The Alice Paul Institute has announced the recipients of the 2013 Alice Paul Equality Awards. The honorees are Letitia G. Colombi, former mayor of Haddonfield; Carolyn Cook, president of United 4 Equality; Elaine Jacoby, counsel for Duane Morris; Donna M. Massanova, partner and employee benefit plans practice leader for ParenteBeard; Dianne Mills McKay, chair of the Council on Gender Parity in Labor and Education for the New Jersey State Department of Labor and Workforce Development; and Patricia Teffenhart, executive director of New Jersey Coalition, Against Sexual Assault.
The awards, which will be presented at a gala dinner on Thursday, March 20, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., at The Westin in Mt. Laurel, honor individuals from any industry or field who capture the spirit of Alice Paul and as a consequence, directly or indirectly, continue her mission of advancing women’s equality in America.
In 1985, Colombi edged out an incumbent commissioner to become the first woman to serve on Haddonfield’s governing body. In 2001, after winning six four-year terms on the Board of Commissioners, she received the highest number of votes and, in accordance with Haddonfield tradition, became mayor, the first woman elected to that position. Since retiring from municipal government last May, she has remained active in civic and community affairs and currently serves as chair for Haddonfield’s tricentennial celebration.
Cook has a professional background in human resource management at The Discovery Channel, but has devoted the past several years to full-time work for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. Cook serves 14,000 constituents as an unpaid, elected official whose accomplishments include establishing the first senior club at her community center, lobbying for a living wage for Walmart employees and advocating on behalf of homeless women for policy improvements. She is a board of directors’ officer for the Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues; continues to advocate for the development of a national women’s heritage trail in Washington, D.C.; and is one of two Washington, D.C. delegates to Drexel University’s Vision 2020 women’s equality initiative.
Inspired by the women’s rights movement to become a lawyer, Jacoby began practicing law in 1975 when there were few women partners in New Jersey law firms. She served as resident managing partner for the New Jersey office of Epstein Becker & Green and, later, the Princeton office of Duane Morris LLP. Besides litigating major cases, she developed and implemented equal employment opportunity compliance programs designed to prevent workplace discrimination and harassment. In 1993, she published and has since annually updated her book, Designing an Effective Equal Employment Opportunity Compliance Program.
At ParenteBeard, Massanova has been an audit partner for more than 10 years. She leads the employee benefit plan practice, where she is responsible for marketing, business development and directing education and training in the employee benefit plan practice. She was instrumental in expanding the company’s employee benefit plans practice to one of the largest in the nation, ranked in the top 15. In 2012, she was a Philadelphia Business Journal Woman of Distinction award recipient.
McKay is a long-time advocate for women’s equity. Professionally she is a trainer on gender equity and diversity issues. She chairs the New Jersey Council on Gender Parity in Labor and Education. The Council, established by legislation introduced by Senator Diane Allen in 1998, works to remove gender based barriers in education and the workforce. She chairs the Burlington County Advisory Council on Women and serves on the board of the National Association of Commissions for Women.
Teffenhart, a graduate of Douglass College, is the executive director for the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault, a non-profit organization that represents the rape crisis service organizations in each of New Jersey’s 21 counties and Rutgers University. NJCASA advocates for survivor-focused policies and programs and elevates the public discourse around sexual violence. Teffenhart is a member of the board of directors for the Center for Non-Profits and Emerge New Jersey.
