RELEASE: December 10, 2003

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Commissioner Harris receives Leadership NJ Professional Development Award from peers

New Jersey Department of Human Services Commissioner Gwendolyn L. Harris, a graduate of Leadership New Jersey’s (LNJ) Class of 1988, was honored by her peers with this year’s LNJ Professional Development Award at the annual Awards Celebration of the Leadership New Jersey Graduate Organization (LNJGO), held in New Brunswick on December 2, 2003. This was LNJGO’s 13th awards ceremony, which traditionally follows the final seminar and graduation of the current LNJ class and introduction of next year’s class.

The LNJ award is the second major honor for Commissioner Harris this fall. In late October, she received the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award from the University of Connecticut, the school’s top alumni award. [She is also an alumnus of the University of Chicago and doctoral candidate at Rutgers University.]

Leadership NJ, which is a project of Partnership for New Jersey -- based out of New Brunswick -- seeks out men and women statewide with successful professional lives who at the same time are engaged in their community as civic leaders. It recognizes them for their accomplishments, informs them about the key issues shaping the future of the state, and challenges them to take on wider responsibilities to make New Jersey a better place in which to live and work. The year-long seminar program is just the beginning of the Leadership New Jersey experience. Fellows remain active in the graduate network and can take part in projects and activities that reflect the goals of the
program. Governor James E. McGreevey was a member of the first LNJ Class in 1987, and Commissioner Harris was a member of the second LNJ Class in 1988. Each Class consists of 50 Fellows chosen from a very competitive field of state leaders.

LNJGO also awarded a Program Development Award and the Aletha R. Wright Volunteer Leadership Award at its evening ceremony.

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SIDEBAR: Here is an example of an LNJ monthly seminar:
This year’s final LNJ Seminar addressed Art and Public Policy in New Jersey during sessions on Monday and Tuesday, December 1-2. Monday's program began with lunch at the American Repertory Ballet (ARB), followed by an open rehearsal with Graham Lustig and discussion of his vision for artistic leadership of the Company, then broke into teams to visit four artistic sites near the ARB.

In the Rehearsal Room at Crossroads Theater, Tuesday's program included breakfast and the Arts Seminar, with a performance from a string quartet from the NJ Symphony and another activity on leadership in the arts.
The rest of the seminar was devoted to the case study on a controversial mural, The Dreams of Harriet Tubman, including a return to Ebenton's Cultural and Heritage Commission to debate offering a home to the mural.

At graduation ceremonies last Tuesday afternoon, each Fellow completed, in 30 seconds or less, the sentence “Leadership is…” and received a diploma and commemorative gift while slides depicting each Fellow in action during the course of the seminar year projected in the background.