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Legislators Paul, Davidson & Stilley Recognize Residents For Their Personal Achievements & Community Contributions

Honorees John Duval, Inseon Hwang, Rana Park, Mark Sanchez and Waree Sunlee Presented With Distinguished Service Awards

The Rockland County Legislature honored five local residents for their personal achievements and contributions to the community during a recognition ceremony led by Legislature Vice Chairwoman Aney Paul and County Legislators Beth Davidson and Dana G. Stilley.

Honorees John Duval, Inseon Hwang, Rana Park, Mark Sanchez, and Waree Sunlee were each presented with the Distinguished Service Award, the Rockland County Legislature’s highest honor. 

Each honoree is a member of the Asian American community, one of the fastest growing in the nation, with New York state home to more than 1.6 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI).

“As an Asian Indian, I can say that here in Rockland, we have long enjoyed vibrant AAPI communities,” Legislator Paul said. “But we must also acknowledge that these proud communities have often encountered racism and other forms of prejudice.”

Last year, Legislator Paul sponsored a local forum that included representatives of Gov. Hochul’s Administration to discuss the massive increase in hate incidents – both physical and verbal – toward the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and to identify possible solutions. In 2022, she sponsored a resolution calling for public schools to provide Asian American history and civic impact studies to elementary and high school students that was  unanimously supported by the County Legislature.

Despite the many challenges Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have faced throughout history, they have continuously worked to overcome social, economic, educational, and cultural obstacles; to uproot harmful and painful stereotypes; and to seek their rightful place in daily American life.

“We acknowledge the struggles undertaken and the sacrifices made by members of these communities in order to build better futures and we join with them in celebrating their many successes,” Legislator Paul said.

“Dr. Inseon Hwang is a distinguished nurse educator, practitioner, and researcher whose career spans across three-plus decades,” Legislator Paul said. “In addition to her significant professional accomplishments, she also contributes to the betterment of our community through her volunteer activities.”

Dr. Inseon Hwang holds a bachelor’s in nursing from Ewha Womans University in South Korea, where she also earned a master’s degree in Community Health Nursing. She earned her PhD in Nursing from Columbia University and further specialized as a Family Nurse Practitioner through post-master’s education at Stony Brook University.

Dr. Hwang has worked as a Family Nurse Practitioner at inpatient psychiatric institutes, has served as a Staff Nurse at the Yonsei Severance Hospital's Chest Surgery Unit in Korea, Flushing Hospital, and the Visiting Nurse Service of New York; and worked as a Research Coordinator at Columbia University School of Public Health.

She was an Assistant Professor at Nyack College from 2008 to 2014, an Associate Professor until 2021, and served as the Dean of the School of Nursing from 2018 to 2022. Most recently, she was a Professor until 2023. Dr. Hwang’s research focuses on public health and adolescent health behaviors.

She has actively engaged in volunteer work, including leading a coat drive and a soup kitchen, and participating in health fair outreach in various communities with nursing students in Rockland County. She has participated in several foreign medical missions and has also coordinated conferences for the New York Korean Nurses Association to foster professional development for the nursing workforce.

“Mark Sanchez has a deep commitment to his community and to public service,” Legislator Paul said. “He is always helping others through his professional skills and his commitment to making everyone feel like they belong.”

Mark Sanchez is a life-long Rockland County resident who was Administrator of Green Hills Estate Health Services Group in Haverstraw for close to 15 years. Green Hills offers adult-home, social daycare, and assisted living services to many who can no longer care for themselves. Mark’s first career was in teaching, followed by a decade in finance in New York City. He is currently the Nursing Home Administrator of Record at United Hebrew of New Rochelle.

Along with his Long-Term Care Administrator Certification from Iona, Mark has an MBA from the Asian Institute of Management in Manila, the Philippines, and a BA from Denison University in Ohio.

He is President of the Filipino Association of Rockland County. He is also Executive Board Member and Fellow of the New York Chapter of the American College of Healthcare Administrators, co-chair of its Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee, and a member of its National Mentoring Committee. He is also a 2023 graduate of Leadership Rockland.

Mark and his wife are parents of young twin boys. He is also a golfer and avid cyclist.

Waree Sunlee is owner and chef at Grub, an Asian fusion restaurant in West Nyack. 

“Through her food, her generosity, and her stellar business acumen, Chef Waree Sunlee has made Rockland a better—and certainly more delicious—place,” Legislator Davidson said. “Like all our honorees, it is evident Chef Sunlee followed her passion to a career she loves and a community that loves her right back.”

She started her career in finance, working as an accountant, but to pursue her passion, she decided to quit her accounting job and attend culinary school, where she specialized in international cuisines. Later, after she had her children, she left her corporate job altogether.

Waree’s food journey began by teaching cooking classes at the former Food Evolution in New City, the Ridgewood Culinary Studio, and at Nanuet Continuing Education. She rented a small kitchen in a bar in Pearl River for two years, gaining fans and followers. Once she felt confident that people liked her food, she decided to open her own restaurant.

Waree was already operating two successful eateries simultaneously when she took on the almost-unthinkable task of building out a restaurant during the most difficult days of the pandemic. She was a provider of wonderful food when people needed it most and an employer who helped workers earn much-needed pay checks. She consolidated to Grub and along the way has proven she is not only an outstanding chef, but a highly successful businesswoman and an outstanding role model to her children and the greater community.

Waree encounters different challenges daily, but she doesn’t let anyone, or anything, get her down. Her advice to other women in the Rockland food scene is to work hard, but smart; stay healthy and love yourself.

John Duval has spent the past 20 years working on issues of educational and economic justice for marginalized communities. 

He began his career providing job readiness training for adults recovering from mental illness in the Bronx and central Brooklyn.  After graduate school, he began an 11-year stint at New York City Public Schools, where he led large-scale public-private partnerships focusing on opportunity gaps for Black and Latino youth. 

Recognizing the importance of representation in student success, John worked on an initiative to recruit and retain 1,000 male teachers of color in New York City. The work included broadening recruitment strategies, retooling hiring protocols, and shifting school culture to ensure teachers of color remain in the profession and further develop their teaching craft.

After moving to Nyack with his wife and three kids, he maintained a focus on service and leadership.  He is currently the Vice President of the Nyack School Board and is also a member of the Board of Directors at South Bronx Community High School, where he serves as chair of the Academic Committee.  He is the proud son of a Vietnamese mother and French father, who met during the war and emigrated to the United States in 1970. 

“In their own unique way, John Duval and Rana Park have enriched the educational experiences of all students in their respective communities,” Legislator Stilley said. “Their leadership and desire to serve is unmatched. I look forward to witnessing the county-wide impact of the great work and continued accomplishments of all of the honorees.”

Rana Park earned her BA in Sociology from the University of California at Irvine and a Master of Divinity with a concentration in Youth, Family and Culture from Fuller Theological Seminary in Houston.

Rana served as the Program Coordinator for the Korean American Family Service Center in Los Angeles prior to moving to Rockland. Since living in New York she has worked as a Youth Director, including at All Souls Community Church in Suffern, where she is now the Worship Director in charge of planning and executing all church services and musical arrangements, among many other responsibilities, and where she continues to work with parish youth.

Rana has been a resident of Rockland County for more than 10 years with her husband, John, and their three children. It was an encounter with children making racist remarks walking in an Orangetown neighborhood almost nine years ago that sparked a desire to get involved in the community.

Since then, Rana’s goal has been to make an impact in the community by being present as an Asian female - in the schools and in the community. As the pandemic exposed many of the present tensions in the world and in our community, Rana, along with two other women, organized the Piermont Vigil for Black Lives Matter. In response to hate crimes against Asians and the need for conversations and action for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion causes, she co-founded the group South Orangetown 4 DEI so that all students are seen, heard and cared for.  Along with active involvement in the PTA - where she currently serves as the Middle School PTA Board Vice President, Rana is also a member of the district's Equity Coalition and Curriculum Council.

(Left to right) Rockland County Legislators Dana G. Stilley and Aney Paul, Honorees John Duval Rana Park, Waree Sunlee, Mark Sanchez and Inseon Hwang, and County Legislator Beth Davidson participated in the Asian American Pacific Islander Recognition Ceremony.

Rockland County Legislator Aney Paul presents the Distinguished Service Award to Inseon Hwang.

 Rockland County Legislator Aney Paul presents the Distinguished Service Award to Mark Sanchez.

Rockland County Legislator Beth Davidson presents the Distinguished Service Award to Waree Sunlee.

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