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Councilmember Helen Diane Foster was born and raised in Bronx County. Her parents are former Councilmember Rev. Wendell Foster and Mrs. Helen Foster, a retired principal. She is the younger sister of Ms. Rebekah Foster, President & CEO of Ujima Sound Productions.
Helen Foster attended Hyde School in Bath, Maine, Howard University in Washington D. C. and City University of New York School of Law (CUNY). While attending law school, Helen Diane Foster participated in an international exchange program at the University of Havana. She served as a summer associate at the Atlanta Legal Aid Offices.
Upon graduating from CUNY, Ms. Foster worked as an Assistant District Attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. She eventually moved into the private sector where she served as an Assistant Vice President for Legal Affairs at St. Barnabas Hospital for a number of years.
Helen Diane Foster was the first African-American woman elected to a City office from Bronx County in November of 2001. The 16th Council District is made up of Highbridge, Morrisania, and Bronx Heights. She was re-elected with 98% of the vote.
Councilmember Foster is the Chairperson for the New York City Council Committee on Parks & Recreation and serves on the New York City Council Committees on Aging; Education; Health; Lower Manhattan Redevelopment; Community Development and Public Safety. She is the former Co-chair of the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus of the New York City Council.
Councilmember Foster is not a “yes, sir” type of elected official. She has taken some courageous stands in the City Council like voting against the New Yankee Stadium and water filtration plant where the needs of development were valued above the needs of the community.
Councilmember Foster serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of Christ Church and is also a member of the nation’s oldest Black sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Tau Omega Chapter, Harlem, New York. Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. is a social service organization involved in civic, community and political affairs throughout the country and the world. She is married to Eric McKay, a writer and film maker, and has a 12 year old bonus daughter, Aminah McKay.
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