All Stars youth leaders created the Phat Friends award - named after supporter jazz great Phyllis Hyman - to have a civic voice in the life of New York City, so they could tell us which adults and programs are making a meaningful difference in their communities.

This year’s Phat Friend Award honorees include David C. Banks, President, The Eagle Academy Foundation; Susan Benedetto, President and Co-founder of Exploring the Arts, Inc.; Dr. Reginald Blake, Associate Professor, New York City College of Technology; Akuah Brabham, African Dance Instructor at Bishop Loughlin High School; Patricia Pates Eaton, Former Principal Conductor of the NYC All City High School Chorus; Michelle Edgar, Founder and Executive Director, Music Unites; Bobby Ferazi, Director of Juvenile Justice and Re-entry Services, PAL, Melissa Fenton Herrod, Former Executive Director of City Light Youth Theatre; Joseph Rivera, Police Officer, NYPD;  Marc Sanabria, Detective 2^nd Grade, NYPD Juvenile Robbery Intervention Programs and Amy Weinberg, Professor and Deputy Executive Director at the University of Maryland’s Center for Advanced Study of Language.