NY J01453

Honors Marsha Massiah as recipient of the Educational & Community Empowerment Award from Young, Gifted, & Black Entrepreneurial Awards, Inc. on February 25, 2026

Recognizes her role as Founder and Executive Director of the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival (BCLF), founded as the only U.S. literary festival dedicated exclusively to Caribbean literature and indigenous storytelling

Acknowledges signature initiatives she created including the Caribbean Fiction Collection at the Center for Fiction, the Cocoa Pod podcast, and the BCLF Short Fiction Story Competition for emerging writers

Notes her leadership of The Idea Room Corp, a communications hub helping creatives develop their ideas, and her background in instructional design with degrees from University of the West Indies and New York University

Commends her work preserving Caribbean storytelling traditions and empowering writers, educators, and cultural practitioners across the diaspora