Sunday’s sold-out Freedom Fund Dinner will recognize five individuals and two organizations, with Syracuse Mayor Sharon Owens scheduled to speak.

The Oneida County NAACP’s annual Freedom Fund Dinner will bring a local recognition program to Utica on Sunday, November 1. Its organizer’s listing marks the event sold out, an important distinction for readers considering a last-minute visit.

Branch 2167 lists the program for 3–6 p.m. EST at the Irish Cultural Center, 623 Columbia Street, with doors opening at 2:30 p.m. The theme is “We, The People.”

The local people and organizations being recognized

According to the branch’s announcement, individual honorees are:

• Rev. Sharon Baugh, Hope Chapel AME Zion Church pastor and Hope Chapel Ministries executive director.
• Monalisa Fermin-Fennell, ICAN’s Project RISE program coordinator.
• Dr. Cynthia Jones, Mosaic Health Utica’s chief medical officer.
• Teresa Van Etten, artist and community advocate.
• Marinez Chambers, youth honoree.

The community honorees are Citizen Action New York’s Central New York chapter and Indivisible Mohawk Valley. Those descriptions reflect the organizer’s program, rather than independently reported biographies.

A keynote with regional significance

Scheduled keynote speaker Sharon Owens is Syracuse’s 55th mayor and the first Black person and second woman to hold the office, according to her official city biography. Her mayoral term began in January 2026.

Her background includes nonprofit work and city administration. Before becoming mayor, Owens served as deputy mayor and chief of staff beginning in 2018. Earlier roles included leadership at Syracuse Community Connections and work involving housing, youth services and neighborhood development.

The city biography also identifies her as a Syracuse University economics graduate. That experience gives readers context for the announced speaker; it does not tell us what she will say Sunday. No remarks from the upcoming keynote are quoted here because the speech has not taken place.

Community service across generations

The announced honorees span faith leadership, health care, youth work, art and civic organizing. Their recognition puts several kinds of local service in the spotlight, including work by both established community figures and a youth honoree.

For Utica readers, the dinner also connects local civil-rights organizing with a regional milestone: Syracuse’s first Black mayor is scheduled to address a gathering honoring service here in Oneida County.

For readers already holding reservations

Check your confirmation and the organizer’s page for any final instructions. The sold-out notice means this article is not an invitation to arrive expecting an available seat. We have not verified a waitlist or an exception for walk-in admission.

November 1 is also the morning clocks return to standard time. The 3 p.m. start is Eastern Standard Time, the local time in Utica that afternoon.

Program and sold-out status checked October 30, 2026. This is a preview, not coverage of a completed event. Any subsequent program changes should be confirmed with the organizer.