civil rights, economic
equity, and the full inclusion of African Americans and underserved
communities in every dimension of American life has enriched the civic
life of the State of New York; and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its
long-standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to
commend the New York Urban League upon the occasion of hosting its 60th
Annual Frederick Douglass Awards Dinner on Thursday, June 4, 2026; and
WHEREAS, For more than 100 years, the New York Urban League has led
the way in the education, employment, and empowerment of underserved
African Americans across the five boroughs of New York City, inspiring,
influencing, and igniting more than one million Black people to achieve
their highest aspirations; and
WHEREAS, Under the leadership of President and CEO Arva Rice, the
New York Urban League continues to fulfill its mission of enabling
African Americans and other underserved communities to secure a
first-class education, economic self-reliance, and equal respect of
their civil rights through programs, services, and advocacy; and
WHEREAS, In 1966, the first Frederick Douglass Awards Dinner was
organized by New York Urban League Secretary Ann Sunstein Kheel to
commemorate the work of both the New York Urban League and those
like-minded individuals whose work embodied Frederick Douglass' legacy;
and
WHEREAS, As Executive Chairman of these dinners for 25 years, Ann S.
Kheel was a pillar of support for the New York Urban League and, by
conceiving and organizing this annual dinner in Frederick Douglass's
name, she advanced his hope, and that of countless others, that anyone,
however disadvantaged, could rise to greatness through determination,
education, and the unyielding pursuit of justice; and
WHEREAS, Frederick Douglass, born into bondage, self-educated, and
risen by the sheer force of his extraordinary mind and indomitable
spirit to become the foremost abolitionist, orator, statesman, and moral
authority of his age, embodied a vision of American possibility that
this Nation is still striving to realize; his words, engraved upon the
award that bears his name, "I know of no rights of race superior to
those of humanity," remain as urgent, radical, and necessary today as
when he first spoke them; and
WHEREAS, The 2026 Frederick Douglass Medallion is awarded to Whoopi
Goldberg, one of only 14 performers in history to achieve the EGOT
(Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony), whose extraordinary career has been
matched every step of the way by an equally extraordinary commitment to
advocacy; and
WHEREAS, Born Caryn Elaine Johnson in New York City, Whoopi Goldberg
has used her celebrity to champion human rights, AIDS awareness, and the
fight against homelessness and has served as a United Nations
Ambassador, working on behalf of women's rights, children's rights, and
HIV/AIDS; and
WHEREAS, Whoopi Goldberg's 1990 Academy Award for Best Supporting
Actress for the movie, "Ghost," made her only the second
African-American woman to win an Oscar for acting (the first was awarded
to Hattie McDaniel more than fifty years prior), and her lifelong
insistence on using her platform to speak truth to power places her
squarely in the tradition of the man whose name this award carries; and
WHEREAS, The 2026 Frederick Douglass Medallion is also awarded to
Priscilla Sims Brown, President and CEO of Amalgamated Bank, the largest
union-owned bank in the United States; a full-service bank, lender, and
investment manager with a century-long commitment to advancing positive
social change, Amalgamated Financial Corp. is the first publicly traded
financial institution to be a public benefit corporation; and
WHEREAS, With more than 30 years of financial services experience,
Priscilla Brown has led Amalgamated with a clear-eyed conviction that
banking can and must be a force for social good, most notably in her
leadership of the campaign to create a merchant category code for gun
stores, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at identifying illegal gun
purchases and reducing gun violence; and
WHEREAS, The 2026 Frederick Douglass Medallion is further awarded to
Chip Wade, Chief Executive Officer of Union Square Hospitality Group
(USHG), one of just a handful of Black CEOs in the restaurant industry;
he was recently named the Gold Plate Award Winner by IFMA, the Food Away
from Home Association, recognized by his mentor and former Darden
Restaurants CEO, Clarence Otis, as "a culture man first" whose
people-first leadership has driven Union Square Hospitality Group's
excellence and growth; and
WHEREAS, Chip Wade, a Pennsylvania native who earned his culinary
degree from Johnson & Wales University, Bachelor of Science from Widener
University, and Master of Business Administration from the University of
Texas at Dallas, joined the USHG executive team as President in 2019,
following a 30-year career in the hospitality industry, and was named
CEO in 2022, succeeding USHG founder Danny Meyer; and
WHEREAS, The 2026 Frederick Douglass Medallion is also awarded to
The Honorable Anne Williams-Isom who served as Deputy Mayor for Health
and Human Services for the City of New York from January 2022 to March
2025; Deputy Mayor Williams-Isom brought more than 25 years of
leadership experience, serving children, families, and underserved
communities, to a role that placed her at the center of the City's most
pressing health and human services challenges; and
WHEREAS, A native of Queens, graduate of Fordham College at Lincoln
Center, and Juris Doctor recipient from Columbia Law School, Anne
Williams-Isom served as CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone after spending
13 years at the NYC Administration for Children's Services where she
built a career of uncommon breadth and purpose dedicated to the
proposition that every child and every family in this City deserves to
be seen, supported, and given the chance to thrive; and
WHEREAS, Each of the 2026 honorees, in their respective fields,
embodies the spirit of Frederick Douglass as the New York Urban League
has always understood it: that the work of justice is not a single act
but a lifelong practice; that the measure of a person's greatness is
found in their willingness to use their gifts in service of those who
have been left behind; and that the promise of this Nation is only as
real as our collective commitment to making it so for everyone; and
WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is proudly moved to honor the New
York Urban League, its President and CEO, Arva Rice, its board and
staff, and the four extraordinary New Yorkers, who will receive the
Frederick Douglass Medallion at this Diamond Anniversary celebration,
whose lives and legacies reflect the finest ideals of service,
leadership, and the pursuit of justice; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commend the New York Urban League, upon the occasion of hosting its 60th
Annual Frederick Douglass Awards Dinner on June 4, 2026, and to extend
heartfelt congratulations to honorees Whoopi Goldberg, Priscilla Sims
Brown, Chip Wade, and The Honorable Anne Williams-Isom upon their
receipt of the Frederick Douglass Medallion; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to the New York Urban League and its President and CEO, Arva
Rice, in recognition of 60 years of commitment to education, equity, and
the unfinished work of Frederick Douglass.
