The Executive Women of New Jersey wanted to celebrate its 40th anniversary with a new branding campaign and a new website — doing so this week.
But, for Barbara Kauffman, the current president, the organization’s goals are more than that. As it celebrates the milestone, it notes that there still is a long way to go regarding the gender issues the organization always has championed.
Kauffman said 2020 has pushed numerous other issues to the forefront. Issues Kauffman notes the group also has championed for years.
“We have evolved a lot as an organization,” she told ROI-NJ. “We believe that we’ve become thought leaders in our research that we do for ‘A Seat at the Table,’ our efforts to show why more women need to be in the board room.
“We wanted to rebrand ourselves, we wanted a more modern look and we wanted to continue to establish ourselves as the go-to organization for women in executive positions — but we also saw this as an opportunity to underscore that we are a diverse organization, and we intend to continue to build it as such.”
Part of that build comes with a newly launched membership directory that will provide networking tools for members to connect seamlessly across industries, Kauffman said.
And the organization’s new logo and website reflect its ongoing commitment to advancing gender and racial equity in executive positions and on corporate boards. EWNJ, Kauffman said, is determined to show that businesses are better, not only with more women in leadership positions, but women from a variety of backgrounds.
“The way of thinking is different,” she said. “And we need to have diverse views, particularly in this era where there are so many challenges — whether it’s the dealing with COVID and figuring out a new way to operate and pivot, or helping those that are underserved and have been subject to longstanding systemic racism.
“The more that we’re able to embrace broad thinking and diversity in every aspect of that allows us to do to do better.”
EWNJ gender diversity advocacy efforts include its Graduate Merit Award Program, which is focused on establishing a pipeline of women leaders. As the largest provider of scholarships to women who are nontraditional graduate students in New Jersey, EWNJ has awarded over $1.3 million dollars to deserving candidates over the last 30 years.
Kauffman, who also serves as executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Newark Regional Business Partnership, said generational diversity is important, too.
Two of the top female leaders of the day — PNC Bank’s Linda Bowden and Montclair State University’s Susan Cole — both announced their retirements earlier this month. (Read about Bowden here and Cole here.)
Kauffman said their impact has been immeasurable — and that their efforts can be honored by helping to develop the next generation of leaders.
“Executive Women of New Jersey has tended to be people from a somewhat older generation,” she said. “Fortunately, there are more women who are coming up. There are some very talented young people who do bring the type of diversity that we want to see.
“And there’s just such a strong business case for why that’s important.”
It’s a case EWNJ is eager to make for another 40 years, Kauffman said.
“The world has changed drastically since EWNJ was formed 40 years ago,” she said. “Sadly, one thing that has not changed is the need for diversity in the boardrooms of companies across New Jersey.
“Our vision for this redesign is to commemorate the progress our organization has made and the legacy we’ve built, while advocating for women’s leadership in corporate spaces and on boards across New Jersey. We also wanted to communicate the relevance of our mission for today’s women, and our commitment to this work in the future, as our mission and our values remain resolute”
Founded in 1980, EWNJ describes itself as a leading senior-level executive women’s organization, which is committed to increasing the number of women serving on corporate boards and in the top leadership of New Jersey corporations. A cornerstone of the organization’s work is its biennial report, “A Seat at the Table,” on the number of women on boards and in the senior governance of public companies in New Jersey.
