Meet the 4 Syracuse residents, groups honored with 2026 Unsung Hero Award

The Unsung Hero Award is given to Syracuse residents who positively impact others but may not receive widespread recognition. Pass Da R.O.C.K., Eman Tadros, Jamie Sterling and Bettie Graham were honored with the award this year. Avery Magee | Photo Editor

By Priya SchmitAsst. Digital Editor

February 15, 2026

Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.

Nate Peña spends his day helping children and teenagers in Syracuse maintain their school attendance, gain experience in different career fields and teach teamwork by playing travel basketball. That’s why his youth organization, Pass Da R.O.C.K., was one of four recipients of this year’s Unsung Hero Award.

Syracuse University’s 41st Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Planning Committee named Eman Tadros, Jamie Sterling, Bettie Graham and Pass Da R.O.C.K. as the four 2026 Unsung Hero Award winners this January.

The recipients were supposed to be recognized at the 2026 MLK celebration on Jan. 25; however, the event was cancelled due to weather conditions.

The award, created in honor of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., is given to community members, organizations, students, faculty or staff who have made a positive impact on the lives of others and have not received widespread recognition.

Md Zobayer Hossain Joati | Inclusive Journalism Fellow

Pass Da R.O.C.K.

Pass Da R.O.C.K. is a youth empowerment program aimed at helping Syracuse city youth. Peña, the group’s founder, started the program in 1998 in Los Angeles and moved it to Syracuse in 2001.

Beginning as a monthly free event to give children a safe place to have fun and play basketball, Pass Da R.O.C.K. grew into a mentorship program designed to help improve the lives of city youth.

“Our goal is to help city youth recognize their value and reach their full potential,” Peña said.

The organization has three pillars of outreach: a partnership with the Syracuse City School District, a summer life empowerment program and a travel basketball team.

Through the partnership with SCSD, the organization provided daily academic, behavior and attendance support to students. This was accomplished through an incentive approach, awarding students for progressing and meeting their goals.

The summer life empowerment program exposed youth to different career fields, “from dairy farming to welding,” giving them hands-on work experience and life skills, Peña said. The program helps them explore different careers.

Kids can also try out for a travel basketball team. If they earn a place on the team, they travel across the country, enabling them to experience competition and different cities’ cultures, Peña said.

“We believe that exposure leads to expansion,” Peña said. “If we expose them to the most positive things in their world, hopefully they will be open to expanding their world to those things as well.”

While the organization has contracts and partnerships with the district to provide their services, Peña said they rely on local individual businesses’ donations and sponsorships to fund the empowerment and basketball programs.

Parents have expressed their gratitude for the positive role the organization played in their children’s lives.

“What Pass Da R.O.C.K. provided went far beyond mentoring. It was life-changing,” a parent with children involved in the organization wrote in a letter to Peña. “You showed up consistently, believed in them, and gave them something many young boys are searching for: direction and encouragement.”

The program’s largest goal is to expand facilities for life empowerment programs, establish involvement with all the school districts and continue to grow the number of kids they help.

“What I’m trying to teach is you are valuable, you are loved and if you work hard, you can be successful,” Peña said.

Md Zobayer Hossain Joati | Inclusive Journalism Fellow

Eman Tadros

Eman Tadros has spent the last decade researching and practicing marriage and family therapy. She applies this experience to her work advocating for marginalized and silenced communities.

When Tadros, a SU associate professor of human development and family science, began her research in marriage and family therapy, she noticed a lack of clinical theories for incarcerated populations. Additionally, she saw that human rights issues were happening in incarcerated groups, which tend to have a high percentage of marginalized people.

Tadros’ work advocating for marginalized individuals, specifically in incarcerated populations, played a crucial role in earning the Unsung Heroes Award.

Involved in 167 peer-reviewed publications, Tadros has done extensive research on racial and ethnic minority populations and culturally informed treatment.

“This was the intersection of my work,” Tadros said. “There was a clear need for those that have a little bit of privilege, like myself, to be able to advocate for this population.”

In her work as a marriage and family therapist, Tadros often communicated with marginalized incarcerated people and their families in Spanish, since many facilities she’s worked in typically solely used English. She said she wanted to raise awareness of therapy services the facilities provided and invite the families to sessions.

Tadros has expanded her work to other issues, such as advocating on Capitol Hill for Medicare access for marriage and family therapists, and doing research on the intersection of substance abuse and minority groups.

“If we all did our part in advocating for those that are vastly underserved in our society, we would all live in a better world,” Tadros said.

Md Zobayer Hossain Joati | Inclusive Journalism Fellow

Jamie Sterling

Jamie Sterling, a first-generation accounting major in the Whitman School of Management, was awarded for his time and energy guiding his peers through extensive SU involvement.

Sterling is the president of SU’s chapter of Alpha Kappa Psi, a professional business fraternity, and the sergeant at arms of Alpha Phi Alpha. In both of these fraternities, he served as a new member educator to support and guide new students who became involved with the organizations.

“I helped bring in new life into the organizations and nurture the success of the chapter way beyond myself,” Sterling said.

As president of Alpha Kappa Psi, Sterling aims to support members of the organization through providing different resources and mentorship.

At Alpha Phi Alpha, where Sterling serves as sergeant at arms — the same fraternity King was a member of — Sterling said the fraternity continues to have the “same mindset” and “believe in the same beliefs” as King.

Sterling places a strong emphasis on the importance of community service. Through his experience volunteering and helping middle school students, he learned the importance of consistency.

“Consistency is very important, as well as serving younger students in the community,” Sterling said.

Courtesy of Bettie Graham

Bettie Graham

From mentorship to educational programs to housing assistance, Bettie Graham works to make a positive change on Syracuse city children and teenagers. That’s why she founded The Determination Center, an organization focused on helping “at-risk” youth.

Graham opened The Determination Center in 2007, intending for it to serve as a “safe haven for local kids.” The center currently welcomes up to 80 children and teenagers and 20 adult volunteers.

“It has touched many, many lives,” Graham said. “It has really developed to be a nurturing safe space for young people.”

Graham was awarded the Unsung Heroes Award for her leadership and commitment to serving her community.

The center partners with key organizations in the Syracuse community to increase collaboration. These partnerships include the Syracuse City School District, SU, the Department of Social Services, the Berkshire Farm Center & Services for Youth and the Office of Children and Family Services.

Graham hopes to expand The Determination Center, including finding a larger space and creating support groups for young people who don’t know how to read.

The impact Graham and The Determination Center had on the community is evident in the comments Graham has received from people who graduated from the program, she said.

“People have gone away and moved to different parts of the world and they call me to say they appreciate what I’ve done for them, the structure that they had and the love that I (used) to show them how to be productive young people,” Graham said.