As the New Jersey Business & Industry Association kicked off its two-day Women Business Leaders Forum last night in Atlantic City, a key message emerged: use your voice and advocate for a seat at the table.
For the hundreds of female business leaders, entrepreneurs and students gathered at Bally’s, it did not go unnoticed that the annual event was taking place less than a year after a woman became governor of New Jersey. Nor that the state’s first chief operating officer, who spoke at the event, is a woman. Or that NJBIA’s CEO and Board Chair are both women.
Energy in the room was high and loud as New Jersey State Chief Operating Officer Kellie Doucette took the stage, sharing her family’s immigration story, her two decades as an actuary, and her decision to shift into politics.
Doucette then helped NJBIA CEO Michele Siekerka and Board Chair Lori Roth, the CEO of Prager Metis, honor six people with leadership awards:
- Chrissy Buteas, CEO of the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey, received the Women for Change Award.
- Former Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, now a partner at Connell Foley and CEO of the nonprofit Mercy Center Corporation, received the Caren Franzini Leadership Award.
- Christina M. Renna, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey, received the Community Impact Award.
- Reshma Saujani, founder of Moms First and Girls Who Code, got the Women in Advocacy Award.
- Richard Thigpen, senior VP Corporate Citizenship, Public Service Enterprise Group, received the NJBIA EmpowerHER Award.
- Briana Vannozzi, Emmy-award winning journalist and news anchor at NJ Spotlight News, won the Women in Media Award.
While accepting her award, Vannozzi spoke about her recent recovery from surgeries to remove tumors from her vocal chords. “It made me realize how much we take our voice for granted,” she said, and encouraged the women in the room to speak up — and often.
During Guadagno’s acceptance speech, she spoke of her nonprofit, which operates a food pantry, a family resource center for the Asbury Park area, and a free middle school for disadvantaged girls. Guadagno also paid tribute to the namesake of her award, Caren Franzini, who led the state Economic Development Authority for two decades and died in 2017.
The event also marked the launch of the New Jersey Business Council for Childcare, a business-led coalition seeking to address childcare as a critical economic issue for the state. Advised by Moms First, the coalition includes the NJBIA, New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, Hackensack Meridian Health and Bally’s.
“Childcare is not a personal problem, it’s a workforce issue,” Moms First’s Saujani said. “Solving childcare is essential to building a strong, competitive New Jersey.”
Thursday’s event schedule is packed with more than 70 speakers giving TED-style talks, sitting on executive panels and holding breakout sessions on breaking barriers, AI in the workplace and leading in male-dominated industries. Business leaders will share their stories behind building successful careers and overcoming challenges.
