Advisory Council

Freida D. Foster
Vice Chair, NYS Workers’ Compensation Board

Frieda Foster served as a CUNY trustee for ten years (2006-2016), helping oversee campus management as vice chair for the Student Affairs Committee and chair for the University’s Standing Committee on Facilities. She began her CUNY experience as the NYC Human Resources Administration Liaison and Recruiter for CUNY’s Borough of Manhattan Community College Opportunity to Prepare for Employment Program (COPE) where she recruited for the program and advocated for student needs and resources.

Born and raised in Harlem and fiercely dedicated to giving back to the community, Foster serves in many capacities including as Board of Director for the Harlem Community Development Board, WNET/Thirteen Community Advisory Board, Life Member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc., and the Brooklyn Branch of the NAACP. Previously, she served as a Board Member for the CORO Leadership Program, Teacher’s Retirement System (TRS) and NYC Education Retirement System (NYCERS), Board Member for the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP), and founding member of Hofstra’s Women in Leadership Group.

Foster has decades of professional experience in the areas of government/civic service, public relations, and education. Prior to joining the New York State Worker’s Compensation Board, Freida entered state service as a community representative for the Executive Chamber, ultimately serving as the director of the Community Affairs Unit. In her current role with the Workers’ Compensation Board, she is responsible for assisting the chair with the administration and management of the agency, upholding the overall mission to protect the rights of employees and employers by ensuring the proper delivery of benefits to those who are injured or ill, and by promoting compliance with the law.

Curtis Archer
President, Harlem Community Development Corporation

Curtis Archer, as President of the Harlem Community Development Corporation since 2006, sees his role as essential in enhancing the economic climate for both businesses and residents in the Greater Harlem community.

Archer began his career in community development in the NYC Office of Business Development under Mayor David Dinkins as a Development Manager in the Neighborhood Development and Commercial Revitalization Program. He has also worked with the NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC) as Senior Project Manager where he was responsible for moving several retail projects ahead in the South Bronx and in Co-op City. He was appointed by Borough President Claire Shulman’s office as their Director of Economic Development and Liaison to the African American community. His previous positions include Director of Small Business Development for the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone and Executive Director of Rockaway Development and Revitalization Corporation (RDRC), where he successfully promoted the revitalization of the peninsula’s economic base and neighborhoods.

Barbara Askins
President and CEO, 125th Street Business Improvement District

Barbara Askins has over 20 years of experience improving cities, working on major projects in several cities that included reconstruction of highways and city streets, upgrading rail and bus systems, improving sewage-treatment facilities, creative public spaces, and sport and convention centers.

Askins currently serves as President and CEO of the 125th Street Business Improvement District in Upper Manhattan, New York City, successfully creating the first and only Business Improvement District (BID) in the Harlem community. She has guided the BID’s vison to become a multi-dimensional regional center through organization, public improvement infrastructure and design, marketing, retail, and real estate development activities. The BID has continued its efforts to develop programs in which some or all components of the programs can be run and/or managed by members of the community. Under her leadership, Harlem has been the site of many pioneering projects and her efforts culminated in the American Planning Association naming 125^th Street one of the 10 best streets in the country in 2007.

She has served as the Chair of the International Downtown Association, Vice Chair and Treasurer of New York City’s BID Manager’s Association, Chair of Manhattan Community Board #10 in Central Harlem, and as an adjunct professor at New York University teaching urban tourism development. She is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the Journal of Place Management and Development (United Kingdom) and Global Urban Development.

Joseph Awadjie
University Student Life Manager, CUNY
Chief Liaison to the University Student Senate, CUNY
Associate Director for External Relations & Compliance, CUNY Athletic Conference

Joseph Awadjie has a longstanding record of service at CUNY, currently holding the roles of Associate Director for External Relations & Compliance at the CUNY Athletic Conference, Chief Liaison to the University Student Senate (USS), and University Student Life Manager. His involvement with CUNY began as a student at Brooklyn College, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science and a Master of Science degree in Natural and Behavioral Sciences.

During his time at Brooklyn College, Awadjie served as Senator of Student Government, President of the Graduate Student Organization, and was elected as the 30th Chairperson of the USS. He played a crucial role in securing over $28 million in merit-based scholarships for CUNY students through grassroots advocacy efforts. In 2016, he led a successful campaign to halt tuition increases while securing additional funding for university programs.

Currently, Awadjie serves as Vice President of the Brooklyn College Alumni Association and mentors student leaders and student organizations.
Born and raised in Ghana, he is fluent in Twi, Fanti, and Ga. Awadjie is dedicated to enhancing public higher education and ensuring student participation in university governance.

Susan J. Beane, MD
Vice President and Executive Medical Director, Healthfirst

Dr. Susan Beane joined Healthfirst in 2009, bringing with her extensive professional experience in managed care. As Vice President and Executive Medical Director at Healthfirst, Beane focuses on care management and clinical provider partnerships, programs especially designed to improve the delivery of vital, evidence-based health care to our members. Dr. Beane, is a strong proponent of collaborating with and engaging providers to improve health outcomes.

Beane leads Healthfirst in collaborating with major healthcare delivery systems, local, and national policy experts on the design, implementation, and dissemination of innovative, outcomes focused models of care. Her research contributions span health of caregivers, obesity, and maternal health.

Prior to joining Healthfirst, Beane served as Chief Medical Officer for Affinity Health Plan for five years—during which time she helped Affinity’s plan become a top performer in quality and member satisfaction. Before that, she worked at AmeriChoice and HIP USA, as Medical Director.

Beane is a graduate of Princeton University and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Deneane Brown-Blackmon
Director, NYS Homes and Community Renewal, Upper Manhattan Borough Office

Deneane Brown-Blackmon is the Director of the Upper Manhattan Office of Rent Administration at New York State Homes and Community Renewal (formerly known as the Division of Housing and Community Renewal). She has held this position for 11 years. Prior to this role, Brown-Blackmon worked as a Labor Relations Mediator at the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation, where she provided guidance on training, managed time and attendance issues, resolved disputes, and prepared statements for arbitrations and collective bargaining negotiations.

In addition to her professional work, Brown-Blackmon is deeply involved in her community, serving on Community Board No. 10 as Chair of the Personnel Committee and is an active member of the Harlem YMCA, where she also sits on the Board. Raised in Harlem, Deneane is a dedicated community activist and leader, committed to helping her neighborhood thrive. Her extensive service includes participation on various boards, ranging from local organizations and Harlem churches to the Harlem Justice Center and the National Action Network.

Duclas Charles
Founder, CannaPharmD Education and Consulting
Founder, Black Health Connect

Duclas Charles, PharmD  is a first-generation Haitian-American born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Charles is a pharmacist and consultant working in the medical cannabis field with expertise in the endocannabinoid system and phytocannabinoid-derived medications. He is the founder of CannaPharmD Education and Consulting, and Black Health Connect, an international network of Health Professionals of African descent focused on addressing the issues of Health Equity for Black and Brown patients by addressing increased entrepreneurship, leadership, and diversity, equity, and inclusion in healthcare.

Charles practiced in community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, and served as operations manager at a tech-based pharmacy start-up before leaping into medical cannabis. Duclas’s love for helping and teaching others and his interest in integrative medicine made medicinal cannabis a perfect fit.

Charles served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Association for Cannabis Health Equity and Medicine (ACHEM), a member of the International Society of Cannabis Pharmacists, the Association of Cannabis Specialists, the National Pharmacist Association, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. Duclas also sits on the advisory cabinet for Black Entrepreneurs NYC (BE-NYC), a groundbreaking model established in 2019 to help create equity of opportunity by advancing Black entrepreneurship.

Charles discovered his love for science and people as a Chemistry Major at Brooklyn Technical High School, which led him to pursue his Pharmacy degree at Howard University in Washington, D.C.

Wellington Chen
Executive Director, Chinatown Partnership

As Executive Director of the Chinatown Partnership, Wellington Chen is responsible for guiding the overall direction of the Chinatown Partnership, including strategic planning, setting policy, and serving as the public representative of the organization.

Chen is a highly respected public servant, community advocate, and urban planning expert. As a senior consultant and advisor for the Planning Advocacy Group for over a decade, and a long-time Flushing resident, Chen played a key role in numerous community projects, including the revitalization of downtown Flushing. Notably, he was the first Asian American to serve as a Commissioner on the New York City Board of Standards and Appeals. In 1989, Chen co-founded Tri Plus Construction Corporation, a company focused on developing affordable housing in New York City.

An architect by training, Chen worked for renowned architect I.M. Pei from 1980 to 1985. He was a member of Community Board 7Q for over 13 years and a vice chair of Queens County Traffic Safety Board, and currently sits on a number of boards, including the Bowne House Historical Society, the City University of New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Healthcare Chaplaincy, and the NYC Economic Development Council.

Chen was born in Taiwan and grew up in Singapore, Hong Kong and Brazil.

Lyndon Haviland
President, Lyndon Haviland & Co LLC

Lyndon Haviland, MPH, DrPH, is an international health consultant with more than 30 years of public health experience. Haviland began her career in the US Refugee Service, working in multiple camps with South East Asia refugees. In 1991, she co-authored the first humanitarian needs assessment of Cambodia for the US Agency for International Development. She was the Senior Project Leader for the UN Secretary-General’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health Every Woman, Every Child), an initiative helped to align all member states of the United Nations around a common strategy for saving more than 16 million lives and raised more than $40 billion in new resources for women and children’s health globally.

As a consultant, Haviland’s work spans strategy, communications, leadership and partnership development. She has advised global leaders, presidents and agency heads on maternal and child health, access to vaccines, vaccine hesitancy, sexual and reproductive health, tobacco control and health promotion/disease prevention.

She has served as a Board member for numerous international and domestic NGOs including the American Public Health Association where she is the recipient of two of its highest honors, Friend of the Student Assembly and the Director’s Citation.

She holds a masters and doctorate degrees in public health from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, and has completed Advanced Management & Leadership training at the Harvard Business School.

Khary Lazarre-White, Esq
Executive Director & Co-Founder, The Brotherhood/Sister Sol

Khary Lazarre-White is a social entrepreneur, writer, organizer and attorney. In 1995 he co-founded The Brotherhood/Sister Sol, a nationally renowned, comprehensive youth development and educational organization that provides rites of passage programming, arts and enrichment based after school care, counseling, summer camps, job training, college preparation and scholarships, employment opportunities, community organizing training, legal representation, and month long international study programs to Africa and Latin America. The organization provides direct service, trains educators across the nation on its model and organizes to advance policy and social change.

Lazarre-White has extensive experience as a public speaker across the country, writes regular opinion pieces and essays for publications that include Huffington Post, NYU Press, Nation Books, and MSNBC.com. He has appeared as a regular guest contributor on MSNBC, on CNN, and widely on other media sites.

Lazarre-White has been recognized with an array of awards including from Oprah Winfrey, Ford Foundation, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Black Girls Rock, Andrew Goodman Foundation, Union Square Awards, Brown University, the National Recreation Foundation’s Robert W. Crawford Achievement Prize and with a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Fellowship.

He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in Africana Studies from Brown University, and his Juris Doctorate from Yale Law School where his focus was international human rights law and constitutional law.

Shatic Mitchell
Director of Civic Engagement, Central Park Conservancy

Shatic Mitchell serves as an ambassador to neighborhoods around Central Park in his capacity as Director of Civic Engagement for the Central Park Conservancy. Mitchell has played a pivotal role in facilitating opportunities for the Harlem community to connect with Central Park through initiatives like the upcoming Harlem Meer Center – a $150 million project slated to open in 2025 that will increase access to new and enhanced outdoor activities for communities around the north end of Central Park. He led the establishment of the inaugural Central Park Community Farmstand with the Corbin Hill Food Project which provides access to locally grown produce from black-owned farms to the Harlem community. Mitchell facilitated a collaboration with NYPD Community Link, fostering direct communication between community leaders, city agencies, and non-profit organizations to address persistent substance abuse, mental health, and homelessness along the Central Park North Corridor.

An alumnus of The George Washington University, Mitchell began his career in government and politics as a constituent liaison intern in the office of New York State Senator David A. Paterson, who later became the Governor of New York. He later worked at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C, and served as District Manager of Manhattan Community Board 10.

Mitchell is a committed member of the NAACP Mid-Manhattan Branch and actively contributes to various community-oriented organizations, including serving on the board of the Harlem Little League and participating in a youth mentorship boxing program.

Pat Wang, JD
Chief Executive Officer, Health First NY

Pat Wang serves as the CEO of Healthfirst, a one million member, not-for-profit health insurance plan serving the New York City metropolitan area. Healthfirst specializes in the needs of the region’s multi-cultural populations and is a 4-Star Medicare Advantage plan and the top ranked Medicaid managed care plan for quality in New York State.

Prior to joining Healthfirst in 2008, Wang clerked for the Honorable Whitman Knapp in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and practiced health law at Kalkines, Arky, Zall and Bernstein. She worked at the Greater New York Hospital Association for 17 years where she served as Senior Vice President of Health Finance and Managed Care and where her first major project was to create Healthfirst.

She is a graduate of Princeton University and New York University School of Law, where she received her J.D. degree, cum laude.

She has lived in China and Yugoslavia and is a longtime resident of New York City.

Jennifer Walden Weprin

Jennifer Walden Weprin is the former Executive Director of the Queens County Farm Museum, the longest continually farmed site in New York State, dating back to 1697, and the second largest cultural institution in Queens.

Prior to joining the Queens County Farm Museum, Weprin served as the Director of Cultural Affairs and Tourism for Queens Borough President Melinda Katz. In that role, she served as policy advisor on cultural affairs and tourism initiatives representing 2.3 million New Yorkers. Weprin was appointed to serve on the Mayor’s Citizens’ Advisory Committee for NYC’s first Cultural Plan, CreateNYC. She has also served as Ex Officio Director for the Borough President on twenty cultural boards of directors including NYC & Co. MoMA PS1, Museum of the City of New York, New York Hall of Science, Queens Botanical Garden, Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning, and Flushing Town Hall. Weprin was recruited by Borough President Katz in August 2016 from her role as Director of Marketing & External Affairs at the Louis Armstrong House Museum where she developed new programming to enrich visitor experiences and positioned the museum as a key player in NYC’s competitive cultural landscape.

Duffie Cohen
University Executive Director of Academic Planning