Senator Smith names Adjoa Gzifa as his 2014 "Woman of Distinction."

ALBANY, NY - May 14 - Senator Malcolm A. Smith honored Ms. Adjoa Gzifa as his 2014 "Woman of Distinction," an award given to outstanding women living and working in New York State whose contributions have enriched the quality of life in their community and beyond.

Adjoa has served Southeast Queens in many capacities and is well known throughout the community as both a strong, well-educated leader and a kind-hearted, generous woman of faith.

Her accomplishments are too numerous to mention here, but they include serving as the chairwoman of Community Board 12 in Jamaica, Queens for five years and as chairwoman of the New York City Employment and Training Coalitions youth committee for four years. She is a board member of Neighborhood Housing Services of Jamaica, and a lifetime member of the York College Alumni Association. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Epsilon Pi Omega Chapter, and she was inducted into the Chi Alpha Epsilon Honor Society in October 2006.

Adjoa provides meals and gifts to the less fortunate during the holidays, mentors youth, and is a member of NYC CERT, a community emergency response team that is deployed to assist during emergency situations and also educates the community on disaster preparedness. But Adjoa's advocacy is not limited to the United States, however.

She has been traveling  to Ghana for more than twenty years, providing tuition, books, clothing and medicine to children in the villages there and is building a new school for the more than 600 students enrolled in the Oshiyie D/A Primary School in Ghana, through an organization she co-founded with colleague Barbara Bryant called Future Scholars of the World, Inc.  The school has grown sizably to approximately 500 students.

 "I am so honored to have the privilege of recognizing a hard advocate for education in Southeast Queens," said Senator Smith.