{"id":458382,"date":"2021-05-07T13:24:35","date_gmt":"2021-05-07T17:24:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/newyork\/?p=458382"},"modified":"2021-05-07T13:24:35","modified_gmt":"2021-05-07T17:24:35","slug":"meet-the-associate-board-heather-berstein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/newyork\/meet-the-associate-board-heather-berstein\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Associate Board: Heather Berstein"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, we are extremely excited to introduce Heather Berstein. Heather first joined our community through New York Cares one year ago, and has been actively involved ever since. She is currently one of our Zumba Program Leaders and is also a member of the GiGi\u2019s NYC Associate Board. Be sure to visit our Friday Zumba classes (there’s one today!) to meet Heather and participate in some fun exercises!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

How and when did you first get involved with\u00a0GiGi\u2019s\u00a0NYC?\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I first got involved with\u00a0GiGi’s\u00a0NYC in April 2020 as a New York Cares volunteer during the pandemic. What started out as an experiment teaching\u00a0Zumba\u00a0virtually\u00a0has become a regular weekly project\u00a0(and a huge hit)!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why did you decide to join the Associate Board of Directors?\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I was so moved by the experiences I had with the\u00a0GiGi’s\u00a0students in my\u00a0Zumba class that I wanted to get even more involved. I expanded my role\u00a0within\u00a0GiGi\u2019s\u00a0NYC\u00a0and joined the Associate Board in January\u00a0of\u00a02021.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What do you do on the Associate Board?\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Associate Board hosts 2\u00a0to\u00a03 events each year that support\u00a0GiGi’s\u00a0NYC. We just hosted\u00a0our\u00a0Third Annual\u00a0Fashion show, for which I was the marketing lead. I helped to create our marketing plan, identifying all the different ways we wanted to spread the word\u00a0about the event. I also drafted our marketing communications.\u00a0If you missed the Fashion Show or would like to enjoy it again, please click here:\u00a0<\/span>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=PwkVu7WKs-M<\/span><\/a>!\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What does Down syndrome awareness and acceptance look like to you?<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Down\u00a0syndrome awareness and education looks like\u00a0GiGi’s\u00a0NYC\u2019s\u00a0mission\u00a0\u2013 to create\u00a0a world that is socially just; where individuals with Down syndrome have a voice, and are accepted and embraced in their families, schools and communities.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What from our community are you most proud of?<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I am most proud of the accomplishments of our participants and the passion of our team. At a recent\u00a0Zumba\u00a0class, quite a few participants told the group that they are going to college! At our recent\u00a0Third Annual Fashion Show, we saw all the abilities, talents, and support that\u00a0GiGi’s\u00a0 NYC provides. As someone who works behind the scenes as an Associate\u00a0Board member and volunteer, I also get to see how hard the team works and the passion behind it. This is what makes me most proud of being a part of\u00a0GiGi’s\u00a0NYC.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How do you enjoy spending your free time?<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, playing board games with my\u00a0fianc\u00e9, learning new things, dancing, and taking long walks outside.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What do you look forward to doing at the Playhouse once we can safely gather there again?\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0Meeting everyone in person!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

GiGi\u2019s\u00a0NYC extends a huge thank you to Heather for all that she does for our community, and hope you will join us in recognizing her immense contributions to our Playhouse!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, we are extremely excited to introduce Heather Berstein. Heather first joined our community through New York Cares one year ago, and has been actively involved ever since. She is currently one of our Zumba Program Leaders and is also a member of the GiGi\u2019s NYC Associate Board. Be sure to visit our Friday Zumba…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":288,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wpo365_audiences":[],"wpo365_private":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-458382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/newyork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/newyork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/newyork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/newyork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/288"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/newyork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/newyork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458382\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/newyork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/newyork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gigisplayhouse.org\/newyork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}