The Buffalo Niagara Chapter of NYS Women, Inc. (BNC) is proud to partner with WKBW-TV to showcase successful local women who have given back to the Western New York community. “Women In Leadership” honorees are established women business owners or professional/working women who have exhibited leadership, enterprise, and excellence in their business or profession and give back to the Western New York or greater community. The goal of the program is to recognize women who have succeeded both in the business and charitable arenas and help inspire others to follow in their path.
Each month throughout the year a woman business owner or working woman will be featured on AM Buffalo. Each June, BNC and WKBW-TV will recognize all our honorees at an annual event.
Criteria
Established woman business owner or working/professional woman who:
- Exhibits leadership, enterprise, and excellence in their business;
- Gives back to Western New York or greater community with volunteer service
May 2019 Honoree
Esther Annan, LMSW
Program Director
Say Yes Buffalo
WKBW Interview
A native of Ghana, in West Africa, Esther Annan is a program director at Say Yes Buffalo. She has a master degree in social work from UB; she discovered her passion for working with underprivileged and under-served youths and their families in 2005, as an intern at Erie County Youth Services/Social Services.
Esther serves as a member of the 7th District Prince Hall Order Eastern Star, New York State, which engages in many charitable endeavors. She is also a member of the Erie County Chapter of the Links where she is on a committee actively working to coordinate dental and other health needs for women and children in Ghana, Liberia and other West African countries. Esther was a nominee for 2019 ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award. She is the recipient of the Women Touching the World Award presented by Unlimited Possibilities Overcoming Poverty Ministry, Inc.
Through her past career, Esther’s work has included coordinating and overseeing mobile unit services to provide primary and family planning support to children and youth; and coordinating and overseeing free legal advice support for City of Buffalo residents. Previously she was a social worker and juvenile justice counselor for Erie County’s Secure Youth Detention Division.
She started working at Say Yes Buffalo in 2012; Esther is currently one of five program directors, overseeing the student management system, which tracks universal, secondary and tertiary supports delivered to Buffalo Public School students and their families. The system works in concert with community partners to provide the necessary supports essential for post-secondary education success.
The Say Yes Buffalo partnership strengthens the Western New York economy by investing in the education of Buffalo’s future workforce. The primary goals of the partnership are to convene the school district, parents, teachers, administrators, state, city and county governments, higher education, community based organizations, businesses and foundations to increase high school and postsecondary completion rates. Their vision is that every student can graduate high school and college when given the proper supports, resources, and opportunities.
