3rd Annual Young Gets It Done Awards

Celebrating Our Top 5 Leaders Under 35

EVENT INFO
Wednesday, August 24th
7:30PM – 10:30PM
@ SL, 409 W. 14th St

SPECIAL GUESTS
HON. JOHN LIU
LT DAN CHOI
HON. SCOTT STRINGER
HON. LIZ KRUEGER
HON. MICAH KELLNER

ADMISSION
$10 For Members, $20 For Non Members, $25 For Membership & Event
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HOST COMMITTEE
(Raise or Contribute)
Event Chair – $1,000
Event Vice Chair – $500
Event Host – $250
Event Sponsor – $125
Available through ActBlue or feel free to contact MYD Finance Director Alex Leopold – finance@goMYD.com – for further information.

The Honorees
Lincoln Restler
Described by the Daily News’ Errol Louis as part of the “young insurgent candidates” of the Obama Generation, Lincoln Restler ran a successful grassroots campaign for State Committeeman (also known as District Leader) to clean up the borough’s Democratic party, which has seen three of the past four party bosses indicted on corruption charges.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Lincoln proudly serves as the Democratic Party leader of the 50th Assembly District comprised of Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Fort Greene, and Clinton Hill. Lincoln is a strong neighborhood advocate, active across the 50th AD as an elected officer of Community Board 2 and a board member of the Pratt Area Community Council. Professionally, Lincoln works as the Managing Director of the New York City Employment and Training Coalition, which is the leading coalition of workforce development providers in New York City.
Ava Farkas
Born and raised in the Bronx, she has worked as both a union and community organizer for the past 10 years. She joined the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union in 2010 as the Coordinator for the Living Wage NYC Campaign. Prior to that she spent five years at the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition leading a campaign for the community-led redevelopment the historic Kingsbridge Armory. After the demand for a multi-use facility where all employees would receive a Living Wage was rebuffed by the Bloomberg-selected Related Companies, the community succeeded in blocking the development from going forward at the City Council. It was the first time a poverty-wage, low road development was defeated during the Bloomberg Administration.
Natasha Dillon
A tireless advocate for LGBT rights and equality, a founding member of New York City’s Queer Rising, Natasha has organized several prominent LGBT demonstrations. In May 2010, Natasha was arrested at the White House for protesting the Obama Administration’s lack of leadership on the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” In July 2010, she was arrested for blocking traffic on the Las Vegas Strip, demanding Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) bring the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to a vote. In March and April 2011, Natasha was arrested in New York City, demanding immediate passage of Marriage Equality in New York State.

Natasha is the Vice President of Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, a board member of Community Board 3 in Manhattan, and has worked on several political campaigns. In 2010, Natasha served as Campaign Manager for Carlos Ramos, an attempt to oust Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. in the Bronx. Natasha was honored at Stonewall’s 5th Annual Women’s Awards for her leadership in politics and activism as well as named one of Velvetpark’s Top 25 Significant Queer Women in 2010. Natasha is also the founder of Guiding Proud, the first and only LGBTQ youth mentoring program in New York City.

Marvin Bing
He is the New York State Director for One Nation Working Together, a highly diverse social movement committed to building greater national unity around an economy that works for everyone – with a special focus on ensuring good jobs, justice and education for all. Marvin was one of the premier engineers of the One Nation Working Together Rally that took place in Washington, DC on October 2, where over 100,000 progressives gathered to call for financial reform. He also served as Northern Manhattan Field Director for Cy Vance, Jr. in his campaign for District Attorney and as a Political Field Representative with Amalgamated Transit Union International. Currently he serves a Board Member of Preserve Our Legacy, Inc., a not-for-profit that educates individuals, especially minorities, about the benefits of stem cells and treatment options they provide through peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC), bone marrow and umbilical cord blood donation.
Jose Luis Zacatelco
Born in a small town in Puebla, Mexico, at the age of 10 he migrated along with his mother and sister to the United States to be reunited with his father. Soon after he started the 6th grade he realized that life in the States wasn’t going to be easy. The language was different and he was having a hard time understanding the teachers. When he stated high school he was able to communicate with teachers and friends, but unfortunately the barriers coming ahead were even harder than not knowing a language. He soon realized he was in the country undocumented. At first there wasn’t much attention about being undocumented until the day that he walked into the office of his counselor. He asked “what opportunities are there for me going to college being that I am undocumented?” The response was something that he would have never imagined. “Well I think there’s not much future for you unfortunately even if you attend college you would not be able to work on what you study, honestly you should not bother,” the counselor replied.
With the morale down but not willing to give up he continued to study hard and at the age of 23 he enrolled at LaGuardia Community College where he plans to obtain a Bachelors in mental health and one day become a counselor at a High School or Junior High school to help young people understand that there’s nothing in this world that can stop you from achieving your dreams. For this same reason he helped co-found The New York State Youth Leadership Council (NYSYLC) an organization that works on improving access to higher education and creating equal opportunity for immigrant youth and children of immigrants, regardless of immigration status, through leadership development, organizing and advocacy.