AT&T’s Charlene Brown to receive NJBIA’s Caren Franzini Leadership Award

The New Jersey Business & Industry Association announced AT&T-New Jersey President Charlene Brown will receive the 2020 Caren Franzini Leadership Award, honoring her trailblazing career.

Brown, a public relations and government affairs executive who develops and implements the telecommunications company’s public policy and philanthropic initiatives, will be honored during NJBIA’s 6^th Annual Women Business Leaders Forum in September.

“The Caren Franzini Leadership Award is an honor bestowed on individuals who inspire and empower others to achieve professional excellence,” NJBIA CEO and President Michele Siekerka said in a prepared statement. “NJBIA is pleased this year to be honoring Charlene, who like the award’s namesake is a dynamic, hardworking executive who leads by example in both the business world and in the community.”

The 6^th Annual Women Business Leaders Forum, New Jersey’s largest professional women’s conference, is dubbed “Ready to Launch.” It will be held starting Sept. 8, and feature four days of virtual events, featuring keynote speakers Cynthia Marshall, CEO of the Dallas Mavericks, and Emily Chang, a Bloomberg TV anchor.

Brown, who also serves as AT&T’s primary contact for state and local government officials, as well as policymakers and community leaders throughout New Jersey,  is a former press secretary for the state Human Services commissioner and former journalist.

She serves on the boards of Felician University and the New Jersey Commission on Science Innovation & Technology, among others, and is an executive officer of the nonprofit Drumthwacket Foundation.

The Caren Franzini Leadership Award honors the legacy of Franzini, the longtime CEO of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, who died in 2017. After working with seven governors in that role from 1994 to 2012, she served on NJBIA’s board of trustees until her death at age 57.

Past winners include real estate developer Anne Evans Estabrook in 2017, PNC Bank executive Linda Bowden in 2018 and health care leader Amy Mansue in 2019.

Click here for more information on the conference, or to register.