Sunday, January 28, 2007 11:34 PM

2nd Annual Caribbean Conference
Brooklyn Museum, NY
May 1st 2006

Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, Jr.  hosted  his 2nd annual Caribbean NYC: The Future is Today, a City-wide conference that bought  business leaders, elected officials, civic and non-profit organizations and community leaders together to discuss the importance of developing and nurturing strong business and community ties within the Caribbean Community. Carrion initiated the annual conference last year after attending a CaribNews conference, in which he became keenly aware that despite language and cultural differences among Caribbean people, “the blood that unites us is thicker than the water that divides us.”  This year’s conference served to encourage an open dialogue on topics such as health, education/youth and business/trade opportunities within the Caribbean community. 

 Essence Magazine’s choice for one of the world’s most inspiring women, Dr. Marta Moreno Vega was  the day’s keynote speaker. Vega is the Founder of the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute, and is featured in Essence Magazine's current issue, along with 25 other women, including Oprah Winfrey, for preserving the cultural connections of Latinos, the English speaking Caribbean and Africans. 

Special guest speakers included  Congressman Major Owens, Brooklyn Borough Deputy President Yvonne Graham , Council Member Yvette Clark, Council Member Rosie Mendez, Council Member Kendall Stewart, Council Member Miguel Martinez, Council  Council Member Annabel Palma and  Council Member Leticia James.

“I am happy to host this important conference again this year.The Issues we discussed today are important to the future of our city, and i believe the English and Spanish speaking Caribbean communities are building a stronger New York City. Both of these dynamic, culturally rich groups contribute so much to the fabric of this great city and have more commonalities than differences.I am pleased to facilitate a dialogue in partnership with like minded individuals that will continue to lead us toward pursuing our common goal, “ said Carrion.

Co-hosts of the conference include the Bronx Initiative Corporation along with CaribNews, Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation. Corporate sponsors are Health Plus and Partners in Health. 

Over 300 Caribbean New Yorkers, elected officials and community leaders to attended  the  2nd Annual Caribbean Conference .

We Like To thank Adolfo Carrion Jr, Bronx Boro President for his kind invite for more information  feel free to visit their website at  http://bronxboropres.nyc.gov

Lidia Vita and Betty Coker are known as "The Dynamic Duo". The reason or this is they both work well hand-in-hand. They will cover trade shows, e.g. World Famous ENK shows, Fame shows, computer technology expos, gift shows and other trade shows and expos to educate you folks on how you can attend them, and give you exclusive, in-depth interviews with the vendors and the people behind these trade shows and the new products on the market. They will also educate you about different cultures and festivities. If you are interested in having the dynamic duo write about your festival or trade show, or have any comments or suggestions for them, please feel free to email them at dynamicduo@hadofnyc.org, or telephone them at our hotline, at (718) 507-7616 between the hours 8:00am and 8:00pm Monday through Friday.