QUEENS AMBASSADOR AWARDS
Mohamed Amin
A champion of equality for all residents
Mohamed Q. Amin is a pioneering
Indo-Caribbean Muslim Gay Rights
activist native of Guyana,
who currently resides in
Richmond Hill.
On the eve of the
2013 Manhattan Pride
Parade, Amin and his
siblings were attacked
for being members of
the LGBTQ community
in their Southeast
Queens neighborhood.
In response to anti-
LGBTQ hate violence,
he founded the Caribbean
Equality Project (CEP), a
non-profit Caribbean LGBTQ
organization based in Queens.
As a passionate advocate for
human rights and gender equality, Mr.
Amin has been profiled in numerous
publications. Following the horrific
Pulse nightclub shooting, Mr. Amin’s
relentless advocacy to uplift Queer
Muslim voices were recognized with
a Proclamation from the New York
City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-
Viverito at NYC Council 2016 Eid
ul-Fitr Celebration and he received
a Citation of Honor from the Queens
Borough President Melinda
Katz and New York City
Council Members Daniel
Dromm and Jimmy Van
Bramer at the 2016
Queens Borough Hall
LGBTQ Pride Month
Celebration.
Amin was also
honored with a
Proclamation by NY
State Senator James
Sanders Jr. at the 2017
“Women Makes History”
gala in recognition of
his leadership, community
organizing and fearless advocacy
in New York State 10th Senate
District.
Amin has organized and led various
LGBTQ educational community
engagement forums, participated
in panel discussions and conducted
informative presentations at schools
and community organizations aimed
to break the silence on Caribbean
LGBTQ issues.
Raul Ampuero
Advocating safety reforms after son’s death
Af t er the unt i mely death
of his 9-year-old son, Raul
Ampuer o has b e e n c a l l ing
on the city to make
nec e s s a r y c h ange s to
ke ep Que ens s t r e e t s
s a fer.
On May 2 , 2 018 ,
Ampuero’s son
Giovanni was
k i l l e d b y a n e l d e r l y
d river in a Je ep
Compa s s whi le
c ros sing Nort hern
Bou leva rd ne a r
7 0 th St r e e t. Sinc e
Giovanni ’s death,
Ampue ro has been
asking t he cit y to i n s t a l l
mor e spe ed c amer a s , r e duc e
the s p e e d l imit on Nor t hern
Bouleva rd and hi r e more
c r o s sing g ua rds .
Acc ording to Ampuero ,
the c i t y h a s n o t b een making
s a fety a pr ior i ty. Ampuero
b el ieve s ther e should be
more lega l act ion aga ins t
r eck le s s d r ive r s and b el ieve s
t ra f f ic incidents could be
pr event ed by not renewing
t he d river ’s l ic ens e s of
e l d e rly p e ople who m ay
be o n m edic at i o n that
i n hibi t t hei r abi l i ty
t o d r ive.
On the one -ye a r
anniver sa r y of
Giovanni ’s death,
Ampuero took
pa r t in a v i g i l in
Jackson Hei g ht s
r enewi ng his ca l l
for inc r e a s e d s a fet y
measure s and hold ing
r e ckle s s dr iver s
r e sponsible for thei r
ac t ions . Sinc e Giovanni ’s
de ath, Ampue ro has been
worki ng wit h Fami l ie s for
Safe Streets, an advocacy
group formed by people who
have l o s t l o v e s on c i t y s t r e et s .
Ampue r o i s working to make
sur e that Giovanni is the
l a s t c h i l d to d ie b e c aus e o f
r e ck l e s s d r iving o n N o r t hern
Bouleva rd.
Shawn Choi
Building musical bridges between Korea & U.S.
Shawn Choi came t o New York
from Seoul in 2 0 0 4, and moved
f rom s tudying per forming ar t s
administrat ion at New York
University to working
in development ,
market ing , and
present ing at
Flushing Town
Hal l . He develops
and manages
m e m b e r s h i p ,
m a r k e t i n g ,
c ommu n i c a t i o n s ,
publ ic relat ions,
social media and
adver t ising.
Choi also curates
Korean per forming
and visua l arts programs
for Flushing Town Hal l. He
has extensive experience in
grant writing, programming
and ar t i st management and
has provided consultancy
to Korean art ists, and arts
organi zat ions.
Choi longed to bui ld s tronger
t ies between the Korean
t radit ional and contemporary
music scene and American
audiences, which inspi red
him to found his
own ar t ist agency,
SORI. He has been
an instrument a l
f igure in raising
awareness of
Korea’s diverse and
unique per forming
arts scene in the
U.S. and Canada.
SORI is a New
York C i ty based a r t i st
agency specia l i zing
in Korean world music
and its mission is to
int roduce power ful works
of Korean music to a global ,
cultural ly cu rious audience in
North America.
SORI ’s works include
programming, producing,
booking and touring as wel l as
art ist branding and marketing
services.
Vitaliya Boyar
Caring for the littlest is her life’s passion
Vita Boyar wanted to be a doctor as
a young girl growing up in Moldova.
Her mother taught her about home
remedies, natural products and the
importance of healthy skin.
Many years later, that
passion for skin and wound
care would grow into a
love of pediatric intensive
care allowing her to heal
children in a way that
few others can.
Boyar completed
her medical school
degree at University of
North Carolina, Chapel
Hill School of Medicine.
Now, as a Board-Certified
Neonatologist and Certified
Wound Specialist Physician,
she specializes in pediatric and
neonatal wound care, and is currently
the first (and only) certified wound
neonatologist in the country.
She developed and direct Cohen
Children’s Medical Center Neonatal
Wound Service and Pediatric Skin
Champions Team. Her neonatology
research involves various aspects
of wound care, including pressure
injuries prevention, healthy skin care
and most importantly use of non-toxic,
natural and safe products on pediatric
wounds.
Additionally, Boyar
has published multiple
papers and has traveled
internationally and
around the country
teaching other providers
on intricacies of pediatric
skin. She gas developed
the only Neonatal Wound
Service in our state,
educated many colleagues
and provided state-ofthe
art innovative care to
hundreds of local families
with wonderful results.
For Boyar, she gets the most
satisfaction from parents breathing
easier when they learn of her natural
methods to heal their children’s
wounds while minimizing pain and
harm. She loves to share and teach,
and has shared her knowledge with
many nurses and providers out in the
community.
22 TIMESLEDGER, JUNE 7-13, 2019 QNS.COM
/QNS.COM
