Vision 25 Highlight – Sylvia King-Cohen
As part of our Vision 25 campaign, we will be highlighting the people, programs and business partners who are positioned to help bring Life’s WORC into the future, embracing not just 2025 but the next 25 years, together.
For our first Vision 25 feature we would like to reintroduce you to Life’s WORC Board Member Sylvia King Cohen. Sylvia has been a member of our Board of Directors since 2021 and has been an integral part of the overall Life’s WORC team, sharing her skills and experience as a journalist and publicist with the organization to help fulfill and expand our mission.
Prior to becoming a publicist, Sylvia worked for Newsday from 1995 to 2019 in positions ranging from sports editor to Explore LI editor and writer. She then transitioned to the role of publicist for Todd Shapiro Associates and in that position handles publicity for Life’s WORC.
Originally from Oklahoma, Sylvia graduated from Oklahoma State University, where she was the first African American woman to be editor of the college’s newspaper, The O’Collegian. She also was the first African American woman to be editor of a major daily in Oklahoma, the prize-winning Weatherford Daily News. She worked at newspapers in Dallas, including The Dallas Times Herald as a foreign editor. She took her skills to Georgia where she was a sports editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution before moving to New York to work for Newsday.
“Black History Month is an important time as we shine a light on people and events that don’t always see the light of day,” Sylvia said when asked about Life’s WORC’s celebrating Black History Month. “I particularly enjoy learning new things that I can share with others. I’ve actually begun to realize that I also am a part of that history. I have experienced many firsts in my life and career, but as one is in the process of doing them, you don’t think about it. Perhaps someday, someone will experience wonder at the things I accomplished.”
“I do think of what is so often said during this month ‘Black History is American History,’” she continued. “That is so true, because unless we embrace all our history, from every population, the painful and the sweet, we can never truly be one united country.” These sentiments hold true across Life’s WORC as an organization, as we embrace and celebrate people of all ages, genders, races, backgrounds and abilities every day.
As publicist for Life’s WORC Sylvia has utilized her deep community connections and relationships with the media to help share Life’s WORC’s news, programs and mission with the public. Through her role as a Board Member she has helped support numerous initiatives – including Vision 25 – as they raise necessary funds and awareness to help the people we support and the critical services Life’s WORC offers.
“I am truly happy to be part of the Life’s WORC family,” Sylvia says. “People are kind, giving and quick with a smile and a hello to make you feel welcome. There have been times when I’ve had a long day and a part of me just wants to go home and crawl in bed and sleep. But I get to Life’s WORC and there is this sense of energy and happiness that give me a recharge. I hope others experience that sensation when they need it most.”
We are honored to have such an accomplished journalist and publicist as a member of the Life’s WORC Board of Directors. We thank Sylvia for her dedication to the organization and the people we serve and look forward to her guidance as we embrace the challenges and new possibilities ahead.
