Event Description

20 years of green Celebration, Urban Green Gala, New York City. This year's gala honors Gary LaBarbera, who has served since 2009 as president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, an organization comprising local affiliates of 15 national and international unions representing 100,000 working men and women in New York City. Since assuming his position as President of the New York City Building Trades, Mr. LaBarbera has embarked on ambitious negotiations for project labor agreements (PLA) to provide labor cost savings to advance major public and private projects at risk of stalling due to the economic recession. These efforts have resulted in excess of $100 billion in public sector project labor agreements with the City of New York and the New York City School Construction Authority, saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. 

Urban Green Council is proud to present this year's Héctor Figueroa Leadership Award to Seanelle LeeSang. As a middle school science teacher at I.S. 68 in Canarsie for 21 years, Seanelle has long understood the grave threat of climate change and the impact it will have on future generations. With that in mind, Seanelle joined the I.S. 68 Eco Team to infuse environmental education into the curriculum. The team, which Seanelle leads, is comprised of as many as 100 students, and by engaging them in real-world sustainability projects like onsite gardening, plastic, glass and textile recycling, and community hydroponics programs, she has helped educate them about environmental issues.