Dear ABWL Family,
Thank you for allowing me to lead this wonderful organization. We have a gem and we must not treat it like a pebble. So many smart, compassionate and successful women make up our membership. We are not all the same, nor should we be. Our differences will continue to make us stronger so long as we have a foundation of love for ABWL; respect for each other; and a shared commitment to building up each other and our communities.
Words cannot express my awe of the successful activities, projects and programs members of ABWL-NJ led and supported. The Executive Board, Committee Chairs and Members, and members-at-large made herculean sacrifices during a world-wide pandemic to ensure that ABWL-NJ’s light was not dimmed. I am thankful to God that we continued to serve communities throughout New Jersey and even beyond.
I know President Jennifer Downing-Mathis and her Executive Board have a progressive and exciting agenda and the membership is excited to assist this new administration. Leadership is not easy and it is not a spectator sport. We all stand all the shoulders of women who led and loved ABWL-NJ. Let us remain committed to polishing our precious gem.
I truly regret I did not have the pleasure to meet, face-to-face, so many of our new members who are bringing even more wealth of skills, knowledge and resources. I encourage them to take the initiative to contact veteran members and vice versa. We will be able to greet with hugs soon.
As we prepare for our 50th Anniversary in a few years, I hope and pray that by then we will have reached tens of thousands of citizens on a myriad of legal issues. Perhaps, we will have established our dream foundation to support our legacy. More important, I hope we will have advocated for hundreds more Black women in executive and governmental positions, judgeships and other leadership roles. In the lyrics of that great musical “Hamilton,” we must be “in the room where it happens.”
Finally, I must thank my Immediate Past President Norma Evans and other past presidents who supported me with your love, hard work and compassion.
Warmly, Marsetta