Concordia College New York has announced the honorees for the 38th annual Community Dinner to be held on Saturday, October 26. Bronxville residents Simoni and Mauricio Morato and Claudia and Rodolpho Amboss will receive the President’s Award for Excellence in Service to the Community.
The four honorees – all natives of Brazil – have deep ties to both the Bronxville community and Concordia College, where they have been extraordinarily generous with their time and treasure. Like many Bronxville residents, their point of entry to Concordia College was Concordia Conservatory, where both couples’ children – and Mauricio and Claudia themselves – studied music. Mauricio served two terms as an executive board member and co-chaired three annual galas. In addition to teaching for ten years in the Conservatory’s Early Childhood Music Program, Claudia volunteered for over a decade on the Conservatory’s community musicals, served two terms on the executive board, chaired a gala and served on the gala committees each year since 2001. Throughout, the Moratos and Ambosses have made significant impacts as donors.
The couples are longtime friends who met when two of their children, Gabriel Morato and Gabriela Amboss, were placed in the same kindergarten class. The families grew close over the years, vacationing together several times. Now college students, Gabriel and Gabriela commuted together to their summer internships at Safra National Bank, where Simoni is CEO.
A lawyer by training, Claudia now has an interior design business, Projecta Interior Design; Rodolpho is a co-founder and Managing Director of Silverpeak Real Estate Partners, and Global CFO of Silverpeak Legacy Funds. Claudia said: “Concordia College has been like our back yard ever since we arrived. I’ve always loved the way the college is so diverse and places a great value on difference – this was especially important for our family to see when we were new immigrants to Bronxville ourselves.”
President of Concordia College Dr. John A. Nunes said: “Concordia is truly a college where worlds meet, and Simoni and Mauricio Morato and Claudia and Rodolpho Amboss exemplify the rich value that cultural diversity brings to our lives. I am delighted to honor their longstanding support of Concordia College and the community, and honored to call them friends.”