Founder of The Farzana Foundation, Farzana Niemmann and 3 Time Emmy Award Winning Anchor and 2 Time NYTimes Best Selling Author, Rita Cosby

The Farzana Foundation held its Inaugural Gala at the Apostle’s Ballroom on November 29 th, 2022. It was a huge success with attendees including well known entrepreneurs, anchors, actresses, artists, models, socialites and
fashion designers including, emcee C-King, 3 Time Emmy Award Winning Anchor and 2 Time New York Times Best Seller, Rita Cosby, Designer/Supermodel, Avadora Mimouni, Designer, Elie Balleh, Singer, Model and Reality Show Stars, Jamila and Celina Niemann, Humanitarian, Eve Brookville, Model, Artist, and Actress Olga Gretchen Schwartz, Model and Makeup Artist Sabine Wonderwoman, Award Winning Actress, Julianne Michelle, Artist and Philanthropist, Vill E. Wright, Ukrainian-American, Artist and Philanthropist Tatyana Horoshko and Ukrainian- American Opera Singer,
Oleksandra Hrabova, Socialite, Juan Castelo Branco among many other notables. Fashion shows were featured including Diana Mahrach designs with models’ hair and makeup coordinated by Donna Sousa of Makeover Artistry. Food was catered by La Mila Catering Camp; Events and drinks by Empire Rockefeller Vodka and Peramo Wine, and entertainment by DJ Sulel.

All photos in this article by Jeff Smith

Jose Castelo Branco, Tomaczek Bednarek, Rita Cosby, Farzana Niemann, Avadora Mimouni, Alex Quint, Lorraine Silvetz and Julianne Michelle

Farzana Niemann and Artist, Vill E Wright and his portrait of Farzana.

Eve Brookville, Farzana Niemann, Avadora Mimouni and Lorraine Silvetz

Fashion show took place during the event including Designer, Diana Mahrach with Hair and Makeup coordinated by Donna Sousa. Food was catered by La Mila Catering & Events and drinks by Empire Rockefeller Vodka and Peramo Wine, and entertainment by DJ Sulel. One hundred percent of the funds raised went to funding water wells in the region of Herat, Afghanistan.

Emcee C-King

Farzana Niemann and Rita Cosby

Celina and Jamila Niemann

Farzana Niemann, Rita Cosby, Diane Sare and Lorraine Silvetz

Since 2017, Farzana’s family has provided funding for more than 61 freshwater wells in the area surrounding her birth city of Herat which is located in the Northwestern parts of the country near the border with Iran. This has enabled families, living in this area. to enjoy this basic necessity. While each of these wells provides water to literally hundreds of families, there is a great need to construct more to satisfy the people’s substantially greater requirements.

Tatyana Horoshko, Alex Gegera and Jenise Ariane

Gretchen Olga Schwartz, Farzana Niemann, Jose Castelo Branco, Eve Brookville

Tatyana Horoshko, Flora Pllumaj, Robert Baxter, Lorraine Silvetz and Rebecca Ricks

Those that do not have a freshwater well in their village must frequently travel great distances on foot and physically carry extremely heavy containers of water for their families. As a mother of three, Farzana recognizes the difficulties and stress one experiences as a parent, under normal conditions, let alone an untenable environment where one has little supply of basic necessities.

Farzana Niemann, Designer, Diana Mahrach and Eve Brookville

Singer, Oleksandra Hrabova

Farzana Niemann, Singers, Mother and Daughter, Oleksandra and Anna Hrabova

Farzana is a passionate and accomplished veteran in the healthcare industry who, for the first fifteen years of her career, worked as a senior registered nurse at some of the most prestigious hospitals in the city of Hamburg, Germany, where her family finally settled after fleeing the ravages of war in her birth country of Afghanistan. Farzana came to the UN from Hamburg in 2011 where she shifted her focus from medicine to becoming a full-time skincare specialist (NY licensed aesthetician) and celebrity makeup artist.

Designer, Elie Balleh and his lovely wife

Rita Cosby

Center of photo-Diana Mahrach, Farzana Niemann, Donna Sousa and models

Being a survivor of domestic violence Farzana has become an advocate for Women’s Empowerment that reinforced her sensitivity to the plight of women in Afghanistan. She has been an outspoken public speaker on this topic with the goal of providing women with a greater sense of unification and cohesiveness. This has included presentations to the Miss Immigrant Contest Unlabelled Award and The United Nation’s an organization dedicated to the promotion of Women’s Empowerment.

Lorraine Silvetz, Gretchen Olga Schwartz and Flora Pllumaj

Artist, Tatyana Horoshko and Farzana Niemann

Farzana feels particularly passionate about this project since her own life experiences closely parallel challenges that unfolded in Afghanistan. After the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 she was subjected to a terrifying environment of war over a two-year period where members of her nuclear family were murdered by the invading forces. Many of her surviving family were forced to flee the country or face certain death, although some remained to face the aftermath. Due to being exposed to this horrific environment, she became determined to create more palatable circumstances for those that remain in Afghanistan. As an advocate for women’s rights, she is deeply troubled by the subordination and general abuse experienced by women under the current regime and is determined to support and encourage a greater climate of justice in the area.

Farzana and Celina Niemann, Lorraine Silvetz and Rita Cosby

Lorraine Silvetz, Dr. Adal Hussain and Avadora Mimouni

The immediate goal of the Farzana Foundation is to provide funding for the construction of more freshwater wells. The benefit to families in this region cannot be overestimated. Farzana is determined to ensure that the the proud people of Afghanistan receive the proper treatment and basic necessities to which all of humanity should be entitled. I could not imagine a more noble goal.

Alex Quint, Lorraine Silvetz, Alex Gegera, Farzana Niemann, Artist, Tatyana Horoshko, and Emcee, C-King

For more information go to www.thefarzanafoundation.com
IG @thefarzanafoundation

Journalist, Lorraine Silvetz, MSW is a psychotherapist and Executive Director of Global Stress Initiative. She is a graduate of New York University’s School of Social Work.
Instagram @lorrainesilvetzofficial
Twitter @lorrainesilvetz
Photo Credit: Alvin Toro

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Our annual fashion show is set for June 3rd, right here in Sunnyside Gardens!
In our ninth year, our show celebrates the music of Broadway. Each Broadway shows tell a unique story about humanity, in the form of relationships, social and political issues, our young designers are each telling a unique story or their own through the clothing they choose to create and wear.
This year we encouraged our students to embrace their story along with the design process, from beginning to end. What most sewing do not get to do is make their own fabric. The fabric is the first decision in the design process. By making your own fabric or by altering the surface in some way, you have the opportunity to take total control of your ideas.
The students approached this project from a different points of view. Color blocking, layering textures and appliqué are a few of the surface design projects you will see on the runway. What you will notice most is hand printed fabric. More than half of our students chose to hand carve a print block and use that block to custom print their own fabric. One of our students took the plunge and sent her fabric to a professional printer to get her fabric made-to-order. Whatever process each young designer chose, the results are both very personal and amazing!
These creative young professionals are the future of fashion! You don’t want to miss this show!
The lights go on at 2:00 on June 3rd at Queen of Angels Auditorium.
To get tickets go to: BACKTACK to Broadway TICKETS

Show page. double click on Sunnyside Artworks to get the blog.

Project Streetwear 2017 “In This Moment”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiC_-XhZ_y0&list=PLPQSNVPy1LxeN5OnCAVz5dC6p4dniL-j1

#fashion #show #sunnyside #queens #art #works #annual #social #political #young #designers #broadway #humanity #relationships #celebrates #music #fabric #professional #surface #design #control #embrace #angels #auditorium #artwork #moment #project #streetwear #street #wear #blog

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Wearable gadgets.

And what better time to talk about that, than during Fashion Week season in New York—and here to do that is fashion and lifestyle reporter Katlean de Monchy, who joins us in studio today. Good morning, Katlean!

Katlean: good morning.

Anchor: And you have your top five hot fashion technology trends this morning!

Katlean: That’s right—fashion and technology are merging more and more and some of the new ideas that are coming out of that merger are really exciting.

Anchor: Okay, let’s get right to it!

Number five!

Katlean: Number five for me is what I call the Battle of the Smart Watches. As you mentioned, Apple should be shipping its much-anticipated watch this Spring, but in the meantime, there are some really great options out there, especially if you are an Android user rather than an iPhone user.

The most interesting to me is the Samsung Gear S, which you see on the left—the one with the bigger display. It’s a watch that can make phone calls without your phone nearby—not even the Apple Watch can do that. And it has a super-bright display called Super A-M-O-L-E-D, which seems perfect for a wearable that you have to use out in the sun and rain. The Samsung Gear Fit is more for workout fiends; you can read your text messages on it but I hope people aren’t going to try that while they’re running along the West Side Highway trail.

Anchor: And they’re retailing for less than the Apple Watch?

Katlean: Apparently—there’s no official word from Apple on pricing yet but Samsung is selling the Gear S for 200-dollars with contract and the Gear Fit for about 120-dollars —and no contract.

(Note: the reason the Gear Fit does not have a contract is because it can’t make calls and therefore does not need its own cellular plan).

Anchor: Okay, what’s at number four?

Katlean:

At number four is a 14-thousand dollar sewing machine.

(Take VO):

Now, you might think, how can a sewing machine cost 14-thousand dollars? But this latest 2015 Dream Machine from Brother—which by the way is the exclusive sewing machine company of Project Runway and its spinoffs—has been declared a Consumer Digests Best Buy. And THAT is really hard to get. It has a huge HD LCD screen—and a built-in design center—and video tutorials—and a camera-like device called an “Innov-Eye” that can scan what you’re trying to do and show you how to sew it or embroider it right on the LCD. So, for people who are serious about creating fashion, 14-thousand dollars for a machine like this really IS a Best Buy.

Anchor: And there are a lot of people who are THAT serious about sewing?

KATLEAN: Oh, yes. The American Sewing Guild, just to name one, has 125 chapters and more than a thousand individual groups. And we wouldn’t have Fashion Week without a lot of last-minute sewing!

Anchor: Ok. Number 3?

Katlean: At number three, Fitness sensors. They’re everywhere right now. They’re in workout clothes like the Hexoskin, which all by itself measures everything about your workout. There are companies like iFit which create a whole ecosystem to measure your health, your diet, your sleep, everything about you. And if you think this is all a bit too much, you can find a good-old-fashioned stylish analog watch, the Activite (Act-i-vi-TAY) watch by a company called Withings, which doesn’t tip you off as a total geek but still measures everything about your activity and sends it to a smartphone. And no one will ever know you’re a fitness maniac!

Anchor: And this is truly catching on as a trend? Wearables for fitness tracking?

Katlean: Yes—one research group says that by just next year more the fitness tracking industry will sell about 80 million devices.

Anchor. Number 2 on your list?

Katlean: At number two, I’ve got a gadget that’s not really a wearable but is really interesting, especially to women, as a tool to help them improve their appearance. It’s called the OKU, the world’s first personal skin coach. It is able to look under the surface using an iPhone-connected sensor that uses a special light to examine your skin and spot problems. It can detect moisture and pigment and wrinkles and all sorts of problems, and the companion App gives you advice on how to treat your skin to have maximum skin health—and the best possible skin appearance.

The OKU, which you can pre-order for 250-dollars, will ship this Spring and comes with a really stylish little dock which would look nice next to any makeup mirror.

ANCHOR: And what if you aren’t an iPhone user?

KATLEAN: They hope to roll out an Android user sometime late this year.

ANCHOR: Okay, what’s your number one coolest gadget at the intersection of fashion and technology?

Katlean: This is really mind-blowing. It’s also very appropriate for Valentine’s Week because it’s all about your heart. The Nymi Band (NIMM-MEE) memorizes your heartbeat, which is unique to you, just like your fingerprint —did you know that, because I didn’t. And no matter what you do, or how high your heart rate gets, that signature is the same.

So—get this—the NYMI band can send a signal to anything you need to unlock, from a car door to a password on your computer, and someday even to a hotel room door that you have booked, and anything else that either needs a password or needs a lock. It really is exciting to think about a future where you don’t need to remember any passwords or carry any keys for anything, you just need to make sure your heart is all good. So with that in mind, happy Valentine’s Day to everyone!

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‘THE RISE OF CONGO: EMPOWERING THROUGH EDUCATION’ FUNDRAISER

WHAT: Noëlla Coursaris Musunka, Founder & CEO of the Georges Malaika Foundation (GMF), host their 2nd annual New York Reception celebrating Congolese Culture, Fashion and Music.

The event will be hosted by comedian Eddie Kadi and will feature an exclusive performance by the legendary Lokua Kanza. Music by DJ Hardy Indiigo, photography by Richard Foulser, art by Congolese painters, jewelry and fashion by talented African designers.

Guest speakers will include former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno-Ocampo; humanitarian and daughter of Muhammad Ali, Khaliah Ali, who placed the first stone of the GMF school in the Congo; Kara Gerson, Executive Director of the Voss Foundation which partnered with GMF to create two fresh-water wells; Joe Whinney, CEO of Theo Chocolate, who has just collaborated with Ben Affleck to produce a fair trade organic chocolate bar using Congolese cocoa; Dr. Amy Lehman, Founder of the Lake Tanganyika Floating Health Clinic in Congo; and fitness expert Holly Rillinger from Flywheel, who will talk about her recent trip to the GMF school to create a sports program.

About the Georges Malaika Foundation 

The Georges Malaika Foundation (GMF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to unlocking the potential of African girls and their communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) through education.

Named in memory of Noëlla Coursaris Musunka’s father, Georges, and the Swahili word malaika, for ‘angel,’ GMF empowers through education. GMF is dedicated to the advancement of African communities by providing educational opportunities to young girls. In 2011 GMF finished construction on their first Girls’ School in the DRC. 152 girls are enrolled and receive a fully comprehensive program including free tuition, school supplies, uniforms, and two healthy meals a day. In 2012 GMF built two fresh water wells as part of a collaborative effort with the Voss Foundation, and is now providing clean drinking water to the entire community. GMF’s latest project is a partnership with FIFA to build a community center that will function as a base for sports, health, education and enterprise.

About Noëlla Coursaris Musunka

Noëlla Coursaris Musunka was born in Lubumbashi, DRC. Noëlla was educated in Belgium and Switzerland, and after achieving a degree in business management, she moved to London and broke into the world of international modeling. Noëlla’s success brought her to New York where she started the Georges Malaika Foundation in 2007, in tandem with her active modeling career.

Noëlla has been featured in a 30-minute special on CNN’s African Voices and CNN’s Connect the World. Hoping to bring international attention to the education dilemma in Africa, she has addressed UNICEF and the Congolese Parliament about issues confronting underprivileged girls. She was also a panelist in the Global Creative Leadership Summit in 2009 and was a featured speaker at the United Nations’ Investing in Women and Entrepreneurship Solutions to address the Millennium Development Goal 3 on International Women’s Day 2011. Noella also participated in the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting in 2012, where she addressed President Clinton during the Opening Plenary.

WHO: (List in formation):

• Noëlla Coursaris Musunka – Model/Humanitarian/Founder, Georges Malaika Foundation

• Holly Rilinger – Former WNBA Player

• Joe Whinney – Founder & CEO of Theo Chocolate

• Luis Moreno-Ocampo – Internationally renowned prosecutor of human rights abusers

• Eddie Kadi – Comedian, Presenter, Actor & MC

• Lokua Kanza – Singer-Songwriter

• DJ Hardy Indiigo – Rapper, Music Producer/Composer

• Richard Foulser – Lifestyle Photographer

• Khaliah Ali – Humanitarian & daughter of Muhammad Ali

• Kara Gerson – Executive Director of the Voss Foundation

• Dr. Amy Lehman – African Health & Education Expert

• Fabrice Muamba – Professional Football Great

• Cheryl Wills – Award winning Anchor & Author, NY1 News Television

• Tamsen Fadal – Award Winning Anchor & Author, WPIX News Television

• Stacey Tisdale – Correspondent, PBS’ Need to Know & Founder, Winning Play$ for women’s financial literacy

• Camilla Barungi – Model/Entrepreneur/Activist of “Project Runway” fame

• Loreen Arbus – Disability Rights Activist/Humanitarian/Philanthropist

• Margot Bingham – star of the hit series “In Between Men”

• Tim Morehouse – U.S. Olympic Silver Medalist & E! News Correspondent

• Rachael Kun Morehouse – Associate Producer, “60 Minutes”

• Wendy Diamond – Publisher of Animal Fair Media, Correspondent for “The Today Show”

• Nicole Sexton – Director of Central Park Conservancy

• Faith Hope Consolo – Chair of Douglas Elliman Retail

• Josey Greenwell – Singer/Model/TV Personality

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Bio:

Cortney Renee moved to NYC to attend The King’s College where she studied Politics, Philosophy, and Economics. Her pursuit of modeling and acting provided appearances in Brides magazine and feature films and TV shows including How To Lose Friends and Alienate People, August, and Gossip Girl. Her passion for justice inspired involvement in the 2009 launch of Stop Child Trafficking Now. Her love for fashion and philanthropy birthed a brand which aims to promote ethical fashion. She currently resides in NYC where she endeavors to bring light to designers making a difference! Her long term hope is to inspire the fashion industry to make a creative and engaging world contribution. Her personal mission is to reflect true beauty, and her definition of “true beauty” is one that “come from a heart that lives to give back”. So she endeavors to reflect that in all things, both professionally and personally.

Company Background:

In 2010, Cortney decided to build a bridge between her two passions, fashion and philanthropy. She had been in the fashion industry as a model and actress, since moving to NY in 2004 and she wanted to employ the influence and creativity of the fashion industry to make a difference in our world, on both a national and international scale. She began a fashion blog, wherein she covered philanthropic fashion brands (brands that have a give back built into their business model and fund a partner NGO or an internal NGO). In her research and networking she learned of ingenious social entrepreneurs pioneering new territory, and she realized they were on the cutting edge of social enterprise by employing fashion as a tool to effect global change. Her mission continued to evolve and grow, and she began to offer professional modeling services to these start-ups and her fashion industry insight to help them enter the mainstream.

Now, a year later, Cortney is hosting her 2nd evening of philanthropic fashion where we celebrate brands making a difference. She has professional models (many of them her friends) act as spokes models for the evening. Their first event, “Share the Love: An Evening of Philanthropic Fashion” saw 1,000 inspired and thrilled New Yorkers, and was a huge success. Their next event, “Hampton’s Summer Preview Party: An Evening of Philanthropic Fashion” will be held May 23rd, 2011. The company’s major fashion sponsors include Peace Love World, Same Sky, Native Honey, and their non-profit partners include the Somaly Mam Foundation and Print4Change/Healing Haiti, and their corporate sponsors include the Body Shop, Equinox, and many more. Cortney has also begun to offer fashion film production to brands to build their brand image online and give them new inventive ways to reach their target demographic. She looks forward to seeing this division grow.

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Reporting by Leah

In her fifth appearance during Fashion Week, Atlanta-based fashion designer Sushma Patel presented her latest collection of inspired creations on February 12, 2010.

After her studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Sushma Patel went on to show her first collection in her native India in 1998. Since then she has done fashion shows at a number of events across the USA including the Bollywood Fashion & Music Awards. She has also presented her designs at Caribbean Fashion Week in Jamaica, India International Fashion Week in New Delhi, and at the Fashion TV Summer Festival in Romania.

Ms. Patel’s designs are a unique and stunning Indo-Western fusion. They are characterized by impeccable craftsmanship and quality and an innovative approach to cut, draping and the use of opulent fabrics such as jorjut, sufan, kangiwaram and various silks. Unforgettable designs are embellished with hand embroidery and crystals. Ms. Patel is one of the few prominent designers in India to incorporate traditional embroidery, fabric printing and weaving crafts into her thoroughly contemporary creations.

Sushma Patel’s designs are meticulously handcrafted in India and sold at her own boutiques in Atlanta, United States, and in Mumbai, India, as well as at a number of upscale boutiques in India and other countries. Her goal is to achieve international recognition as a cosmopolitan designer appealing to a wide spectrum of consumers. She has a loyal and growing clientele around the world including a number of prominent film stars.

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