Girl Scouts of Greater New York to Honor Five Extraordinary Leaders at Annual Gold Achievement Gala
April 28, 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Linnea Mumma, linnea@anatgerstein.com, 347-861-4167
–Former CEO of BBH USA Amani Duncan, Principal of Glasheen & Co. Maeve DuVally, Former First Deputy Mayor of the City of New York Lorraine Grillo, Chief Human Resources Officer of TPG Global Anilu Vazquez-Ubarri, and CEO of Transit Wireless Melinda White to be honored for their achievements and leadership–
(New York, N.Y.) — On Tuesday, May 9, 2023, Girl Scouts of Greater New York will host its annual Gold Achievement Gala at the Ziegfeld Ballroom. The event supports Girl Scouts’ signature leadership development programming across the five boroughs. Each year, Girl Scouts of Greater New York presents leaders who exemplify outstanding achievement and integrity in their fields with Gold Achievement Awards inspried by the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest achievement in Girl Scouting.
This year's honorees are: former CEO of BBH USA Amani Duncan, Principal of Glasheen & Co. Maeve DuVally, Former First Deputy Mayor of the City of New York Lorraine Grillo, Chief Human Resources Officer of TPG Global Anilu Vazquez-Ubarri, and CEO of Transit Wireless Melinda White.
“It is a joy to honor and spend the evening with these remarkable leaders at our annual Gold Achievement Gala,” said Meridith Maskara, CEO of Girl Scouts of Greater New York. “Each of them is a real force, showing young Girl Scouts that through hard work and self-belief, their future is limitless. We are proud to recognize these leaders for their work in improving equity in their fields, and for being exceptional role models for the Girl Scouts that will follow in their footsteps.”
During the evening, Girl Scouts of Greater New York will also celebrate this year’s achievements, including the sixth birthday of Troop 6000, a program designed to bring Girl Scouting to girls who are experiencing homelessness. Since its first meeting in 2017, the program has grown to meet in 24 shelters across the city, and has reached more than 2,000 girls and women.
Girl Scouts of Greater New York is the only all-urban Girl Scout council in the US, and its mission is to bring Girl Scouting to every girl across the five boroughs, through innovative, targeted initiatives like Troop 6000, Girl Scouts for All, and more. Girl Scouts, explore STEM, business and entrepreneurship, environmental leadership, advocacy, while giving back to their local community, learning how to be a leader, make long-lasting friendships. Girl Scout programs are designed to give girls the skills and confidence they need to lead, succeed, and make the world a better place.
For more information about the Gold Achievement Gala, please visit: https://www.girlscoutsnyc.org/en/support/gold-achievement-gala.html.
About the honorees:
Amani Duncan: As the former CEO of BBH USA, Amani Duncan would oversee the daily operations while managing high-level strategy and direction for clients Google, Heineken, Samsung, Barbie, Walmart, Netflix, and Pernod Ricard. Duncan has helped bring to fruition major campaigns including Glass Ceiling Breaker, a portrait homage to the U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Google’s Black Owned Friday for its 3rd year, receiving over 100 industry awards to date.
Additionally, under Duncan’s stewardship, in 2022 BBH USA was named an Ad Age A-List Standout Agency and was a shortlist for 2022 Adweek’s Mid-Sized Agency of the Year. An advocate for female leadership and diversity, Duncan is a founding member of Chief, the leadership network for women, and serves on several boards including Fender Guitars (FMIC). Her leadership has earned her industry recognition as Ad Age A-List’s 2022 Agency Executive of the Year. She has also been recognized as an Adweek Women Trailblazer 2022, a Campaign Female Frontier Award honoree and Advertising Week’s Future is Female Awards winner. She served as a 2021 Cannes Lions Entertainment Lions juror, Effie Awards co-chair and Grand Effie juror. In 2022, Duncan served as President of the Entertainment Lions for Music jury at Cannes Lions, Clio Music Awards Music Marketing juror and Campaign Female Frontier Awards 2022 juror. In 2023, Duncan will serve as Jury President Dubai Lynx and juror for Ad Age’s Creativity Awards and Advertising Week Africa’s Future is Female Awards.
Maeve DuVally: Maeve is a multi-cultural communications specialist, storyteller and LGBTQ+ advocate. She has spent the bulk of her career as a journalist and corporate spokesperson, most recently at Goldman Sachs. After a lifetime of working for large companies, she is forging her own path, now consulting for corporations and other entities on communications strategy and diversity, equity and inclusion. Maeve also mentors transgender people and is a frequent public speaker on LGBTQ+ workplace
issues. She was a managing director in corporate communications at Goldman Sachs over an 18-year career. Prior to joining Goldman, Maeve worked in media relations at Merrill Lynch. Before that, she was a financial journalist and editor at Bridge News for nearly 15 years with stints in Tokyo, Washington D.C. and New York. She spent ten formative years in Japan in the 1980s and is fluent in the language.
Maeve serves on the boards of GLAAD; the Knight-Bagehot Fellowship, a journalism non-profit; Connecticut-based LGBTQ+ health provider Anchor Health Initiative; and Trans New York. She earned a B.A. in English from Providence College in 1983 and was a Knight-Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism School in 1994.
Lorraine Grillo: As New York City’s Senior Advisor for Recovery, Lorraine Grillo leads coordination across City government to supercharge Mayor de Blasio’s recovery agenda, as detailed on RecoveryForAll.nyc.gov. From working with city agencies to cut red tape for small businesses and securing the City’s $1 billion investment in Life Sciences, to driving the launch of the City’s Cleanup Corps and City Artist Corps, Grillo’s leadership is guiding the City’s efforts to build a recovery for all of us.
Prior to her appointment as Senior Advisor for Recovery, Lorraine Grillo served as President and CEO of the New York City School Construction Authority (SCA) and Commissioner of the Department of Design and Construction (DDC). Grillo began her career at the SCA over 25 years ago as a Community Relations specialist. Over the years, she held a variety of positions within the agency including Director of Government and Community Relations, Senior Director of Real Estate Services, Executive Director/Chief of Staff to the President, and Acting President and CEO. After successfully opening 26 new schools, at the time the single most successful year in SCA history, she was appointed President and CEO. In February 2014, Mayor Bill de Blasio reappointed Grillo to her position making her one of only two re-appointments from the prior administration and the longest serving SCA president. In July 2018, While continuing to serve as SCA President and CEO, Grillo was also appointed Commissioner of the Department of Design and Construction.
Within 10 years, Grillo built over 80,000 K-12 school seats and over 9,000 universal Pre-K seats, coordinated almost 4,000 capital improvement projects in New York City buildings, and has managed a total of $28 billion in budgets. She led the SCA in its effort to find new and innovative ways to address school overcrowding including developing strong public/private partnerships with major developers. At SCA, Grillo’s team was responsible for the reopening of 71 schools damaged by Hurricane Sandy in record time. In addition, in 2015, under her leadership, the SCA met the administration’s
mandate opening 35 Universal Pre-K centers for the city’s four-year-old children in less than six months. Grillo maintained the authority’s reputation for the best minority-and women-owned businesses (MWBE) program in New York state, and as a national model, and continues to be a tireless advocate for the MWBE community. Today, working with the New York City Taskforce on Racial Inclusion and Equity, Grillo builds on her work supporting MWBEs and pushing for economic justice across recovery efforts.
Anilu Vasquez-Ubarri: Anilu Vazquez-Ubarri is a Partner and TPG’s Chief Human Resources Officer, based in San Francisco. Anilu is a member of TPG Inc.’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee, the Executive Sponsor of TPG NEXT, and co-chair of the TPG Diversity Equity and Inclusion Council with CEO, Jon Winkelried. Anilu currently serves on the boards of Upwork, Inc., Greenhouse Software, Inc. and the boards of the following nonprofit companies: Teach for America-Bay Area, the Vera Institute of Justice and Charter School Growth Fund. Prior to joining TPG in August 2018, Anilu was with Goldman Sachs for more than 11 years, where she most recently was the firm’s Global Head of Talent and Chief Diversity Officer. Prior to Goldman Sachs, Anilu was an associate at Shearman & Sterling LLP in the Executive Compensation & Employee Benefits group from 2002 to 2007. Anilu received an AB in History and Latin American Studies, cum laude, from Princeton University and a JD from Fordham University School of Law.
Melinda White: As CEO of Transit Wireless (subsidiary of global BAI Communications) since 2018, it is her strategic vision shared with state and local government officials that results in the design, build, and operation of 5G communication networks across the transportation industry. Under Melinda’s leadership, the firm is positioned on the precipice of historic growth with the recently announced MTA Communications Expansion Project, the largest of its kind in North America. This is a game-changer for New Yorkers as Transit Wireless builds a network throughout the NYCT subway lines. Connectivity will bring peace of mind, productivity, and operational enhancements to all riders. Across her career, Melinda’s poise as a public speaker has allowed inspiring interaction with employees, customers and communities. Melinda’s leadership style embodies her belief that every person matters! Her personal journey ensures diversity and excellence are at the forefront of all endeavors.
About Girl Scouts of Greater New York
Girl Scouts of Greater New York is New York City’s oldest and largest girls’ leadership organization, reaching tens of thousands of girls ages 5 to 18 in every zip code of the five boroughs. Through Girl Scouts, girls explore STEM, business and entrepreneurship, environmental leadership, and outdoor adventure, advocacy, and so much more. Girl Scouting is ‘by girls, for girls,’ and today’s Girl Scouts learn to lead with courage, confidence, and character, to make the world a better place. Visit www.girlscoutsnyc.org to learn more.
