Metropolitan Museum honored Susan Taylor, Bonnie Wang, and Gale Brewer, last week, in celebrating Women’s History Month.
Susan Taylor is the former editor-in-chief of Essence magazine and now runs the group she founded, the National CARES Mentoring Movement, which is dedicated to closing the gap between the relatively few black mentors and millions of struggling black children. Harlem-born Taylor is of West Indian heritage, her mother is Trinidadian, and her father is from St. Kitts. As a teen, she lived in Queens.
After 37 years, Susan Taylor handed over the reins of Essence. She began planning her exit when she learned of the shocking statistic that 80% of Black fourth graders were reading below grade level. She founded National CARES Mentoring Movement in 2005, a transformational wellness and mentor-recruitment program. The program is guided by a Brain Trust of more than 60 scholars, physicians, educators, entrepreneurs, grassroots and faith leaders. Its goal is to provide one-on-one relationships and other role models opportunities to populations that have fallen far into the underachieving and wayward cracks in society.
Bonnie Wong, president of Asian Women in Business, which supports all aspects of Asian businesswomen and entrepreneurs, from skills-building workshops and seminars to identifying procurement opportunities and providing scholarships was also honored at the Museum. Additionally, Gale Brewer, newly elected borough president of Manhattan, former councilperson from the Upper West Side and decades-long community activist, received an award.
Photo by Tequila Minsky
