It was another animated and emotional event for Figure Skating in Harlem (FSH), which held its Reaching for the Stars Gala on April 17. Hosted by Vladimir Duthiers of CBS News, the honorees, guests and alumni were joined by U.S. Olympic skaters, including four from the 2022 team event, who earlier this year were officially recognized as gold medalists after a two-year delay.
The evening’s honorees were Tina Davis, Daria Forde, Alicia Hall Moran, and Cynthia Romano. Davis is the head of enterprise marketing and brand engagement at Citi and a member of FSH’s board. Romano, a former figure skater, is the senior managing director at FTI Consulting.
An accomplished singer and actress, Hall Moran is a long-time skater and FSH supporter. This year she was a twice-weekly volunteer skating instructor. “The ability to pop onto the ice as a Black woman fully engaged in her Blackness and stand in her Harlem neighborhood on ice with girls of color studying a sport and an artform feels very natural to me,” she said.
Forde, a 2020 computer science graduate from Barnard College, said FSH instilled confidence in her. “It means so much to me to be honored by a program that was pivotal with my trajectory and allowed me to see what it looked like to be a part of a true community,” said Forde. “Being in that environment at such a young age allowed me to know that I can enter whatever environment I want to and succeed.”
It’s been an eventful year for FSH. The performance team skated in the exhibition at the 2024 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Columbus, Ohio. During career week, a group of students went to Estee Lauder headquarters where they learned how to make and market products. The most remarkable experience was a trip last summer to South Africa for 11 girls, which FSH founder/CEO Sharon Cohen said was “magical.”
High school junior Zayda Rojas, a member of FSH for 10 years, described the trip as life changing and an opportunity to travel to the place of their ancestors.
“I could see different cultures, how they interacted, the foods that they ate,” she said. “I felt loved and I felt nourished by the people. They were very welcoming and inclusive. I learned a lot about them and a lot about myself.”