Pat Martin
Pat Martin is the CEO of HarlemYES
Inc., a community-based not-forprofit
organization she founded in
2015.
Pat was born in South Carolina and raised
in New York City, where her grandmother
introduced her to community service and
organizing.
In 1985, she left the corporate world to work
as the project coordinator for a pilot program
to integrate homeless children and families
into programs and services provided by the
Agency For Child Development and Police
Athletic League.
She later founded “The Learning Connection
2001 Inc,” to bridge gaps between home and
school by working with education officials
to offer student-led workshops focused on
building esteem, developing critical thinking
skills, and resolving conflicts.
At HarlemYES, Pat works with her wife,
Paulette Martin, and their team to create
and produce several intergenerational
programs and events for LGBTQ people
and allies, including the first NYC
Black Pride Women’s Forum, the
Harlem Youth Entrepreneurial
Spirit, Girls Empowerment
Summit, and the LGBTQ Women
of Color Summit.
In 2018 Pat co-founded the
Masculine Identified Lesbians
of Color Collective (MILCC),
which provides a safe space and
offers events and programs for
lesbians of color who present as
Masculine Identified/Masculine of
Center.
Pat also enjoys producing a “Song of
Legends” concert series for seniors. She sits on
the executive board of the Arturo Schomburg
Democratic Club and serves as chair of the
club’s LGBTQ Committee. She is a member of
Community Board 11.
Armen H. Merjian
Over the course of more than two
decades with Housing Works’ HIV
Law Project, attorney Armen H.
Merjian has conducted impact litigation on
issues involving HIV/AIDS, homelessness,
public benefits, disability, gender, and housing
discrimination.
Armen has litigated numerous landmark
cases, including Hanna v. Turner, which
gave homeless New Yorkers living with AIDS
the right to receive same-day placement
in emergency housing; and Henrietta D. v.
Bloomberg, which established that failing
to offer reasonable accommodations is an
independent form of disability discrimination.
Among other cases, Armen helped land a
victory in Bumpus v. New York City Transit
Authority, which concluded that 40,000 transit
authority workers would not be exempt from
the city’s human rights law. He also worked
on Wilson v. Phoenix House, which found that
drug treatment programs must abide by
New York State human rights law and
respect protections for transgender
individuals.
Armen is a co-author of the
national treatise on AIDS, “AIDS
and the Law,” and serves as a
member of the American Bar
Association’s HIV/AIDS Impact
Project. He is a contributing
author of the “Civil Rights
Litigation and Attorney Fees
Handbook” and “Tenants &
Landlords NYC: Not a Love Story.” He
is also the author of 18 law review
articles on human and civil rights.
Prior to joining Housing Works, Armen was
a solicitor at Herbert Smith and Winthrop,
Stimson, Putnam, and Roberts. Armen
graduated from Yale University and Columbia
University Law School.
HarlemYES
Housing
Works
(HIV Law
Project)
www.gaycitynews.com | 2021 Impact Awards 19
/www.gaycitynews.com
