Meet the 2025 Honorees

Inaugural Simone Biles Give Back Award

Michael Tiedemann

Michael is the Chief Executive Officer of AlTi Tiedemann Global, a global multi-family office headquartered in New York. Before leading the merger that created AlTi, Mike was a Founding Partner, CEO, and Chairman of the Internal Investment Committee at Tiedemann Advisors, as well as CEO at Tiedemann Investment Group (TIG).

Early in his career, Mike lived and worked in Brazil as part of the equity research group at Banco Garantia and after that firm was acquired by Credit Suisse, ran the equity sales and trading operations for Latin America.

Mike serves on the board of multiple organizations and has been recognized numerous times for his contributions to charitable causes.

He both established and is the Chairman of the Board of RIVER FUND, a nonprofit organization that provides food, education, and support services to help families in New York City break the cycle of poverty.

MICHAEL TIEDEMANN
CEO, AITi Teidemann Global & Chairman, RIVER FUND

Community Impact Award

Harlem Community Development Corporation

Harlem Community Development Corporation (“HCDC”), a subsidiary of the New York State Urban Development Corporation, d/b/a Empire State Development Corporation, was created in 1995 to serve the greater Harlem community, including Central Harlem, El Barrio/East Harlem, Washington Heights and West Harlem. It supersedes the Harlem Urban Development Corporation (HUDC) that existed from 1971 to 1995.

Through various partnerships, HCDC plans and facilitates a wide range of community revitalization initiatives, strengthening upper Manhattan and its economically and culturally vibrant communities.

HARLEM COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
Curtis Archer, President

Special Recognition

WHGF Hero’s Award

Christopher Harrison

Entertainment and fitness visionary Christopher Harrison is a director and award-winning choreographer. As a pioneer in the field of aerial and acrobatic arts in America, Christopher’s innovations have inspired the current acrobatic and aerial cultural explosion across the globe. 1991 NYC, Christopher created AntiGravity as a hybrid of artistic sports & performing arts, embodying a philosophy that nurtures creativity and emphasizes the joy of extreme movement. Freeing aerial arts from the circus and acrobatics from uncool, AntiGravity became America’s first Contemporary Acrobatic Theatrical Company.

Under Christopher’s direction and choreographic helm, AntiGravity’s acclaimed work has flourished on the world’s largest stages including: President Barack Obama’s 2009 Inauguration, the Olympic Games, Disney films, Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, the Metropolitan Opera House, Broadway, the Grammy and Academy Awards; with the most popular artists and tastemakers of the era including: Stephen Spielberg, P. Diddy, Richard Branson, Kanye West, 50 Cent, George Lucas, Steven Forbes, Nelly, Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, Gwen Stefani & No Doubt, Heidi Klum, Usher, Rihanna, Marc Jacobs, Karl Lagerfeld, Bill Gates, George Soros, Stephen Sondheim and Alexander Wang. In the fitness world Harrison is known as having fathered the Aerial Yoga genre.

AntiGravity Fitness (founded 2008) is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. They license their programs in 50 countries. His business models for both aerial performance and aerial fitness have been reproduced in most major metropolises globally. Before Harrison started his company he was a former world-class athlete and Broadway dancer who also had his hand in popular culture as the Original “Donatello” Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and the Original “MoonMan” for MTV Films. He is proud to be an Original Founding Member and current Chair of the Board for the Wendy Hilliard Gymnastics Foundation.

CHRISTOPHER HARRISON
Former Chair, Wendy Hilliard Gymnastics Foundation

Host

Al Roker

Al Roker is the weather and feature anchor of NBC News’ TODAY as well as the co-host of the 3rd Hour of TODAY. He joined in January 1996. From July 2009 to September 2015, Roker served as co-host of the morning show “Wake Up with Al” on the Weather Channel. Until January 2000, he also served as the weekday weather forecaster for News Channel 4’s early evening newscast Live at 5 on WNBC-TV, NBC’s flagship owned and operated station in New York City.

Roker came to WNBC-TV as a weekend weathercaster in December 1983 from WKYC-TV, the NBC television station in Cleveland. Roker began his broadcasting career while still in college by landing a job as a weekend weatherman at WTVH-TV in Syracuse, N.Y. in 1974. After graduation he moved on to weathercasting jobs in Washington, D.C. (1976-1978) and Cleveland
(1978-1983).

Roker has been named Best Weatherman twice by New York Magazine. He is a recipient of the American Meteorological Society’s prestigious Seal of Approval and has been a pioneer in the use of computer graphics for weathercasting. Roker has won three Daytime Emmy Awards as part of TODAY’s recognition as the best morning newscast (2007, 2009, 2010).

Roker also co-hosts Sirius XM’s “Off the Rails” with Dylan Dreyer and Sheinelle Jones. He made his Broadway stage debut in “Waitress” in October 2018 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in New York City, playing the part of Old Joe.

In November 2014, Roker made history on TODAY for “Rokerthon,” in which he broke the Guinness World Record for the Longest Uninterrupted Live Weather Report Broadcast by providing 34 hours of continuous weather coverage. The following year in October 2015, “Rokerthon 2” broke the Guinness World Record for the Fastest Time to Report a Weather Forecast from All 50 US States and the District of Colombia, which he completed in one week.

In March 2017 for “Rokerthon 3,” Roker visited five colleges across the country in five days and helped college students break additional Guinness World Records. In August 2020 for “Rokerthon 4,” Roker enlisted the help of nearly 70 renowned chefs, including Bobby Flay, Priya Krishna, Sandra Lee, Marcus Samuelsson and Andrew Zimmern, to set a new Guinness World Records record for the most people in an online sandwich-making relay.

Throughout the years, Roker has reported live for TODAY from some of history’s worst storms and natural disasters including Hurricane Wilma, Hurricane Isaac, Superstorm Sandy and the earthquake in Haiti.

Among many highlights of his career as an interviewer, Roker conducted an exclusive interview with Peanuts creator Charles Shultz shortly before his death from colon cancer. Additional interview highlights include Willie Nelson, Burt Reynolds, James Earl Jones and B. Smith.

Since 1985, Roker has co-hosted the annual Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting. He also co-hosts the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Rose Bowl Parade. For ten years, from 2001 to 2010, and in 2017, Roker’s “Lend a Hand Today” initiative took him across the country and raised millions to help small charities work towards improving conditions in their communities.

In 1994, Roker founded Al Roker Entertainment, Inc. (ARE), a thriving multimedia company involved in the development and production of network, cable, home video, and public television projects. ARE produces programming for a diverse clientele including NBC News, Lifetime Television, A&E, The History Channel, E!, Discovery Networks, PBS, TV ONE, Oxygen, The
Cartoon Network and NBC Television Stations Group.

Roker is a bestselling author with 13 acclaimed books to his credit: “Murder on Demand,” “The Morning Show Murders”, “The Midnight Show Murders”, “The Talk Show Murders”, “Al Roker’s Big Bad Book of Barbecue”, “Don’t Make Me Stop This Car: Adventures in Fatherhood”, “Al Roker’s Hassle Free Holiday Cookbook”, “Never Goin’ Back : Winning the Weight Loss Battle for Good”, “Big Shoes: In Celebration of Dads and Fatherhood”, “Been There Done That: Family Wisdom For Modern Times”, “The Storm of the Century”, “Al Roker’s Extreme Weather,” “Ruthless Tide,” and “You Look So Much Better in Person.”

Roker is a member of several professional organizations including the Friars Club, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the Screen Actors Guild and the American Meteorological Society.

Raised in Queens, New York, Roker received his B.A. in Communications from the State University at Oswego in 1976, and he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the school in 1998. He resides in Manhattan with his wife, ABC News correspondent Deborah Roberts. Roker has two daughters and one son.

Follow Al on X and Instagram: @alroker

AL ROKER
Weather & Feature Anchor, TODAY & Co-Host, 3rd Hour of TODAY