STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — When Hala Maroc moved from bustling Astoria, Queens, to Arden Heights on Staten Island’s South Shore as a junior high school student in 2004, she found herself feeling like “a fish out of water.”

Over two decades later, she’s built what she couldn’t find back then — a space where entrepreneurs, creatives and remote workers can collaborate, grow their businesses and build community.

Maroc, 33, founder of Build A Dream Incubator, will be honored at the Staten Island Urban Center Puerto Rican/Latino Heritage Benefit Brunch on Saturday, Nov. 16, alongside Marjorie Garcia of the Boricua Legacy Project.

The recognition celebrates Maroc’s work fostering what she calls a “collaborative ecosystem” at her North Shore-based co-working space, which recently marked its first

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