The Rockland Business Women”™s Network will hold its annual Women of Achievement Breakfast on June 9, to honor women who have excelled in the Rockland business landscape and to award scholarships to students.
The theme of this year”™s virtual event is “Illuminating Success.”
The first honoree will be Kelly L. Campbell, an agency transformation and integral leadership consultant. Formerly, Campbell was the owner of the cause marketing agency Liqui-Site Designs Inc., and was nominated by a former client.
During her leadership at Liqui-Site, she mentored many young professionals, which she believes is integral to creating a healthy and supportive workplace culture, and which enhanced the careers of many young women in her field.
“The importance of mentorship in the workplace is that it builds an intentional culture of trust and peer support, which leads to higher levels of engagement, creativity and innovation among employees,” Campbell said. “For me personally, mentoring young women in design, marketing and technology meant that they had the opportunity to exceed their own expectations of themselves, increase self-confidence, get higher-paying jobs and continue to positively influence the culture of every organization they worked for (or owned) for the rest of their careers.”
Today, she helps companies and their leaders focus on conscientious leadership tactics through her consultancy training; her book about leadership is forthcoming and she cofounded a global leadership expert collective, Consciousness Leaders, just five weeks ago.
“My consulting and coaching work centers on helping conscious leaders to develop by considering the impacts of their decisions on factors outside of their own self-interest ”” namely on their people, their community, their industry at large and on the environment,” Campbell said.
“Any leader who wants to be effective must learn how to lead themselves first. Self-awareness is the gateway to healing and emotional intelligence, which allows people to lead with the most important characteristics: empathy, vulnerability, integrity, inclusivity, collaboration and equity. If stewardship of people is a leader”™s priority, then the money will follow those values and naturally result in a positive impact to bottom line revenue.”
Campbell”™s connection to Rockland and its business community is a deep one.
“I feel personally connected to the business landscape in Rockland because I have founded four companies here, have supported some of the largest employers in the county, served on the Economic Development Board and more,” Campbell said. “As a lifetime resident, this is where I choose to live and play and serve my community, and I”™m grateful for the feeling of support for my entrepreneurial spirit.”
In the coming years, she envisions offerings such as flexibility and work-life balance will be key to keeping Rockland employers competitive and creating a healthier and more sustainable working lifestyle for workers in the area.
“Many are waking up to the fact that the demands of our jobs are not sustainable for our health, nor our happiness as humans,” Campbell said. “Couple that with the fact that conscious leadership will become the expectation of employees and customers alike; we”™re just beginning to see that already.
“With all of this in mind, economic development in Rockland will need to keep pace if they want to retain and attract employees in the county. Businesses and nonprofit employers will need to support employees in brand new ways, deeply transform as it relates to diversity, equity and inclusion for employees, and be transparent about their commitments to environmental sustainability.”
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Diana Hess will be recognized for her leadership and work at Jawonio, a nonprofit lifespan care service provider. She has served as the chief development officer since 2010.
After Hess started as public relations manager in 2000, Jawonio CEO Jill Warner believed that Hess was the right person to lead their capital campaign to raise $10 million for a new facility and redevelopment of their New City campus, and so she made the switch to the fundraising side.
During her years at Jawonio, both she and the organization have evolved significantly. She has been recognized for her leadership in disability advocacy, communications and fundraising at the state and federal level. She has won awards, including The New York State Affiliate Leadership Award for Public Service and a Nyack Center Women of Vision and Leadership Award, and even led a delegation to the White House during the Obama administration, along with more than 300 leaders in the disability services sectors across the United States.
“(Jawonio) grew and expanded into Yonkers; opened a separate business agency called Jawonio NJ and developed four group homes; and opened a new facility in New Hempstead for adult services including employment, mental health and day services” Hess said. “During those years, we opened an operations center for our day programs and converted a 30-bed group home into a special education preschool in New City.”
Her nonprofit roots in Rockland extend far back: ““I have been connected to the nonprofit community since my first job in the New York state Assembly. I served on the JCC Board and the Rockland Heart Association, and I participated as a volunteer in numerous countywide fundraisers.”
Now, she predicts a need for increased collaboration throughout the sector because of shrinking resources.
“The needs are even more significant as we are seeing more children and adults with behavioral challenges in our sector,” she said. “I believe the greatest threat to providing services to those most vulnerable in the nonprofit sector is income inequality and the lack of recognition that government has a significant role to play as partners in providing significant resources to ensure basic rights of inclusion and equality.”
Her inspiration and drive to succeed comes from the immediate effect she sees that her work has on others. Jawonio is nearing completion of its funding goal for creating a new facility and redeveloping their 16-acre campus, a goal that could not have been achieved without her work, according to a statement by Jawonio.
“I feel very blessed to work with, advocate for and raise funds on behalf of our staff, children, adults and families that we support,” Hess said. “I come to work everyday knowing that the people I work with change lives each and every day.”
“I believe Jawonio will continue to grow in so many ways and I am proud to be honored by a group of incredibly dedicated women who are part of the success builders in our county,” Hess said.
According to RWBN President Risa Hoag, “Kelly Campbell and Diana Hess embody the spirit of RBWN. They are both strong, talented, and giving individuals who seek to leave their mark on the world while always keeping an eye on helping others.”
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Kathleen Cuneo, secretary and former vice president of membership of RWBN, will be honored for her work with the organization.
“Our Service Woman of the year, Kathleen Cuneo, has been a dedicated and hardworking board member for several years and is being recognized for her contributions to enhance RBWN”™s commitment to the greater community,” Hoag said.
A private-practice licensed psychologist who works mainly with children and parents, she has also served on the boards of the Rockland County Psychological Society, Nanuet High School PTSA and Child Care Resources of Rockland in the past.
She is most proud of her involvement with the growth of the RWBN scholarship programs. In total, over $50,000 in scholarship funds have been given out through the program since its start.
“When I became chair of the scholarship committee, we were already giving out three scholarships to young women each year: two to graduating high school students and one to a graduate of RCC who were going on to four-year colleges,” Cuneo said.
“Since then, we have expanded our scholarship program to also give a scholarship to a graduate of the BOCES TASC program who is furthering her education in one of the BOCES vocational training programs. I am especially proud of the BOCES scholarship because there are currently no other scholarship opportunities for women who want to gain skills and certifications through vocational training and our scholarship can cover most of the cost of their training.”
For this year, the student scholarship winners are Nora Longing from Pearl River High School, Sarah Roderick from Spring Valley High School, Deana Shalygina from RCC and Quetcy Diaz from BOCES.
The event will take place virtually June 9 at 8:30 a.m. Tickets are $25 and available at rwbn.org.
