Brooklyn's Progress
January 2004

The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce bids farewell to Wilson Alexander Aguilar, Yuriy Musayev and Henok Assefa.

Wilson left the Chamber after the Dinner Dance to move on to an exciting new special events job in the development department of the Coalition for the Homeless.  He is responsible for ArtWalk New York, which is an annual event that raises $1 million.  He will direct a special events team and manage other fund-raising initiatives as well. 

“Although this is a great opportunity for him, we will certainly miss Wilson here at the Chamber.  Since his first day, Wilson has added a key level of creativity, enthusiasm and energy to our special events, and he raised the bar when it comes to creative invitations and imaginative locations,” said Brooklyn Chamber President Kenneth Adams.  “During his time here, Wilson has made a real difference, both for our Members and friends that take part in our many events, and for our team here in the office.”

Yuriy Musayev left the Chamber to take a position with a Manhattan-based investment bank.  He recently passed the CPA exam.   

“This is exciting news for Yuriy” according to Chris Motilall, Director of Finance for the Brooklyn Chamber.  “Congratulations to Yuriy on this very positive career move.  And warm thanks to him from all of us for his hard work and loyal service to the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.”

In other news, the Brooklyn Chamber welcomed Michelle Matthews to its team as the Marketing and Enrollment Specialist for HealthWorks.  Prior to joining the Chamber Michelle worked for Wildcat in Brooklyn.  She brings to the Chamber six years of sales, recruiting and job development experience.  Michelle joined the Chamber on Dec. 15.

At the end of the year Henok Assefa, Director of iBrooklyn, left the Chamber to pursue other interests in his native Ethiopia (click here for related story).  Karen Young, Director of Communications and Government Affairs, has taken over responsibility of iBrooklyn.com.  She will be working with Khadija Batuta, who has been promoted to Communications Specialist, to manage and produce content for iBrooklyn.com and other Chamber affiliate online properties.