Скачать или смотреть April Baskin - C&FS' Black History Month Speakers' Series

February 24, 2021

Child & Family Services hosted a Speakers' Series to highlight the history and accomplishments of the Black community in Western New York. Black history is all of our history.

As a Buffalo native, Honorable April Baskin is passionate about community development for social change.

In 2015, April developed The College Simulation Experience which uses arts based experiential learning to increase college retention rates in low-income populations in Western New York . She is dedicated to using creative learning methods as a platform for equipping youth who are lacking in resources with the tools needed to fully take advantage of the advancing educational opportunities afforded to them.

April holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from SUNY Empire State College. April was honored with the Community Engagement Award from the Buffalo Urban League in May 2017. April was also honored with a 2017 Woman Touching The World Award by Unlimited Possibilities Overcoming Poverty Inc. and she was a 2018 ATHENA award nominee.

Baskin previously served on the Empire State Poverty Reduction Initiative’s Buffalo Taskforce in 2017. April is a member of the NAACP Buffalo Chapter, Leadership Niagara class of ’17 and a graduate of the Allstate Minority and Women Emerging Entrepreneurs (MWEE) program sponsored by the University of Buffalo.

In November 2017 April was elected to represent district 2 of the Erie County Legislature in the state of New York. As a freshman legislator she was immediately selected to serve her caucus as the Majority Leader and chaired the Public Safety, Minority & Women Business Enterprise, and Economic Development committees. In Spring 2019, she was elevated to the position of Chairperson of the full Legislature, being named the youngest Chairperson in Erie County Legislature history. April was unanimously re-elected by her Democratic Caucus members to serve as Chair during the 2020 & 2021 reorganization.