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 2009.

But before we get to our answers (below) and a listing of the members of the Class of 2009 (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 2009:

Poll Question: Do female executives get as many chances to succeed/fail as male executives?

Yes: 59 percent

No: 41 percent

Open-ended question: What are some common characteristics that successful women share?

1. Faith Baum, owner/principal, Illumination Arts: Persistence, humor, confidence, empathy, integrity, emotional intelligence, willingness to be confrontational when necessary. The last one may be the hardest for many women.
2. Laura Ann Kelly, founding member, Donnelly Minter & Kelly LLC: Many successful women I respect are not afraid to solicit expertise and opinion from others about areas in which they are less knowledgeable, and are able to communicate with both empathy and strength at the same time.
3. Rebecca Perkins, CEO and president, The Perkins Partnership: Successful women want to succeed — they’re not ambivalent about it. They work harder than anyone else, and they don’t complain about it. The most successful women (and men) have also learned the importance of seeing people for who they are, not as their job titles or their connections. True success comes from balancing achievement with kindness and consideration for others.

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

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(AD AS DAYS GO ON) Looking for the answers from other classes? Click the year:

The Class of 2006

The Class of 2007

The Class of 2008

And finally, a look back at the Class of 2009:

• Katherine Adams, VP and General Counsel, Honeywell
• Faith Baum, Co-Founder, Co-Owner, Principal Illumination Arts
• Marcia Blackwell, Founder, President, Blackwell’s Organic Gelato
• Dorothy Bolinsky, Partner, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
• Kathleen Connelly-Agnostak, Partner, Lindabury McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper
• Lawra Dodge, President, Excel Environmental Resoursces, Inc.
• Bonnie Evans, Senior VP, Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation
• Susan Feeney, Partner, McCarter & English, LLP
• Veronica Fielding, President, Digital Brand Expressions
• Elissa Glasband, Partner, Patton Boggs LLP
• Neale Godfrey, Chairman, CEO, Children’s Financial Network, Inc.
• Ilene Greene, President, MarketShare Communications, Inc.
• Debbie Hart, President, BioNJ and Association Associates, Inc.
• Deborah Hays, Partner, Archer & Greiner, P.C.
• Brenda Hendrickson, Owner, Brenda Hendrickson, CSA
• Kristine Hurlbut, Senior VP of Leasing, Denholtz Associates
• Rosanna Imbriano, President, RI Consulting
• Julie Kampf, Founder, President, JBK Associates, Inc.
• Lynne Katzmann, President and CEO, Juniper Communities
• Laura Ann Kelly, Head of Estates, Trusts and Probate Group, Graham Curtin
• Leslie Lajewski, Member, Coughlin Duffy LLP
• Joan Lerman, Publisher/Owner, PrimeWOMAN LLC
• Rebecca Machinga, Partner, WithumSmith Brown, pc
• Nancy Manket, Managing Director, The DAK Group
• Laura Mattia, Wealth Management Principal/Owner, The Baron Financial Group, LLC.
• Polly McDonald, Owner/CEO, TeleSearch Staffing Solutions
• Lynn McMahon, COO, Accenture
• Esther Novak, Founder and CEO, VanguardComm
• Katherin Nukk-Freeman, Co-Founder & CEO, Nukk-Freeman & Cerra, PC
• Sharon Pennington, VP, South Jersey Industries
• Rebecca Perkins, President and CEO, The Perkins Partnership
• Cindy Perr, Partner, GluckWalrath LLP
• Susanne Peticolas, Director, Gibbons P.C.
• Suzanne Poor, President, Miller/Poor Associates
• Karin Princivalle, Senior VP, HR, Medco Health Solutions, Inc.
• Jaime Raskulinecz, CEO, Entrust Northeast, LLC
• Susan Reed, Principal & Director of Accounting, Sax Macy Fromm & Co., P.C.
• Kathleen Regan, Senior Relationship Manager/Senior VP, Capital One, N.A.
• Judith Roman, President and CEO, AmeriHealth New Jersey
• Maria Romano, VP and Regional Manager, The Provident Bank
• Shira Rubinoff, President and Founder, Green Armor Solutions, Inc.
• Cynthia Schwalm, President, Eisai Inc.
• Terry Simonds, Partner, Amper, Politziner & Mattia, LLP
• Kathy Smyly Miller, Managing Director, Wellness Possibilities
• Nancy Taylor, President, Founder, Gifts that Give
• Paula Tuffin, Member of Firm, Sills Cummis & Gross, P.C.
• Renee Vidal, Shareholder, Flaster/Greenberg, P.C.
• Diane Wasser, Partner, Amper, Politziner & Mattia, LLP
• Catherine Wells, Partner, Wolff & Samson, PC
• Deirdre Wheatley-Liss, Attorney Shareholder, Fein, Such, Kahn & Shepard, P.C.

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