A'ja Wilson
WNBA Pro Basketball Player
Event: 2024 Time 100 Gala l 4.25.2024
Location: Frederick P. Rose Hall (Jazz at Lincoln Center), NYC
"2024 Time Titan of The Year Award Recipient”
WNBA Professional Basketball Player for the Las Vegas Aces, Olympic Gold Medalist and 2x WNBA Champion
Alex Edelman
Actor/Comedian
Event: 2024 Time 100 Gala l 4.25.2024
Location: Frederick P. Rose Hall (Jazz at Lincoln Center), NYC
"2024 Time Artist of The Year Award Recipient”
Stand-up comedian based in New York City. He is an internationally touring comic and found early success in the United Kingdom where he was named Best Newcomer at the 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Billy Porter
Actor, Singer, Writer, and Director.
Event: 2024 Time 100 Gala l 4.25.2024
Location: Frederick P. Rose Hall (Jazz at Lincoln Center), NYC
"VIP Guest Attendee & Former Time Award Recipient (2020)”
Billy is A GRAMMY, EMMY, AND TONY AWARD WINNER. Before embarking on a career as a mainstream pop vocalist, Billy Porter built a substantial reputation as a theatrical singer in Broadway productions such as Grease and Smokey Joe's Cafe. He made his initial impact by placing 'Love Is On The Way' on the soundtrack to the film First Wives' Club, in 1996.
Dominique Crenn
Chef
Event: 2024 Time 100 Gala l 4.25.2024
Location: Frederick P. Rose Hall (Jazz at Lincoln Center), NYC
"2024 Time Innovator of The Year Award Recipient”
French chef. As of 2016, she was the only female chef in the United States to attain three Michelin stars, for her restaurant Atelier Crenn, in San Francisco. Crenn has been featured in several Food Network and other television shows
Don Lemon
TV Journalist
Event: 2024 Time 100 Gala l 4.25.2024
Location: Frederick P. Rose Hall (Jazz at Lincoln Center), NYC
"2024 Time Innovator of The Year Award Recipient”
He is best known for being a host on CNN from 2014 until 2023. He anchored weekend news programs on local television stations in Alabama and Pennsylvania during his early days as a journalist. Lemon worked as a news correspondent for NBC on its programming, such as Today and NBC Nightly News. Lemon is also a recipient of an Edward R. Murrow Award in 2002 for his coverage of the capture of the Washington, D.C. snipers. He also received three regional Emmy Awards for his special report on real estate in Chicago and a business feature on craigslist.
Kelley Robinson
Human Rights Activist
Event: 2024 Time 100 Gala l 4.25.2024
Location: Frederick P. Rose Hall (Jazz at Lincoln Center), NYC
" 2024 Time Titan of The Year Award Recipient”
American community organizer who is the current president of the Human Rights Campaign. She was formerly the executive director of Planned Parenthood Action Fund
Kelly Sawyer Patricof & Norah Weinstein
Baby2Baby Founders
Event: 2024 Time 100 Gala l 4.25.2024
Location: Frederick P. Rose Hall (Jazz at Lincoln Center), NYC
"2024 Time Pioneers of The Year Award Recipient”
This dynamic duo who have made a significant impact on the lives of families who are struggling. Their dedication and tireless efforts to provide essential items for children through their work with Baby2Baby have helped so many families across the country—their passion for giving back is truly inspiring. Kelly and Norah’s leadership and vision have transformed Baby2Baby into a beacon of hope, providing items such as diapers, clothing, and other necessities to ensure that children have what they need to thrive.
Maria Bello
Actress, Writer, and Producer
Event: 2024 Time 100 Gala l 4.25.2024
Location: Frederick P. Rose Hall (Jazz at Lincoln Center), NYC
"VIP Guest Attendee”
Star of Netflix TV Series “Beef” Her first major film role was in 1998's Permanent Midnight. She followed this with a range of supporting and leading parts in films such as Payback , Coyote Ugly, The Cooler, Secret Window, Assault on Precinct 13, A History of Violence, Thank You for Smoking, World Trade Center, The Jane Austen Book Club, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Grown Ups, Prisoners, and Lights Out.
Outside of film, Bello is best known for playing Anna Del Amico in the medical drama ER and Jacqueline "Jack" Sloane in the police procedural drama NCIS. She received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination and won a Critics' Choice Award for her performance in the limited series Beef, The Guardian named her one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination.
Osas Ighodaro
Nigerian-American Actress
Event: 2024 Time 100 Gala l 4.25.2024
Location: Frederick P. Rose Hall (Jazz at Lincoln Center), NYC
"VIP Guest Attendee”
Osas is best known for her work in ‘Rattlesnake’, ‘Smart Money Woman’, ‘Fela and the Kalakuta Queens’, ‘Cadillac Records’ & ‘Tyler Perry’s ‘Meet the Browns’ amongst her many projects. She founded the production company, ‘Imuetinyan Productions’, who’s aim is to produce projects that both entertain and create positive impact.
Osas was awarded for ‘Best Actress in a Drama’ consecutively at the 2022 & 2023 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards, respectively. In 2021, she was named ‘Woman of the Year in Entertainment’ at the HER Network Awards. Osas was also named the ‘Highest Grossing Box Office Actress’ in Nollywood in 2018, Best TV Actress at the 2014 Exquisite Lady of the Year Awards and amongst the top 3 highest grossing actresses in 2020, respectively. In 2010, Osas was crowned Miss Black USA and was the first Nigerian American to do so.
Osas is an advocate against the spread of preventable diseases and in turn is the founder of the NGO, Joyful Joy Foundation, which strives to eradicate Malaria throughout Africa – one community at a time.
Sakshi Malik
Former Indian Freestyle Wrestler
Event: 2024 Time 100 Gala l 4.25.2024
Location: Frederick P. Rose Hall (Jazz at Lincoln Center), NYC
"2024 Time Icon of The Year Award Recipient”
Former Indian freestyle wrestler. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she won the bronze medal in the 58 kg category, becoming the first Indian female wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics
Sam Tsemberis
Homeless Activist & Founder of Pathways Housing First
Event: 2024 Time 100 Gala l 4.25.2024
Location: Frederick P. Rose Hall (Jazz at Lincoln Center), NYC
"2024 Time Pioneer of The Year Award Recipient”
Greek Canadian clinical and community psychology practitioner, and the founder and executive director of Pathways to Housing, a Housing First program for individuals with serious mental illnesses, long histories of homelessness, and often co-occurring substance abuse.
Sharon Lavigne
American environmental justice activist
Event: 2024 Time 100 Gala l 4.25.2024
Location: Frederick P. Rose Hall (Jazz at Lincoln Center), NYC
"2024 Time Pioneer of The Year Award Recipient”
American environmental justice activists in Louisiana focused on combating petrochemical complexes in Cancer Alley. She is the 2022 recipient of the Laetare Medal, the highest honor for American Catholics, and a 2021 recipient of the Goldman Environmental Prize
Tarana Burke
Founder of The Me Too Movement
Event: 2024 Time 100 Gala l 4.25.2024
Location: Frederick P. Rose Hall (Jazz at Lincoln Center), NYC
"VIP Guest Attendee & Former Time Award Recipient (2018)”
American activist from New York City, who started the MeToo movement. In 2006, Burke began using MeToo to help other women with similar experiences to stand up for themselves.
Collette V. Smith
Former NFL Coach for the NY Jets.
Event: Collette V. Smith’s 50+5 Birthday Soiree w/a Purpose l 4.11.2024
Location: Terrace on the Park, Queens, NY
"Event Honoree”
She is the First African/American Female Coach in NFL’s History (Team: NY Jets). She is also a former Female Pro Football Player for the NY Sharks and now presently a Motivational Speaker, Women’s Right Activist & Founder of Believe N You Inc.
Joy-Ann Reid
MSNBC New Journalist & TV Host
Event: Collette V. Smith’s 50+5 Birthday Soiree w/a Purpose l 4.11.2024
Location: Terrace on the Park, Queens, NY
"VIP Guest”
She is an American journalist and television host. She is a national correspondent for MSNBC and is best known for hosting the political commentary program The ReidOut since July 2020. Her previous anchoring credits include The Reid Report and AM Joy.
Keiron Bigby
Former Pro Football Player
Event: Collette V. Smith’s 50+5 Birthday Soiree w/a Purpose l 4.11.2024
Location: Terrace on the Park, Queens, NY
"VIP Guest”
He is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins during the 1987 NFL season. He played college football at Brown. In 2018, Bigby was awarded a Super Bowl ring for playing for the Redskins in 1987, the year they won Super Bowl XXII.
Presently he is the Co-Founder & Owner of K Street Spirits
Keith Beauchamp
Filmmaker
Event: Collette V. Smith’s 50+5 Birthday Soiree w/a Purpose l 4.11.2024
Location: Terrace on the Park, Queens, NY
"VIP Guest”
He is an American filmmaker based in Brooklyn and best known for his extensive investigation of and films about the lynching of Emmett Till. Beauchamp was born in 1971 and grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Dr. Keith C. Perrin Jr.
FUBU Brand Co-Founder
Event: Collette V. Smith’s 50+5 Birthday Soiree w/a Purpose l 4.11.2024
Location: Terrace on the Park, Queens, NY
"VIP Guest”
FUBU, short for “For Us By Us,” was founded in 1992 by Daymond John, J. Alexander Martin, Keith Perrin, and Carlton Brown as a hat company. During the 1990s, it became a popular fashion choice in the street-wear scene and by the early 2000s, it had gained worldwide recognition.
Michelle J. Howard
U.S. Navy Admiral
Event: Collette V. Smith’s 50+5 Birthday Soiree w/a Purpose l 4.11.2024
Location: Terrace on the Park, Queens, NY
"VIP Guest”
She is a 1982 Naval Academy graduate, Adm. Michelle Howard became the first black woman to command a U.S. Navy combatant ship, USS Rushmore (LSD 47) (1999). She was the first woman promoted to the rank of four-star admiral (2014). Upon her promotion, Howard became the highest ranking woman in U.S. armed forces history and the highest ranking black woman in Navy history. She served as VCNO from 2014 to 2016. Howard also became the first woman four-star admiral to command operational forces when she assumed command of both U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Naval Forces Africa and Allied Joint Forces Command Naples (NATO) from 2016 to 2017. Howard retired from the Navy in 2017, after nearly 36 years of service.
Tracey Bagley
ABC Executive TV Producer
Event: Collette V. Smith’s 50+5 Birthday Soiree w/a Purpose l 4.11.2024
Location: Terrace on the Park, Queens, NY
"VIP Guest”
She is the Executive Producer of Here & Now at WABC with Sandra Bookman
Deji LaRay
Actor, Writer & Producer
Event: Bounce TV “Johnson” Private Screening & Q&A l 4.10.2024
Location: Scripps Network, 810 7th Ave, NYC
"Writer, Creator, Producer & Cast Member (Greg)”
Deji LaRay, the creator of Johnson, is a multi-talented actor, writer and producer from Atlanta. After performing on Broadway at just 13-years-old, training with the Alliance Theater and the Youth Ensemble of Atlanta, and ultimately graduating from high school, LaRay took his talents to Los Angeles, where he received a BA in Film and TV from Cal State Los Angeles, studying directing and filmmaking to hone his skillset. LaRay can be seen starring in seasons two and three of Age of the Living Dead. He spent six seasons on Bosch and appeared in three episodes in season one of Greenleaf. Off the set, LaRay is passionate about mentorship and aims to start his own nonprofit that will help mentor children in inner cities and show them that the world is bigger than the neighborhood in front of them.
Earthquake
Comedian & Actor
Event: Bounce TV “Johnson” Private Screening & Q&A l 4.10.2024
Location: Scripps Network, 810 7th Ave, NYC
"Cast Member (Booker)”
Stand-up comedian, actor, voice artist and radio personality. He presently hosts a radio show entitled, Quakeshouse for SiriusXM and Kevin Hart's Laugh Out Loud Network
Thomas Q. Jones
Actor
Event: Bounce TV “Johnson” Private Screening & Q&A l 4.10.2024
Location: Scripps Network, 810 7th Ave, NYC
"Cast Member (Omar)”
Thomas Q. Jones is a captivating force on and off the field. While best known as an unstoppable all-time leading running back that played 12 seasons in the NFL, his focus has turned to acting and technology. Jones served as Showrunner and lead actor in Johnson, and has executive produced and appeared in film and television shows including Straight Outta Compton, P-Valley, Tales, Luke Cage, Shameless, Being Mary Jane, Runaway Island and A Violent Man. Off the set, he is co-founder and CEO JoinLevel, LLC, and is the co-founder and Executive Producer of Midnight Train Productions. Jones grew up in Big Stone Gap, VA with six siblings and his coal-miner parents, whom he collaborated with to publish "Blessings from the Dust," a book inspired by family struggles endured in Virginia’s poverty-stricken coal-mining camps.
Curtis Sliwa
Founder of The Guardian Angels & 2021 & 2025 NYC Republican Mayoral Candidate
Event: 2024 NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade l 3.16.2024
Location: 5th Ave, NYC
"VIP Guest Attendee”
The Guardian Angels is a non-profit international volunteer organization with the goal of unarmed crime prevention. The Guardian Angels organization was founded on February 13, 1979, in New York City
Edward Caban
Eric Adams
NYC Mayor
Event: 2024 NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade l 3.16.2024
Location: 5th Ave, NYC
"VIP Guest Attendee”
Eric Leroy Adams is an American politician and former police officer, serving as the 110th mayor of New York City since 2022. Adams was an officer in the New York City Transit Police and then the New York City Police Department for more than 20 years, retiring at the rank of captain
Jeffrey Maddrey
Chief of the NYPD
Event: 2024 NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade l 3.16.2024
Location: 5th Ave, NYC
"VIP Guest Attendee”
Police Officer who is currently serving as the chief of the New York Police Department. He was appointed to the position by New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Maddrey is a former inspector in the 75th Precinct in Brooklyn and former assistant chief.
Letitia James
Attorney General of New York
Event: 2024 NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade l 3.16.2024
Location: 5th Ave, NYC
"VIP Guest Attendee”
Lawyer, activist, politician, & member of the Democratic Party. She is also the first African-American and first woman to be elected to the position of Attorney General
Mark D. Levine
Manhattan Borough President
Event: 2024 NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade l 3.16.2024
Location: 5th Ave, NYC
"VIP Guest Attendee”
He is also the an educator, chair of the City Council Health Committee and former chair of the City Council’s Parks Committee.
Alexis Sims
Actress
Event: “Mississippi Land” Stage Reading l 2.4.2024
Location: LeFrak Concert Hall, Queens College, NY
"Cast Member - Gloria”
Alexis Sims is a Broadway and TV actress known for her roles in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), Blue Bloods (2010) and Love Life (2020).
April Walker
Fashion Designer
Event: “Mississippi Land” Stage Reading l 2.4.2024
Location: LeFrak Concert Hall, Queens College, NY
"VIP Guest Attendee”
Urban Fashion Mogul/Designer and founder of Walker Wear a heritage lifestyle fashion brand straight from Brooklyn. Donned by greats like BIG, TUPAC, RUN-DMC, Barrel Brothers, Joey Badass, Power.
Dave Huie
Founder of UNK NBA & CEO of Vio/k Marketing Group
Event: “Mississippi Land” Stage Reading l 2.4.2024
Location: LeFrak Concert Hall, Queens College, NY
"Executive Producer”
UNK brand and its imprint on NBA fashion began as a grassroots, underground hustle, but it blossomed into a multi-million dollar company, along with being the CEO of Vio/k Marketing Group, which was dedicated and named after his mother, Violet Kathleen.
Gina Keys
Arts Educator, Director, Playwright, Songwriter & Choreographer.
Event: “Mississippi Land” Stage Reading l 2.4.2024
Location: LeFrak Concert Hall, Queens College, NY
"Playwright”
Gina Keys, is a playwright originally from Chicago, Illinois. Her career began as a professional equity entertainer, performing internationally and on Broadway, touring with musicals such as the ”Will Rogers Follies” Directed by Tommy Tune. Gina's writing began at New York University (Tisch School of the Arts) where she created her first collaborative black box one-act play. Gina has published two books available on Amazon and Kindle Books. Gina enjoys writing human stories, creating an opportunity for diverse voices, expanding the narrative of the African American experience in America.
Lance Roberts
Actor
Event: “Mississippi Land” Stage Reading l 2.4.2024
Location: LeFrak Concert Hall, Queens College, NY
"Cast Member - Richard ”
Broadway, tv, & film actor known for his roles in The Music Man on Broadway, Love Life on HBO Max, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Prime, Pose on FX, Best Man, NBC Blacklist, NBC Law and Order and much more..
Leon
Hollywood Actor, Producer, Director & Singer
Event: “Mississippi Land” Stage Reading l 2.4.2024
Location: LeFrak Concert Hall, Queens College, NY
"Cast Member - Bobby”
Leon is best known for his roles as David Ruffin in the TV miniseries The Temptations (1998), J.T. Matthews in the 1991 Robert Townsend film The Five Heartbeats, Derice Bannock in the 1993 film Cool Runnings, Shep in the 1994 basketball drama film Above the Rim, and Little Richard in the 2000 film Little Richard
Leon is currently and also the lead singer of the Reggae Band “Leon and the Peoples”
Melle Mel
Hip Hop Legend
Event: “Mississippi Land” Stage Reading l 2.4.2024
Location: LeFrak Concert Hall, Queens College, NY
"VIP Guest Attendee”
Melle Mel is known as a rapper who was the lead vocalist and songwriter of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. A hip hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in 1978. The group's members were Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Kidd Creole, Keef Cowboy, Scorpio, and Rahiem. They are the 1st Hip Hop Group/Artists to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Sunny Hostin
Co-Host ABC’s “The View”
Event: “Mississippi Land” Stage Reading l 2.4.2024
Location: LeFrak Concert Hall, Queens College, NY
"VIP Guest Attendee”
"Sunny" Cummings Hostin is an American lawyer, journalist, author, and television host. Hostin is co-host on ABC's morning talk show The View as well as the Senior Legal Correspondent and Analyst for ABC News.
