Names To Know
Illyassa Shabazz
Author, activist, & the daughter of the late esteemed Malcolm X
Ilyasah Al-Shabazz is a community organizer, activist, motivational speaker, and author of the critically acclaimed Growing Up X (Random House, 2002).
She is co-editor with Herb Boyd, The Diary of Malcolm X (Third Word Press, 2013), worked with illustrator AG Ford, The Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm X (Simon & Schuster, 2013) and with Kekla Magoon, X (Candlewick, 2014).
Ilyasah promotes higher education, interfaith dialogue, and building bridges between cultures for young leaders of the world.
She produces The WAKE-UP Tour™, an exclusive youth empowerment program, and participates on international humanitarian delegations. She is the founder of Malcolm X Enterprises and is a Trustee for The Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center.
Ilyasah serves on the Board of the Harlem Symphony Orchestra, is a member of the Arts Committee for the New York City Opera at Lincoln Center, and a Project Advisor for the PBS award-winning documentary, Prince Among Slaves.
Ilyasah holds a Master of Science degree in Education and Human Resource Development and currently resides in Westchester County of NY.
Tom Schaudel
Owner and Top Chef of Jewel Restaurant
After graduating from The Culinary Institute in 1973 and working in various venues, Tom opened his first restaurant, Panama Hatties (Huntington), in 1983. He has since been the driving force behind such acclaimed L.I. restaurants as Spring Close House (East Hampton), Downtown Grille and Wine Bar (Montauk), 107 Forest Avenue (Locust Valley), Lemongrass (Roslyn), Tease (Roslyn) Coolfish (Syosset), Thom Thom (Wantagh), Passionfish (Westhampton Beach), Starfish (Merrick), The Jedediah Hawkins Inn (Jamesport) and The Mansion at the Woodlands (Woodbury).
Growing up on Long Island and living on the East End has seriously influenced Tom's culinary sensibilities, and his style has been described by Michael Todd of Grapezine magazine as "Atlantic Rim." His current line-up of restaurants include Jewel by Tom Schaudel (Melville), Be-Ju Sashimi and Sake Bar (Melville), Amano (Mattituck), Alure (Southold), The Petulant Wino (Aquebogue), and Ross-Schaudel Catering and Event Planning (Mattituck). Tom also has his own line of wines, under the Tom Schaudel "Reserve" label, made here on the North Fork and served at all of the restaurants.
He has been featured on such television shows as Gordon Elliot's Door Knock Dinners on Food Network, Chef's Night Out on Metro Channel, and has been a frequent guest chef on Long Island's own Channels 12, 21, and Telecare, The James Beard House in New York City, and Ed Lowe's Morning Show. He has written a book called Playing With Fire-Whining and Dining on the Gold Coast, about his one hundred wackiest customers from the last forty years, and hosts a weekly food, wine, and lifestyle, radio show of the same name on 1100 WHLI am every Saturday morning from 10:00-11:00.
Tom’s band “Hurricane,” fearing James Benard, Brian Le Clerc, Michael LeClerc, Klyph Black, and “Bosco” Michne, has been rocking Long Island for twenty five years and is still blowing hard enough to keep from being downgraded to a Tropical Depression. Catch them out east in the summer and back west in the winter and join the mailing list for gig dates.
Mike Cave
Owner of 1st Equity & Founder of PinkTie.org and PinkTie 1000
When Mike Cave attended the Women’s Council of REALTORS® “Bras for a Cause” fundraiser in 2011, an idea was born. Mike had wanted to get involved with a charity to raise money for breast cancer research. The dreaded disease had touched him and his family personally. His aunt, Kathy Catalano died of breast cancer when she was only 45 years old, leaving six young children behind. Cave knew that he had to do something to help others, but at that time philanthropy wasn’t quite in the cards. As the owner of a growing title insurance business, 1st Equity in Syosset, Cave came from a working class family who didn’t have extra funds to support charity – not the way he wanted to.
“Growing up we always had to hustle to make money,” Cave said. “We didn’t come from money, so it was our job to do as much as we could to make it, but also do right by the community and give back.”
The Bras for a Cause party was a good start – but it was a one-time event. Plus, Cave sat in an assigned seat and didn’t get to meet any industry executives beyond his immediate table.
He wanted to combine his entrepreneurial spirit with his desire to give back and created PinkTie.org, which targets men in the Real Estate business who can network for business at the annual PinkTie.org event – and give back to charity. This concept not only helps to raise funds to further breast cancer awareness, but the valuable business connections made at the event will most likely prove to be lucrative, therefore generating money that can be donated to the charity. It’s a cyclical model where there is a continuous feed of networking, growing your business and writing a check back to the charity. “With PinkTie, you’re not only coming together for a charity event to do good and give back,” says Cave, “you can also grow your business. It’s Real Estate professionals networking for a cure.”
