Join Save Harlem Now! on May 21, 2026 at The Riverside Church for our Third Annual Gene Norman Preservation Awards Gala as we honor individuals who have made significant contributions to the preservation of Harlem's architectural and cultural legacies.

The Gene Norman Preservation Awards Gala is named in honor of the late Gene Norman, who was the first, and to date only African American Chairman of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), and a co-founder of Save Harlem Now! Serving under Mayor Edward I. Koch in the 1980’s, Norman helped defeat New York State legislation that would have exempted religious institutions from landmarks designation. During his tenure as chairman, LPC granted landmark designations to St. Bartholomew’s Church; the Coty and Rizzoli Buildings; the Ladies’ Mile shopping area from 15th to 24th Street, between Park Avenue South and Avenue of the Americas; and the Coney Island Cyclone. He also secured a $60,000 grant from the Astor Foundation for crucial research and field work in Harlem.

Meet Our 2026 Honorees

Voza Rivers, Harlem Cultural Icon
A. Philip Randolph-Bayard Rustin Lifetime Achievement Award

Born and raised in the heart of Harlem, Voza Rivers stands tall as a supporter and defender of theater, film, music, and cultural events in Harlem. As a founding member and executive producer, he has led the New Heritage Theatre Group since 1983. This historic Harlem-based company, founded in 1964, is the oldest Black non-profit theater in New York State. In 2001, Rivers co-founded and chairs the Harlem Arts Alliance, a large arts service organization that supports creative professionals with information dissemination, workshops, and presentations featuring their work. In 1997, Rivers co-founded IMPACT Repertory Theatre, a youth arts and leadership program under the New Heritage Theatre, which has earned Oscar and Grammy nominations for its work. Finally, Rivers is a co-founder and executive producer of HARLEM WEEK, the annual celebration of Harlem’s culture. Voza Rivers, whose six-decade career has expanded and elevated Black theater, music, film, and youth arts programming, is widely regarded as a Harlem Cultural Icon.

Brent Leggs, Preservationist
Ella Baker Leadership Award
Brent Leggs is the Founding Executive Director of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund (AACHAF) and Strategic Advisor to the President and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Launched in 2017, the Action Fund makes an important and lasting contribution to the American landscape by preserving sites of Black activism, achievement, and resilience. To date, the Action Fund has raised $200 million and supported over 378 preservation projects across the country. The American story is expanded through this preservation work, the largest ever undertaken in support of African American historic sites.

Harlem recipients of Action Fund funding include:

the Apollo Theater in 2025 to comprehensively modernize its systems and historic theater space;
New Amsterdam Musical Association (NAMA) in 2024 to restore its West 130th Street building’s façade, windows, and electrical systems;
Save Harlem Now! in 2021 to hire its first Executive Director;
While We Are Still Here in 2020 for Signs of the Times: Harlem Markers Project; educate about Harlem’s cultural history; and
Langston Hughes House in 2019 to preserve the West 127th Street property.

Brent Leggs and the AACHAF are ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to draw inspiration and wisdom from African American places.

Harlem African Burial Ground Initiative
Arturo Schomburg Stewardship Award

pictured: Sharon Wilkins, Rev. Dr. Patricia Singletary, Melissa Mark-Viverito, Melinda Velez

In 2009, a group of Harlem community members formed the Harlem African Burial Ground Task Force (HABGTF) to advocate for the creation of a memorial that would restore honor, dignity, and respect to those buried at this sacred site. In 2011, NY Community Board 11 designated the HABGTF as the organization representing the interests of the historic cemetery.

The HABGTF is now the Harlem African Burial Ground Initiative (HABGI). Its members are the Rev. Dr. Patricia Singletary, Pastor Emerita, and the first female Pastor of Elmendorf Reformed Church established in 1660, and the descendant church of the Harlem African Burial Ground; Hon. Melissa Mark-Viverito, President of the Hamilton Campaign Network and former NYC Council Speaker and Member representing District 8; Melinda Velez, former Legislative Assistant to former New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito; and Sharon Wilkins, former Deputy Borough Historian of Manhattan.

Marta Morena Vega, Ph.D., Institution Builder
Frederick Douglass Visionary Award

A native of East Harlem, Dr. Marta Moreno Vega is an author, editor, director, producer, professor, scholar and cultural activist. She is also a formidable institution builder, for which she is being honored, in particular for East Harlem’s Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI). In 1976, Dr. Vega founded and became the Director of CCCADI after realizing that there was limited information available about African and Native cultures from Caribbean and Latin American countries. Her vision was to create an international organization to promote and link communities of African descent. CCCADI is an international non-profit dedicated to maintaining the history and traditions of the African diaspora in the Americas. Dr. Vega guided the capital campaign for the renovation of the landmarked firehouse at 120 East 125th Street, which is now CCCADI’s home. Institution building has been one of Dr. Vega’s life purposes. Over the course of 50 years, she has established, founded, and co-founded numerous institutions, all focused on culture of the Afro-Latino community.

Lana Turner
Mistress of Ceremonies

2026 Sponsors

Zora Neale Hurston

Ayon Studio Architecture | Preservation, P.C.

Harlem Commonwealth Council

Dean & Marilyn Blackstone Schomburg

Apex Building Group

2026 Honorary Committee

Marta Gutman, Dean, CCNY Spitzer School of Architecture

Lucille McEwen, President, McEwen Consulting Solutions, Inc.

Christina Norman, Gene Norman Family

Peggy Shepard, Executive Director, WE ACT for Environmental Justice

Marianne Spraggins, Board Member, West Harlem Community Development Corp.

Lana Turner, Harlem Cultural Historian

Donna Mussenden Van Der Zee, Steward, James Van Der Zee Photography

Sylvia White, Executive Vice President, Bridge Philanthropic Consulting

Third Annual Gene Norman Preservation Awards Gala

Celebrating the preservation of Harlem's architectural and cultural legacies!