2019 Anchor Awards

A charismatic and versatile flutist, Janet Arms has been a member of the New York City Opera orchestra since 1988. She has also performed and recorded with the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Ballet, Metropolitan Opera, St. Louis Symphony, Boston Symphony, and at Tanglewood. Arms has entertained throughout the United States and Europe while on tour.

Papa Asante is founder of The LAB Media Empire, LLC, a recording studio and rehearsal space in New Rochelle, N.Y., whose mission is to provide a creative environment in which artists can develop their craft.

Dartray Belk is an officer with the New York City Police Department, serving as the African American liaison to the Police Commissioner Unit. As a 12 year veteran with the NYPD, he has focused on nurturing and fostering relationships between the police department and the community in order to create a thriving group of active citizens.

Christiana Lang is a peace builder, an activist, and an upholder of equality. For the past seven years, she has worked in six different countries in a range of sectors including grass roots efforts and with local, state, federal, and international entities.

DeLois Lindsey—recently retired after more than 33 years with the University of Hartford—was a tireless advocate and mentor for generations of students. Lindsey came to the University in 1984 as a technical specialist working in Hillyer College (then named the College of Basic Studies). In 1992, she added coordinator of student services in Hillyer and, in 1994, took on a new role as director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs. In 2002, Lindsey became assistant vice president for student development.

Barbara and Leib Lurie are co-founders of Kids Read Now (KRN), a nonprofit organization working to eradicate the summer reading slide for K–3 students. Expanding nationwide, KRN will deliver 700,000 books to nearly 100,000 students from New York to Alaska in 2020.

Maria Tackett has established a highly respected career in nursing, health care, and educational leadership. Tackett served in the 405th Combat Support Hospital, United States Army Reserves, for 20 years. She was involved in training hundreds of medic and nurses in emergency and combat trauma care. In 2007–08, Tackett was deployed to Anbar Province, Iraq, where she was in charge of the emergency room that treated more than 3,000 patients.