NEW YORK May 11, 2026 — A newly formed coalition of ethnic chambers of commerce and multicultural business leaders is moving into New York politics with unusual speed — and making clear from the outset that it does not intend to sit quietly on the sidelines.
Just days after formally launching, the Multicultural Business Coalition (MBC) gathered an influential concentration of political, corporate, and civic leadership Thursday night at Yonkers Brewing Company, including New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Congressman George Latimer, senior New York City officials, business executives, chamber presidents, and community advocates in what many attendees described as one of the most significant multicultural business coalition launches New York has seen in years.
The coalition’s rapid emergence is already drawing attention in political and business circles because new advocacy organizations rarely attract this level of high-profile support so quickly after launch — particularly across such a broad cross-section of government, corporate leadership, and multicultural business communities.
The coalition’s growing strength and increasingly unified political voice also quickly drew media attention, with the New York Post placing the coalition’s emergence into its headlines and highlighting comments from Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce President & CEO Duvi Honig about the importance of uniting multicultural business communities into a coordinated advocacy force capable of influencing major economic and public policy debates.
The MBC was formed to unite historically fragmented ethnic chambers, immigrant business groups, and multicultural organizations into one coordinated advocacy force focused on economic opportunity, small-business protection, procurement access, public policy, public safety, and civic representation. Coalition leaders say the organization was born out of growing frustration shared quietly for years among many multicultural business communities — that while their communities represented enormous economic power and voting influence, their voices often remained divided when major policy decisions affecting businesses, jobs, and neighborhoods were being made.
Thursday night’s event suggested elected officials are already paying close attention.
“This was not a ceremonial networking event,” one attendee remarked privately during the gathering. “This is the beginning of a serious political and economic coalition.”
That sentiment was reinforced almost immediately by the attendance of Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, whose personal appearance coalition leaders described as a major statement of recognition and legitimacy.
For coalition organizers, having the highest-ranking elected official in the New York State Senate appear only days after launch sent a message far beyond New York City — signaling to political and business leaders across the country that the Multicultural Business Coalition is rapidly emerging as a serious new advocacy and economic force.
Also attending was Congressman George Latimer, representing Westchester and the Bronx, alongside senior state and city officials, corporate executives, and leadership from multiple chambers and business organizations spanning New York’s diverse communities.
Opening remarks were delivered by Kenneth Roldan, President of the Multicultural Business Coalition, and Frank Garcia, Chairman of the coalition, who both emphasized that the organization was designed specifically to ensure multicultural business communities no longer approach major political and economic battles fragmented and divided.
“Years of our Secretary Duvi Honig’s relationship-building and coalition work is paying off by bringing all these communities and leaders together under one united voice,” Frank Garcia said.
Stewart-Cousins praised the coalition’s vision and recognized the organization for building a platform capable of representing “hundreds of thousands of New York business voices,” while expressing support for efforts centered on inclusion, opportunity, and economic collaboration.
Latimer similarly voiced support for strengthening economic opportunity and civic engagement across New York’s diverse business communities.
Additional leadership in attendance included Miguelina Camilo, Chief of Staff to New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin, and Mayra Linares-Garcia, Vice President of Public Affairs for Coca-Cola, reflecting growing corporate and governmental interest in the coalition’s rapidly expanding reach.
The evening was co-hosted by Jairo Guzman, President of the Mexican Coalition and a leading voice in New York’s Hispanic business community, alongside Mark Jaffe, President of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, who described the coalition as a long-overdue realignment of multicultural business influence.
“When business communities stand divided, their voices are weakened,” Mark Jaffe said. “When they stand together, they become impossible to ignore. What’s happening here is powerful, timely, and long overdue.”
Also attending were Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez, New York State Assemblyman Nader Sayegh, Alan Ruesga, Albert Rodriguez, Wilson Torres, Rick Ramos, Alphonso Alvarez, and Marcos Boccio, alongside additional business, civic, and multicultural leadership from across the region.
As the evening progressed, coalition leaders repeatedly emphasized that the organization intends to become an active force in shaping public policy debates impacting small businesses and working-class communities — not simply another ceremonial coalition issuing occasional statements.
That message became especially clear as coalition members discussed their decision to begin closely examining New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s proposal to establish a municipally owned grocery store program across New York City.
Coalition leaders said they are looking into what they describe as the “true economic impact and risk calculation” of the proposal, including concerns that city-backed supermarkets operating with government advantages could unintentionally harm neighborhood supermarkets, bodegas, immigrant-owned grocery stores, and family-run retailers already struggling with inflation, theft, labor costs, rising rents, and razor-thin margins.
The coalition said that while addressing food insecurity is important, policymakers must also weigh the potential consequences for thousands of existing small-business jobs and the economic stability of multicultural neighborhoods. Leaders noted that many organizations participating in the coalition directly represent independent supermarket owners, local grocers, and neighborhood retailers throughout New York City and surrounding communities — making the issue an early area of focus for the newly formed alliance.
Among those recognized later in the evening were Dilip Chauhan, Deputy Commissioner of NYC’s MWBE Office, and Roxanne Nielsen of the federal government’s U.S. Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) representing the New York region, both of whom have worked closely with Duvi Honig and the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce on city and federal minority business initiatives, including working together on an MBDA Memorandum of Understanding signed between the U.S. Government under the Biden administration and the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce focused on expanding economic opportunities nationally.
Both applauded the coalition’s mission and Honig’s leadership, pledging continued collaboration to strengthen multicultural business growth and inclusion.
Later in the evening, Duvi Honig, Secretary and Co-Founder of the coalition and President & CEO of the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce, framed the gathering as the beginning of a much broader movement that coalition leaders believe could eventually evolve into one of the state’s most influential multicultural business advocacy blocs.
“Having the Senate Majority Leader personally come support this coalition sends a powerful message about what is being built here,” Honig said. “As America approaches its 250th anniversary, communities came together around the principles this country was founded on — freedom, equality, opportunity, and mutual respect. That common ground is exactly why this coalition was formed: to unite communities through commerce, protect jobs and businesses, give voice to the people we represent, and ensure elected officials hear the concerns of the communities driving our economy. For decades many multicultural business communities lacked a unified seat at the table. That changes now. A new voice has emerged — and it will be heard.”
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