Countdown to the NJBIZ Best 50 Women in Business event A look back at the Class of 2007

NJBIZ is celebrating the 10th anniversary of our Best 50 Women in Business event with a countdown to this year’s ceremony, to be held Monday, March 23, at The Palace at Somerset Park.For the nine business days leading up to the event, we’ll take a look back at a previous class, giving you a sneak peek at their answers to a class-only poll question and a class-only open-ended question based on topics involving women in the workplace.

Today, we’re featuring the Class of 2007.

But before we get to our answers (below) and a listing of the members of the Class of 2007 (even further down), we feel the need to remind you to get your tickets first.

This event always has capacity crowds and we’re expecting another sellout. If you haven’t made a reservation, click here now.

And if you want to start tweeting about the event today, please use #Best50WomenNJ on your tweets.

And now, the answers from the Class of 2007:

Poll Question: Let’s take the equal pay question from another angle: Say you were a finalist for a job with a man with equal experience and qualifications. Do you think the man would be offered more money if selected just because he’s a man?

Yes: 61 percent

No: 39 percent

Open-ended question: Tell us about a time when you attended a business function and found you were the only woman in the room — how did you handle it?

1. Elizabeth Hance, vice president of finance, United Way of Central Jersey: Walking into a business function and finding myself the ‘token female’ in the room first happened to me some 30-plus years ago. My initial inclination was to try to smoke, drink, cuss and tell off-color jokes so I could fit-in with ‘the boys.’ Instead, I decided to dazzle the boys with my ladylike manners, feminine attire and intelligent conversation. Amazingly, it worked!
2. Janice Tomlinson, director, Navigators Groups, Oswald Companies, subsidiaries of FirstCan Management: This happened to me frequently. Several years ago, the company that I worked for had a joint black-tie dinner with another firm. I was the first woman to ever attend the function. As I knew all the men would be in black tie, I decided to wear a red dress. I stood out in the crowd of black.
3. Wendy Flanagan, senior director, sales & marketing, Tronex Herbal Solutions: Not even sure how this question made it to the survey. Being at a business function is not about gender, or race for that matter, it’s about a shared interest in a topic, a business purpose or knowledge and experience of such value that it must be shared. You shake hands, exchange information and, if the function isn’t measuring up to your professional expectations, you leave (or call security).

More answers will appear in our special supplement covering the event.

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Looking for the answers from other classes? Click the year:

The Class of 2006

And finally, a look back at the Class of 2007:

• Sylvia Allen, President and Owner, Allen Consulting, Inc.
• Christine Amalfe, Chair, Employment Law Department, Gibbons P.C.
• Susan Ascher, President & CEO, The Ascher Group
• Julie Sue Auslander, President, Corporate Subscription Management Services, LLC
• Connie Bentley McGhee, Solo Practitioner and Partner, Connie Bentley McGhee, Attorney at Law
• Amy Birnbaum, CEO, Royal Coachman Worldwide
• Caryl Bixon-Gordon, Founder & President, Caryl Communications, Inc.
• Ann Borowiec, Managing Director of NJ Market, J.P. Morgan Private Bank
• Jo Ann Burk, CEO and Majority Shareholder, Cuyler Burk, PC
• Ruthi Byrne, Founder, President, Zinn Graves & Field, Inc.
• Angela Calzone, President, Change & Response Strategies, LLC
• Angela Crincoli Harrington, President & CEO, Harrington Communications
• Doris Damm, President, CEO, Owner, Founder, ACCU Staffing Services
• Sonia Delgado, Principal, Princeton Public Affairs Group
• Lisa Drakeman, Ph.D., CEO & Member of the Board, Genmab A/S
• Anne Estabrook, CEO, Elberon Development Co.
• Wendy Flanagan, Principal and VP, Murray
• Ronni Forster, EVP and Director, Internal Audit CIT Group Inc.
• Elizabeth Hance, President and CEO, Magyar Bank
• Ann Higgins, President, CEO & Owner, Utopia Communications
• Eileen Huntington, COO, Huntington Learning Corporation
• Jane Kelly, Assistant Vice President, Associate General Counsel and Assistant Secretary, South Jersey Industries, Inc.
• Anne Klein, President, Anne Klein & Associates Inc.
• Diahann Lassus, President, Lassus Wherley
• Marcella LoCastro, Managing Director, SolomonEdwardsGroup, LLC
• Amy Mallet, President & Owner, Amsley Promotions
• Linda Manchester, President, Essential Solutions, LLC
• Karen Nichols, Co-Owner & Partner, KNTM Architects, LLC
• Donna Pepe, Owner & President, Communications Strategies, Inc.
• Marjorie Perry, President/CEO, MZM Construction Co
• Marianna Rabinovitch, President, CEO & co-owner, ECI Technology, Inc.
• Christine Reilly, President, Small Business Lending, CIT Group Inc.
• Mary Santa Maria, President and Owner, Hawk Chemical Company, Inc.
• Kirsten Schofield, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP
• Corinne “Cookie” Slade, President, Rehabilitation Specialists
• Marla Smith, Managing Director, The Fidelco Group
• Barbara Spector Yeninas, S. Partner, Founder and CEO, BSY Associates, Inc.
• Heather Suarez, Partner, Walder Hayden & Brogan, PA
• Wendy Suehrstedt, Sr. Executive Vice President & President & CEO of mid-Atlantic Division, TD Banknorth, Inc.
• Janice Tomlinson, Executive Vice President and International Field Operations Manager, Chubb & Son, Inc., a division of Federal
• LeDung Tran, Owner & President, SyPort, Inc. & Edison Heating & Cooling Inc.
• Eileen Unger, Presiding Partner, Co-Founder, Emergency Preparedness Partnerships
• Melanie vanderValk, Vice President, Northeast Area Marketing and Sales Operations, Verizon Wireless
• Linda Verba, Vice President, Retail Operations, Commerce Bank
• Ann Waeger, Vice President, Secretary, Director, Partner, Attorney, Member of Real Estate & Redevelopment Practice Group, Farer Fersko
• Kelly Watson, Partner, Advisory Practice, KPMG LLP
• Sharon Weiner, Esq., Scarinci & Hollenbeck
• Laura Wellington, CEO, President, The Giddy Gander Company, LLC
• Tiffany Williams, Associate, Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland & Perretti, LLP
• Susan Winters, Esq., Budd Larner, P.C.

(Note: Titles and companies are as listed in the year the recipient was named to the Best 50 Women in Business.)