State Senate Rolls Out Red Carpet For Women of Distinction

By Marc Gronich

Poster of Raisa Chernina of Brooklyn, who was nominated by Staten Island Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton. Chernina did not attend the ceremony in Albany due to health problems.

Last Wednesday the Senate sponsored the program “Women of Distinction, Honoring Women in New York.” Four out of 63 award recipients were Jewish. Three of the awardees were available for interviews after the ceremony but did not travel to Albany for the occasion.

Raisa Chernina is the founder and executive director of the Sheepshead Bay-based Be Proud, Inc. [BPI], a New York City-based not-for-profit organization that works primarily with Brooklyn’s Russian-speaking communities. She is an immigrant from Minsk, Russia, who came to America 43 years ago.

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