The Complex Skills & Life Changing Lessons the Game of Basketball Teaches are Placed Center Court
HARLEM, N.Y., July 21, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- It is considered one of the most successful programs of its kind in New York City and across the country, and it has become synonymous with winning. For almost 65 years, the Riverside Hawks program founded by the leadership of the historic Harlem community, Riverside Church, has been impacting the lives of thousands, upon thousands of young people using basketball as a vehicle for teaching foundational life and career skills.
This year, the theme of the organization's key fundraising event, the 2025 Riverside Hawks Gala taking place on October 29 at the Grill & Pool Restaurant (99 E 52nd Street, between Park and Lexington Avenues) – celebrates The Power of the Game – from the art of gamesmanship on the court, to the academic discipline and career skills that the game of basketball imparts.
This program focuses on youth development, through the game. It is about mental and emotional growth, learning to communicate and work together; it is about discipline and hard work. Most of all it is about developing essential leadership skills that inspire the spirit of comradeship and that of winning.
"I speak from personal experience when I say the experience with the Riverside Hawks is life altering. Learning to work as a member of a team and to think on your feet are skills that are transferable to all parts of life," says Phil Isom, Chair of the Board of Riverside Hawks. "Growing up in Harlem, I learned a lot as a young student athlete participating in programs like Riverside. I have taken those lessons with me and the skills I developed continue to play an important role in my life and career."
This year's honorees mirror the theme of the Gala. They have each risen to important roles in their career journeys through demonstrated competency, empathy, clarity and leadership skills. And they have carried over these important traits to living a life rich in purpose.
The 2025 Honorees
Erika Irish Brown is a passionately committed leader, Head of Talent Management and Engagement at Citi. She has displayed depth and agility in the way she has balanced her roles as a business leader, wife and mother with grace.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, she attended Stuyvesant High School and went on to receive a BS in Economics from State University of New York at Albany and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Erika's career path has included various roles within the areas of investment banking and capital markets. She began her professional career as an Analyst with Lehman Brothers; was a Senior Policy Analyst for Domestic Finance for the U.S. Department of Treasury; worked as a Senior Associate at Morgan Stanley and as Head of Business Development for BET. She led executive and diversity hiring at both Bank of America and Lehman prior to serving as Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Bloomberg, and as Chief Diversity Officer for Goldman Sachs. She is currently responsible for developing and driving Citi's agenda on talent and engagement, succession planning and leadership development.
Her drive comes from her early career experience – noticing the lack of people from different backgrounds including women and people of color in her field. This influenced her decision to create career opportunities for others, in ways that had not been there for her and others like her. "I was excited to create a diverse recruiting space for people to have equal opportunities and rewarding careers in financial services. Yet, it wasn't enough to merely bring individuals in; my focus expanded to their success," she said in a 2023 interview. Focusing on commercial impact, mentoring and development and creating an environment where all can thrive, has enabled Erika to "create a lasting impact in her field."
Erika is an ardent member of Riverside Hawks' board of directors, and Columbia Business School board of directors, Vice Chair of the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and an active member of the Bergen County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, The Metro-Manhattan Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, and the Bergen-Passaic Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc.
Rashad Bilal and Troy Millings have been friends since high school, now they are known as "the dynamic duo from the Bronx" who have pioneered the stunning ascent of the Earn Your Leisure Network, a multimedia business platform that includes several top ranked podcasts, an online educational component – EYL University; an annual financial literacy festival – Invest Fest held in Atlanta, and the EYL Newsletter.
Rashad Bilal, a financial advisor, and Troy Millings, an educator have made it their mission to provide the Black community with access to financial knowledge in a myriad of ways that can have lasting effect for generations. They have tapped into a wealth of expert voices and thought leaders that have been excluded on other platforms, from sharing their knowledge and insights. Through EYL Rashad and Troy are providing experts a platform where they can help others attain their financial dream. The duo is also spreading the gospel of financial independence in schools through a financial literacy-based curriculum program being tested in 10 Bronx schools.
This year, Rashad and Troy released their book, You Deserve to Be Rich, described as a "revolutionary playbook for achieving financial freedom, wherever you start from," that became a New York Times bestseller. Together these two forces of nature are planting the seeds of financial power and independence, something that for too long and for a rare few in the Black community, was simply unattainable. Each day, through their varied platforms, specifically aimed at Black audiences, Rashad and Troy are changing lives and empowering the community by translating often complicated financial information, into easily digestible talking points.
As a result, the Earn Your Leisure media network of platforms:
- Has three of the top 100 podcasts
- The Earn Your Leisure Show has over 50 million downloads and is ranked #1 on the Apple Podcast chart
- EYL has over 2 million followers across social media
- They have over 900 thousand YouTube subscribers
- The 2024 EYL live festival attracted 30,000 entrepreneurs and a long list of speakers including 50 Cent, Steve Harvey and Van Jones
And they expect a sizeable up-tick in attendance at this year's event in August.
Jose Minaya is a first-generation Dominican American who grew up in a low-income household in New York's vibrant Washington Heights community and attended Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx. He was drafted to the Pittsburgh Pirates but quickly realized that was not his path forward.
Today, Jose Minaya is Global Head of BNY Investments and Wealth. He is also a member of BNY's Executive Committee.
Jose joined BNY in 2024 from Nuveen, where he was CEO of the asset manager of TIAA, and responsible for the firm's strategy and operations to deliver clients with diverse investment capabilities and solutions. Jose previously served as Nuveen's President and CIO, with oversight of Nuveen's global investment business including equities, fixed income, real estate, private markets, natural resources, other alternatives and responsible investments. Prior to that, he led TIAA's global real assets division where he set strategy and developed investment capabilities across real estate, agriculture, timber, infrastructure, energy and alternative credit strategies. He joined TIAA in 2004, with more than 25 years of investment experience at firms including AIG, Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan.
He is on the Board of Trustees of Manhattan College, where he earned a bachelor's in finance, and the Board of Advisors of the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, where he attended as a Robert Toigo fellow and earned an MBA. In addition, he serves on the boards of multiple companies and charitable organizations, including Moody's, the National Forest Foundation, the Investment Company Institute, the Investment Committee of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, and as chair of the Governing Board of Directors of the Robert Toigo Foundation.
For additional information on donating to the Riverside Hawks' programs, and for tickets and tables to this year's Gala, visit 2025 Gala.
About the Riverside Hawks
The Riverside Hawks was founded by members of the Riverside Church in 1961, to help students and families in the Harlem community, use basketball to pursue academic opportunities, promote character development and to improve the life and career prospects of scores of young individuals. The strength of the Riverside Hawks basketball program is legendary. Their elite-level girls and boys basketball teams play in nationally recognized showcase tournaments and rank among the top teams in the nation. Notable alums include Donovan Mitchell, Ty Jerome, Eric Paschal, Chris Mullin, Kenny Smith, Kenny Anderson, Ed Pinckney, Metta World Peace, Lamar Odom, Rafer Alston, Elton Brand and Malik Sealy. Today, the Hawks have over 600 girls and boys beginning at kindergarten age through high school in their academic and basketball programs. Almost 70% of their students come from Washington Heights, Harlem, and the Bronx. The Hawks students' academic achievements speak for themselves.
Since 2021:
- 100% of student-athletes have graduated high school
- 100% of graduates have gone on to college or post-graduate prep schools
- Students have received over $16 million in college scholarships and grants and $1.2 million in prep school scholarships
Media Contact
Sam Mattingly, Riverside Hawks, 1 917-331-9375, [email protected], www.riversidehawks,org
SOURCE Riverside Hawks
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