Bill Text: NY K00750 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Honoring Melanie Littlejohn upon the occasion of her retirement after 30 years of distinguished service to National Grid-New York

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2024-01-16 - adopted [K00750 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-K00750-Introduced.html

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Assembly Resolution No. 750

BY: M. of A. Hunter

        HONORING  Melanie  Littlejohn upon the occasion of
        her  retirement  after  30  years  of  distinguished
        service to National Grid-New York

  WHEREAS,  It  is  the  sense of this Legislative Body to acknowledge
those individuals whose professional lives and civic endeavors serve  to
enhance the stature of the State of New York; and

  WHEREAS,  Attendant  to  such  concern,  and in full accord with its
long-standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to honor
Melanie Littlejohn upon the occasion of her retirement after 30 years of
distinguished service to National Grid-New York; and

  WHEREAS, For the past 30  years,  Melanie  Littlejohn  has  rendered
faithful,  conscientious and valuable service to National Grid-New York;
and

  WHEREAS, Having grown up in Queens,  New  York,  Melanie  Littlejohn
arrived  in  Syracuse,  New  York  in 1991 and jumpstarted her career by
serving as deputy director of the Urban League  of  Onondaga  County,  a
civil rights group; and

  WHEREAS,  Well-educated  and  respected, Melanie Littlejohn earned a
bachelor's degree from  SUNY  Stony  Brook  and  a  Master  of  Business
Administration  from Syracuse University's Whitman School of Management;
and

  WHEREAS, Prior to 2017 when she was named to her  current  position,
Melanie Littlejohn served as Director of Customer & Community Management
in   Upstate   New   York,  joining  the  former  Niagara  Mohawk  Power
Corporation,  in  April  of  1994  as  the  Director  of   Inclusion   &
Diversity-US  Operations;  she  rose  through  the  ranks to achieve the
prestigious  position  of  Vice  President  of  Customer  and  Community
Engagement for National Grid statewide; and

  WHEREAS,  As  Vice  President of Customer & Community Engagement for
National Grid-New York, Melanie  Littlejohn  has  guided  the  company's
corporate  social  responsibility effort called Project C, which focuses
on spreading positive change across  New  York  communities,  supporting
initiatives  for  affordable  housing,  food  giveaways,  and  community
dialogues on race; with her advisement, the company is  now  looking  to
address child poverty, racial equity, and other critical issues; and

  WHEREAS,  With a priority to build and maintain strong relationships
that drive superior customer satisfaction, Melanie  Littlejohn  promotes
safety  and  reliability  of  the energy networks, emergency management,
economic development initiatives, energy efficiency programs,  renewable
energy  solutions  and  facilities  the  process  to deliver distributed
energy resource projects to support customer and New York  State  needs;
and

  WHEREAS,  Moving  on from National Grid and taking over as president
and CEO of the Central New York Community Foundation on March  1,  2024,

Melanie  Littlejohn  has  rendered  a myriad of achievements in her time
holding the position, such as helping customers recover  from  Hurricane
Sandy  in  2012  and  personally  caring about the company's response to
emergencies; and

  WHEREAS, One of the most visible community advocates in the Syracuse
community, Melanie Littlejohn volunteers and is on the board of a myriad
of  organizations, such as the Boys & Girls Clubs of Syracuse, where she
served 17 years and helped develop the Hamilton Street location; she has
served on at  least  15  boards  since  then,  including  the  Community
Foundation,  which  she  chaired  from  2011 to 2013, Onondaga Community
College, CenterState CEO, and Pathfinder Bank; and

  WHEREAS, Melanie has also  received  numerous  awards  such  as  the
2022-Yva  Jourdan Foundation-Women of Prestige; 2019 Wisdom Keeper, 2014
Partners for Education and Business-Business  Leaders  Award,  the  2012
House  of  Providence  Humanitarian  Award,  the  Network  Journal's  25
Influential Black Women in Business award in 2011, the  2011  Leadership
Greater  Syracuse  Distinguished  Community Leader Award, 2011 Community
Wide Dialogue Racial Justice Award, 2010 NAACP Freedom Award, and CNY 40
Below; and

  WHEREAS, In her capacity as Vice President of Customer  &  Community
Engagement  for  National  Grid-New York, Melanie Littlejohn served with
loyalty, honor and distinction, and was governed by a keen sense of duty
and always showed a unique grasp of human problems in her official acts;
and

  WHEREAS, With her throughout have been her husband, David, and their
children, Jared and Cameron, all of whom feel privileged to be a part of
her life and rejoice in her achievements; and

  WHEREAS, It  is  the  sense  of  this  Legislative  Body  that  when
individuals  of  such  noble aims and accomplishments are brought to our
attention, they should be celebrated and recognized by all the  citizens
of the great State of New York; now, therefore, be it

  RESOLVED,  That  this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
honor Melanie Littlejohn upon the occasion of her  retirement  after  30
years  of  distinguished  service  to  National Grid-New York; and be it
further

  RESOLVED, That a copy of this  Resolution,  suitably  engrossed,  be
transmitted to Melanie Littlejohn.