OUT East End Impact Awards Presents More Honorees

The anticipation is building for Dan’s Papers inaugural OUT East End Impact Awards on August 29 outdoors at Calissa in Water Mill when distinguished individuals on the East End and Long Island will be honored for their achievements and impact on the community and in particular, the LGBTQ+ community.

The OUT East End Impact Awards will be a celebration of the diversity and presence of the area’s LGBTQ+ members and their allies and will feature an open bar cocktail hour, a gala awards presentation and a special performance by singer-songwriter and recording artist and honoree Inda Eaton, followed by a DJ tea dance. A special raffle will feature great prizes including artwork by honoree Rachel Wilkins, whose ‘Shoulders of Giants’ show at Chase Gallery this year highlighted LGBTQ+ heroes.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the Edie Windsor Healthcare Center and Rose Walton Care Services for HIV which re-opened this summer in Hampton Bays and is affiliated with Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. The Center is a full healthcare facility including mental health services and caters to the LGBTQ+ community and its allies.

Judith Kasen-Windsor, a banking executive, LGBTQ+ activist, advocate, philanthropist, Southhampton resident and the surviving spouse of Edie Windsor — whose landmark Supreme Court case and legal victory paved the way for the same-sex marriage movement in the United States — will receive the  ‘Community Service and Leadership’ Impact Award.

Kasen-Windsor, a champion of numerous LGBTQ+ causes and LGBTQ+ rights, has pushed forward initiatives globally and locally on the East End, including The Edie Windsor Healthcare Center and, along with Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman, the Edie Windsor Heart Project at Southampton Town Hall, where a series of interlocking stones can be purchased and engraved to memorialize names and unions in the area, which will “live” where civil marriages take place in Southampton.

Mitch Draizin, a Sag Harbor resident who is President of Concordia Philanthropic Fund and the cofounder and president of Concordia Philanthropic Fund and cofounder and president of the LGBTQ Advisory Council, will receive a special ‘Leadership and Philanthropic Achievement’ OUT East End Impact Award. He has initiated numerous LGBTQ+ initiatives, most recently as board member of the newly formed American LGBTQ Historical and Cultural Museum and as a catalyst for the initiative to create the first LGBTQ+ affordable housing facility in Long Island (opening in Bay Shore in the fall).

Draizin is also active in LGBTQ+ youth initiatives, and is the cofounder of CUNY LGBT and will present one of the OUT East End Youth Leadership Awards to Jackie Iulo, a ninth-grade transgender girl at Pierson High School in Sag Harbor who has demonstrated great compassion and leadership in the community and through Pierson’s Gay Straight Alliance.

A special OUT East End Lifetime Achievement and Inspiration Award will be presented to Sag Harbor resident Lucille Kyvallos, a legend and pioneer in women’s basketball. Kyvallos, a retired Queens College faculty member and women’s basketball coach, was an Olympic athlete and coach of the USA Women’s Basketball Team at the World Games and has inspired countless athletes and LGBTQ+ people and their allies of all ages.

The growing list of Impact Award Honorees from the worlds of business, law, wellness, healthcare, the arts and community service include:

Michael Serao, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer at First Central Savings Bank and a prolific LGBTQ activist and leader in philanthropic missions to secure funding for not-for-profits

Lindsey Albinski, a partner at Winkler Kurtz, LLP,  an experienced matrimonial attorney and family law litigation and mediation whose pro bono work includes assisting students experiencing conflict with school policies and procedures regarding transgender persons.

Christopher J. Chimeri, a founding Partner at Quatela Chimeri PLLC  overseeing Matrimonial and Family Law and Appellate Practice areas who is an Executive Committee Member and Co-Chair of the LGBTQ sub-committee of the New York State Bar Association’s Family Law Section

Samantha Lippitt, the Head of Sales at State Street Global Markets and an active Board Member of Family Equality Council which champions and advocates for the rights and equality for LGBTQ+ families.

Robert M.Nelson, Executive Managing Director at Brown Harris Stevens of the Hamptons, LLC who champions rights, dignity and strength of the community.

The 2021 Impact Award Honorees in the the arts, healthcare, wellness  and community service areas include:

Christiane Arbesu, an award-winning documentary filmmaker I Am Arbesu and a digital content executive producer.

Isaac “Boots” Calpito, a fitness expert, owner of Torch’d Shoppe in Wainscott and an Instagram star who has raised over $1.3 million for No Kid Hungry and donates to several local charities.

Clare Coss, a noted author of the prize-winning play Emmett Down in My Heart.

Blanche Wiesen Cook, a noted historian, professor, author of the biography of Eleanor Roosevelt.

Cynthia Daniels, a Grammy-winning recording engineer, owner of MonkMusic Studios in East Hampton.

Inda Eaton, a singer songwriter, toured with Save the Music and works with Ideas to Inspire, Project Most.

Pamela Godwin, an RN for 30 years—liver transplant, oncology, nursing management—and Senior Clinical Manager for New York at Hillrom, active in Family Equality Council and supporting LGBTQ+ rights.

Eric Lemonides, business owner, Almond restaurants, community leader whose L&W Market pivoted during COVID to provide supplies to the local community

Jimmy Mack, a 17-year EMT Ambulance volunteer, Southampton, an LGTBQ advocate and supporter of the Edie Windsor Healthcenter and Edie Windsor Backyard BBQ and many LGBTQ events Out East.

Brian Mott,a special education teacher, LGBTQ advocate and supporter of LGBTQ initiatives Out East.

Thuyen Nguyen, a wellness expert, board member of Second Chance Animal Rescue, store owner of Curated by Thuyen in East Hampton and supporter of numerous LGBTQ causes.

Rachel Wilkins, a visual artist who created the Shoulders of Giants series honoring LGBTQ heroes; she is a commissioned artist for The Edie Windsor Healthcare Center.

For tickets to the 2021 OUT East End Impact Awards on August 29, visit OutEastEndImpactAwards.com. General tickets start at $150, VIP $275. Sponsorship packages and congratulatory ads are available.

To donate to the raffle or for more information on the event, sponsorships and congratulatory ads, contact: Angela LaGreca at 631-629-8038, alagreca@danspapers.com.